Experiencing Church as an Introvert Nearly every Sunday for the past fifteen years, I’ve gotten a migraine headache. It typically sets in sometime after the benediction—while I’m standing on the church lawn talking with members and visitors. Once I get home, the...
God’s Calling I have no memory of the moment of my own calling. Raised by godly parents in the nurture of the church, I didn’t pray a salvation prayer or walk an aisle or have a sudden revelation. I don’t actually remember a time when I didn’t love Christ. My...
A Varied Menu Every few months, my church gathers in the fellowship hall for a slightly different purpose: lunch. Each person brings a dish of their choice in addition to contributing items such as drinks or bread from a sign-up list. After morning worship, the pastor...
Beauty on the Inside Around the corner from where I live, a house is for sale. In bold green letters, the lawn sign reads: “I’m Gorgeous Inside!” The message is surprising. From the street, the house is thoroughly ordinary, even run-down. It’s a seventies-era raised...
In my childhood, it was always an exciting annual moment. On that cold December night, sitting in the sanctuary, surrounded by friends, enveloped by the warmth of a fire, a church elder would approach the podium and speak with authority: “We’d like to ask Pastor and...
Why do people pray? If you walked through a park near your house and asked the picnickers, what answers do you think you would get? Probably, you’d hear responses similar to a recent survey in which 63% of the participants—regardless of their religiosity or prayer...