Will life be different from the dream we were building? Yes. Will there be real losses or less than we hoped? Yes. But life is not about physical perfection and material prosperity. Life is about a journey into God, and what matters most is our capacity for intimacy and companionship with God—whatever the circumstances. Read more

Oh my God. A recent Gallup poll says 44% of people in the United States believe God created humans fewer than 10,000 years ago. And we wonder why our educational system is ranked 17th? (Note to self: Send big donation to evolutionweekend.org; turns out they’re doing essential work.) But given this sad reality, I'm glad that Karl W. Giberson and Francis S. Collins wrote "The Language of Science and Faith." Read more

This week at the Patheos Book Club, we're featuring Greg Garrett's "The Other Jesus: Rejecting a Religion of Fear for the God of Love." Greg Garrett is one of my favorite columnists at Patheos. His insightful, honest explorations of faith and culture delve deep into the waters of some of the most controversial issues of our day and we re-surface renewed and refreshed, and with clearer Christian goggles to view the world. Read more

Once more evangelicals are fighting among each other.  And Rob Bell’s Love Wins is the source of this new controversy.  Is Bell a universalist – heaven forbid! – or one for whom the fires of hell and the warmth of heaven are really the same reality, depending on whether or not we trust the love of God?  In fact, the way the controversy is going, a lot of evangelicals are already in Rob Bell’s hell, hung up – like the... Read more

The woman with the ointment of nard used her hand to spread the aroma and texture into the hair, scalp, neck, and shoulders of Jesus—for respite from pain, for removal of tension, for blessing in the present moment. Jesus recognized this act as an anointing for his burial. He will be anointed again after his physical death by the women who followed him so closely during his ministry, but now he is able to feel and savor the beauty that meets him in this moment of tension, trepidation, and wondering. Read more

Before preaching that God caused the recent earthquake in Japan, and quoting scripture to justify it, I've got a verse that you should read. 1 Kings 19:11 says, “God was NOT in the earthquake.” If you keep reading, you will see that Elijah likewise does not find God in the “great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces” or in the “fire.” Instead, Elijah meets God in the “sound of sheer silence.” Pastors preaching earthquake theology should get themselves to a Centering Prayer retreat ASAP. Read more

I wish I could say that I was more surprised that people were up in arms over Rob Bell’s new book, Love Wins. By foregrounding the question of whether there truly is a hell, whether ultimately God might save all people, Rob Bell has struck a fork in a set of dangerous beliefs and pronounced them done. Read more

St. Patrick's Day can be an opportunity to reflect on God's presence in your life. You can take some time today, and each day, to draw a sacred circle around yourself. You can chant Patrick's words whenever you are feeling at risk or anxious. They are a reminder that God is your companion in all your adventures. Read more

Fresh back from holiday, America’s self-proclaimed “revival” preacher Glenn Beck attempted to give a theological explanation for the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami.  Speaking on his radio program, Beck suggested that the catastrophic earthquake might be a “message being sent” by a higher power, God or Gaia.  Beck postulated, “I’m not saying God is, you know, causing earthquakes.  I’m not not saying that either….there’s a message being sent. And that is, ‘Hey, you know that stuff we’re doing? Not really... Read more

Lent is really about saying no to some things so we can say yes to others. An Ash Wednesday Meditation on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 and Isaiah 58:6-9. Read more