How to Talk About the Environment in Your Church

I hate being called an environmentalist. I avoid using the word “environment.” The phrase “climate change” is not in my lexicon. At least at church, that is. Why? Because I have found that these and others like them elicit a knee jerk response from a good number of people in my church. When I’m labeled […]

God Created a Job

My wife realized early on in our relationship, with a degree of horror, that I am ignorant about art. When we have gone to the local art museum, she has raved about the techniques and the periods and the passion of artists, while I have looked on these same works and thought, “That sure is […]

Christians Should Care About Creation

I was a quiet and well-behaved kid, for the most part. I kept to myself, read a lot of books, and always tried to follow the rules. It was out of character for me, then, and quite audacious, when I told my second-grade teacher, “You’re wrong about that.” It was in a science lesson […]

Let the Church Die

I grew up in the church, and I’m really comfortable here. The hymnal we use today was released when I was six years old; I’ve pretty much been singing out of it my whole life. Though I do not pastor at the churches I grew up in, the Sunday school rooms still look the same. […]

The Reality of Resurrection: God and Healthy Bodies, part four

[Note: this is part four of a four part series on a Christian theology of physical health. Part one can be read here, part two can be read here, and part three can be read here.] A few years ago I had a ministerial intern serving alongside me named Adam. One Sunday morning Adam […]

Jesus’ Question: God and Healthy Bodies, part two

[Note: This is the second of a four part series developing a Christian theology of physical health. See here for part one. The three points you need to understand going forward are: 1) Your body is not your own, but God’s. 2) God likes your body. 3) You are supposed to use your body to […]

The Spirituality of Canning Tomatoes

I’ve been canning tomatoes. It’s something I do every year around this time. I ended up with 28 pints of stewed tomatoes and 14 quarts of spaghetti sauce, which is about what I usually shoot for. This should be enough to last until next June or so, when the fresh tomatoes will be available once […]

A Little Goes a Long Way

It’s a compliment that I hate to get. Since I began the ministry I’ve had this sentiment expressed to me a handful of times in a variety of ways, a variety of phrasings, but they all come down to the same meaning. They are always intended as compliments, fully given with utmost sincerity and kindness, […]