America’s founding fathers believed that the “pursuit of happiness” was an inalienable right, and most people today certainly think that they deserve to be happy. But what happens when we face unhappiness? How does God’s word comfort us then?

Congregations can get over pastors. Pastors are, and should be, replaceable. But pastors don’t get over the places, the people, they serve. In a pastor’s mind, those two names, his and theirs, will always go together.

Doggedly chasing the world’s standard for inclusivity and hypersensitivity often falls flat and possibly lands with a lawsuit or two. But maybe there’s another way.

Are there extraterrestrials out there? Likely not. Whatever life may exist in outer space, this we can say for certain: It too somehow suffered from Adam’s fall. It too somehow shares in the redemption of Christ on earth.

It’s common for people to formulate the identity of God by determining first what’s good in us, and then deciding that God must be that and more.

Church pews are made for community. You cannot wall yourself off from others. You cannot decide to be alone.