When the ancient Jews were building the Temple of God, they had a unique restriction on how they handled the stones for it. "The stones used in the construction of the Temple were finished at the quarry, so there was no sound of hammer, ax, or any other iron tool at the building site" (1 Kings 6:7)....

Author and podcaster Jill Sirianni says that “Learning always happens in relationships.”

This tends to be more obvious when we’re younger. Children learn from parents. Students learn from teachers. Teammates learn from coaches. Our whole existence is one giant game of “monkey see, monkey do."

But ...

I'd like to suggest something that may sound a bit outlandish at first: Your posture around your faith is more important than the beliefs you hold within it. Or said differently, if we had to pick one, posture is more important than doctrines.

Does this sound like heresy?

I would understand if you...

(This post might be a bit spicy for some readers. For context, I write this as a former Lead Pastor of a megachurch who currently has numerous Lead Pastor friends.)

A comparison dawned on me recently. There was a time (I'd suggest sometime after the Civil Rights era up until COVID) when being a L...

I’m starting something new, and I want to tell you about it.

Every Friday, I’m going to start sending out a special newsletter to the members of our online community. I’m calling it Friday Recap, and I already suspect it will become one of my favorite ways to connect.

It’s part weekly digest, part...

I recently exchanged emails with a friend who follows my blog. He was responding to my podcast episode about Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 (see: What Makes a Nation Christian?). You may remember the episode in question. It's where Jesus doesn’t mention church attendance, correct doctrine, or having the...

Let’s talk about doubt.

Not the kind you whisper in the back row of a church service or scribble in a journal you hope no one ever reads. I’m talking about the big, lingering, soul-level questions. 

If that’s you, or if it used to be, or if you’re worried it might be someday, then I want to invite...

The other night, I mobile-ordered some sodas from our local Sonic (our crew is split between Diet Dr. Pepper and Diet Coke drinkers). Upon receiving my order, I discovered they were all Diet Dr. Pepper. I checked my app and realized I had mistakenly ordered it wrong.

When I talked with the employee...