When I was a child, I was amazed at how amazed grownups were at how fast I grew. “How did you get so big?” is one of those questions that gets old fast. But now that I am a grownup, it’s my turn to be amazed how fast kids grow. When my wife and I …
Fire, for all its power, starts out fragile. When the kindling is gathered and the embers start to appear, they curl around the edges of the twigs, teasing their way into some small purchase on life. A single flame crawls along a sturdy branch, waving like a flag. A bit of thin smoke rises. Then, …
Today was the day it hit home for me. This is serious. It was in an afternoon meeting with my staff team (via Zoom, of course), and my supervisor updated me on the Surgeon General’s recent warning: “This week, it’s going to get bad.” Last week, things were disorienting. I was suddenly
We have a problem with racialized policing in America. As Christians, we need to speak clearly about this problem, not only for the sake of justice, but also for the sake of love. I don’t remember when I realized that we have a problem with policing in America. It may have been
Growing up in a Christian subculture prone to both kitsch and mnemonic devices, I was subjected early on to many cringe-worthy didactic moments. One shining example was a motivational poster on the wall that asked, “Do you have an attitude of gratitude?” The subtext seemed to be, “We know how to make
On an apple-picking trip one brisk October, I learned of the glories of the giant rubber band potato launcher. Not to be confused with its more ambitious cousin the potato cannon, the giant rubber band potato launcher is a satisfyingly analog ballistic endeavor. A small
Earlier this week I led a team training on the StrengthsFinder assessment, a popular tool for discovering and naming personality strengths. The assessment is based on the work of Don Clifton, a psychologist whose ideas on leadership have proved so influential that they are now commonplace. Clifton argued that, instead of trying to shore up weaknesses, people should focus on working and leading from their strengths.
There’s more than
When I was a teenager, I read Mark Cahill’s One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven. The title of the book refers to evangelism: In heaven, there won’t be anyone who doesn’t know Jesus to share the good news with. The time to change lives for eternity is now! Despite Cahill’s winsome
