In the gospel reading appointed for this Sunday, Jesus is accused of being demon-possessed. In an article I wrote on that passage, I wondered whether the gospel always sounds a little crazy to those who first hear it…or maybe just to those who take it seriously. That is, the more seriously you take the gospel, the more crazy, or outlandish, or impossible, or even possessed, it sounds. And I kind of think that’s the way it has to be simply because what’s sane, normal, everyday, and expected doesn’t, I think, have the power to transform us, let alone save us. By way of illustration: near the beginning of his lengthy...

The Church is not Apple. I know that. I wasn’t trying to suggest it was with last week’s riff on Guy Kawasaki’s post about learning from the Apple store. There are plenty of things about Apple that I don’t want to emulate (and, truth be told, plenty of stuff in the church – historically and presently – that I’m not proud of, either, but that’s for another post.) And there are lots of places where even a metaphorical comparison between Apple and the Church breaks down. So, let me say again: The Church is not Apple…. But…. And of course here’s where it gets interesting. Because while the Church is not Apple, and our...

What  follows below is a post from Guy Kawasaki who was for many years a “chief evangelist” for all things Apple and who continues to write about excellence in design, marketing, innovation, and retail. In this piece he summarizes some key insights from a book about the phenomenal retail success of the Apple store. As I was reading Guy’s post, I couldn’t help but think about how many of these same insights might apply to the ways we think about church. So I’ll place the whole of the original post below so that you can read Guy’s insights. But I’ll also comment (in italic) after each section, offering  a...

I’ve wanted for a while to write an occasional series of posts on prayer. Why? Because, frankly, I don’t understand prayer. I know I’m supposed to do it. And I do. But that doesn’t mean I understand it. I don’t understand, for instance, how it works. I’m not always sure what I’m supposed to do, either. And I definitely can’t quite figure out the part about “answered” prayer. Maybe you’ve felt that way, too. Maybe there’s a lot about prayer that you don’t understand, but you still do it. And maybe that’s okay. Maybe prayer is too big to simply understand, too important for us to be able to define simply or once and...

It’s Monday, the start of a new week, and I can’t think of a better way to begin than with a moment or two of awe regarding this amazing world and universe we have been given to live in and care for. With that in mind, two videos about the majesty of the universe to start your week. The first displays the relative smallness of our world in relation to the cosmos and is a little mind blowing. The second is a marvelous short film by NASA. Both brought to mind for me verses from Psalm 8: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of...