(Note: “Flora” and “Sue” are aliases.) “Flora” is lying in a dark room, the blinds drawn much like her pale face.  Two tired eyes wander in the direction of the voice at the door before coming to rest on the visitor: a chaplain, here because the nursing staff has asked her to pay Flora a visit.…

Tomorrow I head for Kansas City, Missouri to join a gathering of other pilgrims on the missional journey. Which makes it especially timely that Michael Frost’s book, The Road to Missional, arrived in the mail this week.  Frost has written a number of books, including Exiles and, with co-author Alan Hirsch, The Shaping of Things…

Fellow saints and sinners, none of you pointed this out (rather surprisingly), but it occurred to me this morning that I had originally written this: “The Bible and my Reformed tradition have taught me that we human beings are capable of making idols out of just about anything, children included- maybe most especially our children…”…

In the last 72 hours since the airing of my post, Facebook’s “Disappearing Mothers”: The New Form of Women’s Self-Effacement?, I’ve heard a lot, learned a lot, and, been surprised and even flabbergasted, thanks to those of you who weighed in with your opinions. The question I posed (for those of you just tuning in) was this: if…

  My last post and popular blogger and author Rachel Held-Evans’ subsequent shout-out in her Sunday Superlatives (for “Best Conversation Starter in the Blogosphere”) have generated a throng of readers and a string of interesting comments, most of which seem to be largely in disagreement with Roiphe’s take on the matter (and my own points of…

Last week Tina Brown, editor of The Daily Beast and Newsweek, dished out her latest “must-reads” for NPR, this time on the subject of “The Modern Woman.”  Financial Times writer Katie Roiphe’s article, “Disappearing mothers,” was on Brown’s short list, and after reading it, I concur that it’s a provocative piece worthy of a look!…

Today’s musical feature comes much in the same spirit of Andrew Sullivan’s “Mental Health Breaks.” Chalk it up to the Scottish side of my family, but I guess I have a weakness for folk rock bands that magically blend some combination of violins, fiddles, mandolins, or tambourines (think Mumford & Sons).  This Denver-based band, The…

The other day I was sitting at lunch next to a still lively, 90-year-old woman at a plush, assisted living center.  (Funny thing is, even in plush surroundings like these, the food still tastes like your average, garden-variety, “institutionalized” grub.)   She told me she no longer sleeps at her age, and guffawed when I…

And now, finally, what a number of you have been waiting for…Today’s guest is missional church thinker and activist Lance Ford, who is organizing the upcoming Sentralized gathering in Kansas City, Missouri (September 27-29), in which I’ll be taking part.  He is also the author of the newly released book, Unleader:  Reimagining Leadership And Why We…

Fellow saint and sinner Tammy gives below another honest, raw examination of her life through the lens of God’s grace.  God’s grace, not our own often clumsy efforts to achieve goodness or live right or follow our own hearts or lost dreams, is, afterall, I believe, the most important thing.  It’s the reason we’re alive…

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