I’ve both appreciated and enjoyed the comments (and emails) on the post “What is Preaching?” Not surprisingly, folks shared a number of insights and views, though most insights seemed to break down into three categories in particular: 1) I like preaching the way it is (as a hearer or preacher), so let’s not fix something that’s not broken. (Actually the minority sentiment expressed.) 2) I’d really like to be more engaged. (Perhaps the dominant response from listeners.) 3) I’d like to engage folks more, but am not sure how or, for that matter, how it would be received. (The corresponding sentiment from preachers.) And this, of...

Because I love grand fiction that involves the creation of other “worlds” – Tolkien’s Middlearth or Lewis’ Narnia or Collins’ Panem – I found this animated video from TED-Ed really interesting. The question that bestselling children’s author Kate Messner seeks to answer in it is, “How do you build an alternative world that people will find believable?” Her answer has a lot to do not just with stories per se, but with us: we humans who are to the core deeply narrative creatures. Because narrative has the benefit of ordering events in a way that makes sense – that doesn’t mean it’s right, mind you, or the only way to...