In his book Outliers, best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell makes a controversial claim. He questions the idea of the “self-made man” and explains that most successful people owe some of their fortune to luck. He writes, “People don’t rise from nothing. We do owe something to parentage and patronage. The people who stand before kings may look like they did it …
What is Our Generation’s Stumbling Block?
This week I was researching a topic for work when I discovered an interesting tidbit of church history. Apparently, birthdays used to be a big deal for Christians, and not in a good way. Early in the church’s history, birthday celebrations–particularly those of emperors or kings–were associated with pagan culture and were consequently condemned. For instance, early church theologian Origen …
The Sin that is Killing Our Witness
Before joining a non-denominational church this past year, I spent the last 10-ish years at various Southern Baptist churches. Although I would like to say my tenure in the SBC was theologically motivated, it was actually more coincidental. The churches I liked only happened to be Southern Baptist, which is why I dragged my feet for so long before becoming …
The Problem of the First Woman
Yesterday I was fortunate to catch up with an old friend who serves as a pastor at my last church. He is thinking about creating a women’s ministry for the ladies in his congregation and he wanted to pick my brain about the process. I was SO excited to hear how the Holy Spirit is working in and through the …
Whatever Affects One Directly, Affects All Indirectly
I had planned to write something totally different today. Until I went to church yesterday morning. In honor of Martin Luther King Day my church devoted its entire service to remembering the struggle for racial reconciliation in this country and to our role in that struggle as Christians. The service was quite powerful and moved me to tears a number …
Why Celebrate Christmas?
I know this sounds like a ridiculous question. The answer should be pretty obvious, especially for a Christian. But before you assume that you already know the answer, and before you click out of the window because Christmas is over and this post seems a little late in coming, you should know that I have a reason for posting this …
Revisiting “You Can’t Love Jesus and Hate His Wife”
(Sorry for the world’s longest title–I couldn’t think of anything catchier.) Several years ago Ed Stetzer wrote a fabulous article entitled You Can’t Love Jesus and Hate His Wife. If you haven’t read it I highly recommend it. In the article he examines the tendency of Christians to proclaim their allegiance to Christ while simultaneously denouncing the Christian church and …
The Myth of the Female Jesus
I know you’re probably wondering what in the world this post is about! I promise this isn’t about some DaVinci Code-esque conspiracy theory that Jesus was actually a woman, but before I explain what I mean by “female Jesus,” let me back up a bit. Last night I was talking with some women who serve as women’s ministers in other …
Does Your Church Know You?
I had a funny realization this morning at church. Ike and I finally found a church to call our home, and this Sunday they had an opportunity to sign up for small groups after the service. We’ve been in the area for 2 months now without the fellowship of a small group, so we had marked our calendars for this …
Women and the Future of the Church
One of my favorite things about living in Chicago is that it’s the kind of city where there’s always something going on. There are always amazing people coming and going, which has afforded me the opportunity to meet many people with whom our paths might have never crossed–some of whom are my readers! Today I got to hang out with …