So what if all the decline our congregations and denominations have experienced in recent decades has little to do with a failure of leadership (what congregational leaders fear) or changes in theological or political stances (what more conservative church leaders assert) or a degenerate or disinterested generation of believers (what people in the pew too often feel) or with any of the other things we usually attribute it to. What if the decline is simply the result of a massive cultural shift? That is, what if we now live in a world where the emerging generation a) has tons of options for ways to think about and make sense of their lives,...

Okay, so this post is probably more for me than you, as I regularly have a hard time getting anywhere near eight hours of sleep. At my best, I value sleep and at least try to get a decent night’s rest. At my worst I resent the need for sleep and wish I could do without. Except this isn’t just my problem, I know. We live in a world that is constantly and chronically under-slept and operates on the verge of exhaustion. That can’t be good – for us as individuals or as a society. Where did we get the idea that a full life is a life with no rest, no Sabbath, not time to stop and refresh? I’m not sure, but I think that somewhere down...