What people do to their bodies defies rational explanation. — A few weeks ago, I wrote a Medium story about some of the wild and wacky Jesus-themed tattoos that people had to mutilate their bodies. People seemed to like that post— and I got a bunch of kind comments. …

The male-dominated denomination can’t help itself, can it? — The Southern Baptist Convention looks set to dive headlong into more controversy if a pastor from Arlington, Virginia, gets his way. Pastor Mike Law from Arlington Baptist in Virginia wrote an open letter to the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention calling on them to amend the SBC’s constitution…

Because watching churches continually mess up announcements NEVER gets old… — You know what. I’ve spent most of my life trying to AVOID screwing up in churches. Avoiding unintentional faux pas in sermons…(I probably “failed” there...) Countless hours proofreading bulletin sheets within an inch of their lives… Even taking care not to stumble down the chancel steps and go flying, having…

Some record company executives somewhere thought these were a great idea. — It never ceases to amaze me how the Christian church seems able to spew out an endless stream of dreadful stuff in the name of Jesus. Whether it’s books or albums, it appears that some Christians are blind to awful graphic design and the conventions of good taste. I kicked…

Marking St. Andrews Day on November 30th — November 30th is the day in the Christian Calendar when the faithful remember the life and ministry of St. Andrew. But what do you know about him? Read on as we explore NINE things you might not have known about Andrew. 1. He had a Greek background The name “Andrew” literally translates as “Andreas.” The root…

More classic tunes from throughout the years — This post is part of the ongoing series: “1001 songs to listen to before you die", where I steadily work through — surprise, surprise…1001 songs from the history of music from the same name book. There are already 26 previous parts — who knew? I made a list. Did you…

Another beautiful Advent Hymn — Welcome to day 3 in our Advent Writing Challenge, where we journal through a selection of beautiful Advent and Christmas sacred songs, hymns and carols. If you are new here, catch up on my post on Sunday about, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and MaryClare’s devotion yesterday about Come Thou…

Here’s another one of those music challenges — Medium Writing challenges are always fun — and what better time for a writing challenge than the weekend? My Medium mate Jennifer Barrios Tettay came up with a spicy little challenge this weekend: choosing songs representing our name’s initials. I was intrigued by Jennifer’s selection — I consider myself pretty…

And the comments on social media got me thinking about how we pray. — This post is going to be about prayer. How we might pray — and what we think happens when we pray. I expect I’ll get some pushback on this story since I’m going to question some things that some will find unquestionable. So be it. I think it’s time to…