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I have conversations with a wide variety of clergy colleagues. But they're all the same conversation: "Is it well with your soul?"

A few years ago I started to get a lot of affirmation for my preaching. People were listening, worship attendance was growing, and I was overhearing parishioners describe me as a good preacher. Soon this shaped my pastoral identity and led me to claim preaching as my “thing.” This prompted me to attend a large preaching conference, to learn from the best in my field.

New today from the Century: Sam Wells on ministry without God, Teri McDowell Ott on what a writing workshop did for her preaching, more.

In my article on alternatives to the Revised Common Lectionary, I praised the African American Lectionary's extensive resources, but I didn't really describe them in any detail. There is a wealth of good stuff on the AAL website. The AAL is based on weekly themes, many of which do not correspond to the liturgical calendar the RCL follows. This Sunday is Caregivers Day, one of several new AAL observances this year.

When my daughter broke her femur, it seemed clear that we shouldn't conceive another child who might inherit my bone disorder. That clarity was short-lived.

Job describes “an iron pen” with which words could be “engraved on a rock forever.” Few writers have such a pen. Even C. S. Lewis might well have been surprised that The Screwtape Letters has enjoyed such a long life. 

New today from the Century: Ellen Painter Dollar on disability and parents' tough choices, Emily Heath on her football team and its offensive name, more.

Reading or writing a poem requires that we step out of ourselves—which can be dangerous. It's the same thing I do as a foreign correspondent.

New today from the Century: Eliza Griswold on writing journalism and poetry, Steve Thorngate on food stamps, more.

Friday's food stamps cut is simply the end of a temporary increase. That’s a small comfort for struggling Americans whose tight grocery budgets just got tighter.

We are instructed to love our enemies—not necessarily to forgive them.