I’m excited. I’ve just worked my way through ChurchNext’s MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) of my Making Sense of the Cross and, well, I’m excited. The folks at ChurchNext have done a wonderful job in taking some of the essential elements of the course and turning it into an accessible – and free! – online learning opportunity that is ideal for individuals or congregations as we approach Lent. The class starts a week from today, and you can find out more about the course here. Again, it’s free. While you don’t need to purchase the book to participate in the class, if you’re interested you can find copies of Making Sense of...

Parents do a lot of things. We try to teach our children values. We provide them with home, clothing, education, and more. We protect them whenever necessary and possible and – often much harder – try to let them to struggle when that seems more important. And, of course and most importantly, we love them…deeply, truly, more than they will ever know until they have children of their own. But I wonder if another thing we do – whether we know it or not – is also frame the world for them, provide them with a sense of what is possible and real, and prepare them to accept — or reject — the terms of the world in which they...