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Whenever a new Bible translation comes out, questions arise about changes to familiar passages. I was pleased to see the CEB use the word "disciple" to refer to the mysterious young man who appears in Mark 14:51-52, after the 12 disciples desert Jesus and run away.

Jay Smooth’s video blog is always good; last week’s was especially good.

New today from the Century.

We use flippancy and irony to shield ourselves from feeling. We relegate love to the realm of the romantic and sentimental, and dismiss it.

Reading is an act of "absorbed alertness," says Ursula Le Guin. Two reading memoirs record two distinct experiences of such absorption.

I've always been drawn to people like Larry. Whether they realize it or not, they are searching for a mainline church that makes sense in their brains and a difference in their lives.

New today from the Century.

After a couple of years of sweating over each syllable, I suddenly needed the words. I hungered to write them. On vacations, my family urged me to take a break and I became cranky. What happened? How did the words begin to grow like wildflowers that I no longer had to coddle?

Got your own summation of the gospel in seven words or fewer? Add it as a comment to this post.

According to my understanding of congregational polity, a pastor has the authority to turn down money. But not this much money.

The passage from Micah raises some important theological questions related to God's revelation. Micah is clear that focusing solely on our well-being and declaring war on the poor will lead to a cessation of revelation and vision.

I shared today in church a few of parables from Matthew 13: mustard seed, yeast, treasure, pearl. I tried to just tell them as stories: very little editorial commentary or explanation, just the stories.