Many of us carry around a linear model of grief, where we seamlessly progress from one stage to the next (from denial to anger to bargaining to depression and finally acceptance). But grief doesn't usually work that way. Instead, it's a liminal experience. When we're in the in-between of grief, there are a few dangers to watch out for.

Jesus' temptation in the wilderness is almost the definition of a "liminal" experience: He enters as a seemingly unassuming carpenter but emerges as God's anointed one. What happens in the in-between?

The early church continually made an audacious claim: that Jesus of Nazareth, a carpenter executed on a Roman cross, was presently ruling and reigning over the entire cosmos. Does this declaration that "Jesus is Lord" have any meaning for us today?

What do we do we find ourselves in a season of disorientation, between what was and what will be?

The Eucharist (or communion) is a central act that both creates and recognizes the Body of Christ. How do we discern Christ's body as we partake of it?

One of the ways the church recognizes the communal nature of our existence is through membership. But membership in the modern era sometimes seems far removed from the New Testament pattern. How do we live faithfully in that gap?

What makes you... you? The dominant cultural understanding (at least in the West) is that our essential self is located deep within us. The Biblical understanding, though, is that we were created by, in, and for relationship. In the words of South African leader Desmond Tutu, "A person is a person through other persons."

Christians throughout history have recognized that God must deal with Sin in an ultimate and final sense... but what does that look like? And does it matter?

If the idea of "sin" pops up in unexpected places, maybe it's worth stepping back and asking... what do we mean when we talk about "sin"?

From Friedrich Nietzsche to Fatboy Slim, the cultural understandings of "guilt" and "sin" have followed an unexpected trajectory—and the Christian story offers hope in surprising ways.