We have all been handed a belief system – a way of understanding the things that allows us to have certainty in an uncertain world. Nothing promises certainty more than religion – the black and white of what’s wrong and right. But what happens when the things we are so certain about don’t hold up? […]

We all know what it’s like to have unmet expectations. Like when you are at a restaurant and they get your order wrong. Or when you take on a small home improvement project only to discover that it’s not so small after all. You think things are going to go one way, but they go […]

What do we do when we have doubts about God? Should we follow doubt down the rabbit hole wherever it leads? Should we cut doubt off like a cancer and just choose to blindly believe what we’ve been told? Is there room for doubt in the life of a Christian? Jesus shows us how we […]

Every time we turn on the news it seems like there is a new report of gun violence. Whether it’s our schools, churches or grocery stores, it seems inescapable. Everyone can agree that children should not be shot at in school, but we can’t seem to find agreement on the solution to the problem. That […]

We all love being recognized for our contributions and achievements. Whether you are called out by someone who is winning an academy award or by the bride giving a speech at her wedding reception, it is meaningful when someone acknowledges to the world that you played an important role in their lives. What would it […]

Whether it’s at home, work, or at school, most of our environments have one foundational rule that is communicated more than any other. Don’t wear shoes in the house. Don’t touch the remote. No electronics after bedtime. That main rule communicates an important value. There is one command that God gives more than any other […]

What does it look like for followers of Jesus to win? Jesus told the disciples they would face opposition. If there are people opposing us, someone has to come out on top. What does it look like when we win? Does it look like owning our enemies, crushing their culture and values? Does it look […]

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of the most horrific in the Bible, and it has been used to illustrate God’s judgment of homosexuality. But is that what it’s really about? Is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah really about people in the LGBTQ community? Or could it be about a totally different […]

Religion has always been concerned with keeping people pure, causing us to avoid the things and people that could contaminate our spiritual purity. We even use Jesus’ own figure of speech, “shake the dust off your feet,” to describe cutting loose those who aren’t receptive to our religion and threaten our spiritual purity. But is […]

The first time a person ever drives a car is scary. The controls are confusing, it’s hard to stay in the lines, and even something as simple as turning seems so complicated. We face scary moments of uncertainty all the time in life. Moments when we are afraid of losing what’s important to us, or […]