Have you ever had a conversation with another Christian and felt the two of you had a completely different view of God? And have you ever wondered why? You’re reading the same Bible, after all, and supposedly interacting with the same God. How can one person have a rigid, black and white view of God while another sees more mystery and ambiguity? How can two intellectual powerhouses like Brian McLaren and John Piper have such different views of the same Biblical text?

Lately, I’ve come to believe it’s because, while they’re both looking at the same Scriptures, they actually see something different. And it’s only partly because of how they’re interpreting it.

I believe the reason they read the Scriptures differently is [...]

I am pro-life. I believe abortion is a painful and dark reality in the world.

But I’m often reluctant to associate with the pro-life movement. And I don’t think I’m alone.

I remember, years ago, when I was in high school, sitting at a picnic table at a park near my home reading Martin Luther King’s Letters From a Birmingham Jail and being moved by the love Dr. King had for his oppressors. He was willing to cause tension, for sure, but he was also willing to die as a martyr. He was willing to die for those who he saw as lost in darkness.

The ability to love our enemies, and I mean deeply love our enemies, is of the most [...]

After the terrible attacks that took place at the Boston Marathon on Monday, we’d be tempted to think the world is a terrible place. And in some ways, it is. But what we don’t often consider at times like this is how many good people there are surrounding the bad.

From the destruction we’ve heard stories of marathon participants running past the finish line to local hospitals where they donated blood. Another man was caught on video rushing toward the explosions and ripping off his belt to create a tourniquet for a wounded victim. One reporter told the story of a man who was rushing in and out of the danger zone, carrying people a hundred yards to [...]

“Once there was a tree and she loved a little boy…” is how Silverstein begins his beautiful children’s book. What a terrific first line. What a terrific book.

The little boy and the tree play together, make crowns from leaves and play hide and go seek. The boy loved the tree and so the tree was happy.

But as time went by and the boy grew older and became [...]