Today is National Random Acts of Kindness Day. It's as good an excuse as any to do something nice for someone...but is nice enough? Being kind is often confused with being nice. They are not the same thing at all. Niceness is pretty vanilla. It's what polite society expects of us. Kindness goes beyond smiling, perfunctory "please" and "thank yous" and trying not to ruffle any feathers. Nice is inquiring about ...
Read More
There have been many calls (including a New York Times op-ed piece) for churches to cease offering service online because it's time for people "to come back to church." There is so much wrong with this way of thinking, I had to make a list. So here are my ten reasons churches should not give up their online presence. One The most obvious: you don't want to be ableist. In ...
Read More
Christmas means celebrating, but also navigating difficult family relationships. Sometimes, our desire to be "good Christians" may cause us to handle these situations in less-than-healthy ways. To that end, I wanted to clarify the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hntFtBq3bUY If you will be navigating difficult relationships this Christmas, take radically good care of yourself. A few more things to remember: Self-care is not selfish.Other people's happiness is not your ...
Read More
It's Halloween Week, when it's fun to be scared, but throughout most of the year, there's nothing fun about being afraid. A state of fear is not one we're designed to maintain. One of the most pervasive messages in scripture is BE NOT AFRAID. So this week at Doubting Believer, we'll be looking at ways to quell our fears. Here is one of my favorite exercises. Try it out and ...
Read More
How we view God very much affects our own reading and understanding of holy scripture. https://youtu.be/p8SwQcCEBCQ Learn More About That's Not in the Bible
Read More
We have quite a few new folks here, so I wanted to explain where this online resource of tools and encouragement for your faith journey got its name. It's rooted in my belief that a faith that wrestles with questions will always be stronger than one that never asks any. The title itself comes from the welcome I have given at every worship service I've presided over since I began ...
Read More
Need some guidelines for the year ahead? Here's an A to Z list of things to remember as we dive into a new decade! First, a classic ABC song to get you in the right frame of mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFpIxHLEyh4 And now... Absolve yourself (and others) from guilt and shame. Believe in people (and let them know it). Call out racism and hate. Create beauty. Care for the least of these. Doubt--because ...
Read More
I'm having one of those what-the-hell-God days. I like to believe that I'm pretty good at trusting God. At knowing that even in the darkest times, God is in the midst of it...somewhere. Even when I can't see it or feel it, I can trust that God is there. But then there are days that leave you asking God, "What the hell is up with this?" A bright 30-something light ...
Read More
In beauty guru circles, there is a saying about eyebrows: they're sisters, not twins. Meaning, that your eyebrows are not going to look exactly alike and to try to make them so is futile. Perhaps we should start using that analogy when talking about faith and mental health. Sure, they are related in that one can positively (or negatively) affect the other, but they are not the same thing. Mental health ...
Read More
Whatever you do, do it from the heart for the Lord and not for people. Colossians 3:23 (CEB) I have grown up and grown old with Madonna, and I have always been fascinated by her ability to reinvent herself in world that, as a whole, is incredibly resistant to change. I recently ran across a quote from an interview she did with Vanity Fair many moons ago, and Madonna said, “This ...
Read More