Guest Post

New today from the Century: Jon Sweeney on religious identity, Steve Thorngate on Obama's bad dishonesty about good policy, more.

New today from the Century: Amy Frykholm reviews Carlene Bauer, Rodney Clapp on Christians without church, more.

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.

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.

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

New today from the Century: Nicholas Wolterstorff on injustice and forgiveness, LaVonne Neff reviews Elizabeth Bradley and Lauren Taylor, more.

New today from the Century: The editors on persecuted Christians around the world, Yolanda Pierce on slavery and religious rhetoric, more.

New today from the Century: Brian Doyle's grandmother's thoughts on Protestants, MaryAnn McKibben Dana on the Vietnam Memorial and pastoral leadership, more.

New today from the Century: The Century media columnists discuss Gravity, John Buchanan on disagreeing civilly with Richard Mouw, more.

New today from the Century: Phil Jenkins on Lusophone evangelism, Gail Irwin on being brought here to love others, more.

People who seek treatment for mental illness don’t often consult a 19th-century nun, but perhaps they should. St. Thérèse of Lisieux offers an entirely different—and liberating—way to think about mental health.

New today from the Century: The pastoral pope, sharing communion in a hospice room, more.

New today from the Century: Will Willimon reviews Tom Long and Tom Lynch, Ray Haberski on the Serenity Prayer, more.

New today from the Century: Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove on costly hospitality, April Yamasaki on the times when it actual is about the nail, more.

New today from the Century: Carol Zaleski on communicating through the fog, Jeffrey Johnson reviews R. S. Thomas, more.

New today from the Century: Lee Hull Moses on trying the Narrative Lectionary, Jason Byassee on the Duck at prayer, more.

Eugene Peterson notes that when we read scripture, "we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but to see our stories in God's. God is the larger context and plot.” This fall, I'm using the the Narrative Lectionary, put together in 2010 by the good folks at Luther Seminary and Working Preacher.