Brian McLaren, Sara Miles, Chris Wiman, and others make their selections.
A preacher's nightmare is to be in front of an eager congregation and realize your notes are missing. No wonder one of my favorite Bible stories is about a clergyperson who's rendered speechless.
Going into the Paris climate summit, many nations remain sketchy about their commitments. But several things are new since the Kyoto Protocol.
At a reunion of our seminary's class of 1965, I talked to pastors who grieve that they have not left the mainline church better than they found it. They were faithful to their moment, but that moment blew away.
Anyone can see the rippling effects of God's kingdom in buildings, movements, and practices. I couldn't comprehend it all without Diana Butler Bass.
It could have been any academic conference—except that Catwoman was on my left and a fully dressed hobbit was on my right.
There are many ways we receive the gift of Jesus badly.
I once read Luke 1 on a park bench during a jazz festival. I was practicing the art of reading scripture in an unusual location to see what this reveals in a familiar text. I pictured Mary as a jazz singer.
The tension between the joy of the first three readings and the judgment of the Baptizer’s proclamation is theologically instructive. It presses us to hold the two together.
Material values
Scott Dannemiller narrates his family's year of simpler living. By the end, he acknowledges that "stuff" is not bad.
The Religion of Democracy, by Amy Kittelstrom
Amy Kittelstrom examines the overlapping ideas, personalities, and relationships of seven figures associated with what she calls the American Reformation.
Afghan morass
In two books on Afghanistan, Anand Gopal and Carlotta Gall each point to the absurdity of America's longest war.
Our Kids, by Robert D. Putnam
Balancing biography and quantitative research, Robert Putnam paints a sobering picture of the state of the American dream.