Church Anew Blog

Joy is labeled “childlike” because we tend to demean the true power of God so as to not confront our own powerlessness. Joy is labeled “childlike” — because it is. Joy makes us like children in the greatest hope of what childhood ought to be, when it is not thieved by genocide or gestapo: full of hope, full of wonder, full of play.

How incredible that some of the voices meeting this moment are Christians who take Scripture this seriously.

 I believe lamenting (and hoping) to be a practice where Jesus joins us in grieving and holding what we cannot hold. Nothing we name is an offense or burden to him. Nothing we name needs to be rushed to fix, but perhaps met with compassion, quietness, and space.

 I believe lamenting (and hoping) to be a practice where Jesus joins us in grieving and holding what we cannot hold. Nothing we name is an offense or burden to him. Nothing we name needs to be rushed to fix, but perhaps met with compassion, quietness, and space.

Somehow this week I ended up spending the majority of my non-working hours doing research on a little known side character in the story of Saul found in the Hebrew text of 1 Samuel 28. AS ONE DOES.

When a state’s policies become intolerant of the neighbors of our other countries and they seek division, it is the church’s job to proclaim the unity of the nation of believers that is without border. It is the church’s duty to remind both the church and the world that the love of neighbor is the foundation to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Much of the loss to church participation in U.S. Protestantism is simply a loss of casual participation and affiliation.

Four years later, our building has 200 reservations a month, with thousands of people passing through our doors. Documentary showings, protest rallies, 12-step groups, mutual aid circles, and free meals fill our building from sun up to sundown–all of them values-aligned, community-benefitting events that create real Gospel impact, whether or not they are explicitly faith-based.