I’ve have spent much of the last several years researching congregational vitality, partnering with congregations and their leaders all over the country to ask what makes healthy congregations tick. The results have been fascinating…and encouraging. Part of what I’ve discovered is that every congregation has the capacity to flourish when provided the right support, guidance, and leadership. This work has shaped my teaching tremendously, turning upside down some of the things I thought I knew and stretching me in all kinds of ways I would not have imagined even five years ago. It’s also strongly influenced my writing, both on and...

The conclusion of the third season of HBO’s adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s sprawling fantasy A Game of Thrones is tonight. Of course, those of you who know and love the story already know that, while those of you who don’t probably don’t care. Recently, there’s been a minor furor over whether Christians should watch such a violent and racy show. In response, I wrote an article on the Huffington Post suggesting that the way one responds to that question says as much about one’s theology as it does the show. I’ll put the opening paragraphs below and direct you to the article should you want to...

First and foremost, thanks to all those who have been sending notes and posting comments about our upcoming move. You’ve all be incredibly gracious and supportive, and it’s been cool to connect in this way with folks I’ve known since college and others that I don’t know at all except for our shared time on the internet. I appreciate it greatly. Second, I’ve decided to take a sabbatical from the blog. That’s not been an easy decision, as I’m just plain embarrassed by how much I’ve come to love this way of interacting with you all and thinking about the faith. The daily devotions – which started as a Lenten discipline and...

Over the course of the last few months, I’ve had the occasional email or comment asking, essentially, “What’s going on?” This question has usually been in response to a comment I made about taking some risks or contemplating an adventure or something else of that nature. After lots of thought, prayer, and conversation regarding a variety of opportunities that have presented themselves over the last year, my family and I have indeed decided to embark upon something of an adventure. “Something” in that it’s not that dramatic or perhaps even adventuresome , but definitely represents a change for us: we’re moving to...

It’s said that once, upon being asked to address a boys preparatory school on the nature of leadership, Winston Churchill offered a brief but valuable speech. “Boys, never give up. Never. Never. Never.” I thought of that when I watched this video illustrating part of an interview with Ira Glass, host of Public Radio International’s This American Life. I’ve been a huge fan of Ira’s for years. His quirky, humorous, generous, and tremendously insightful take on not just issues but life itself has been the heart and soul of This American Life, perhaps my favorite podcast for long drives. In this part of the interview, Glass makes an...

Phil Hansen’s ten minute TED Talk is as important as it is poignant. Faced with a condition that made his hand shake and thereby seemed to destroy his dreams of being an artist, he took his neurologist’s advice to “embrace the shake.” When he did, he eventually discovered a number of remarkable ways to make art that didn’t compensate or overcome or even transcend his shaking but rather employed it to lead him to new creative ventures and vistas. What Hansen discovered was that far from reducing creativity, limitations actually increase it. Limitations set boundaries, close off the obvious routes forward, and invite – actually...