Tag: Church
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Sunday Morning (a Poem)
Liner Notes: Somewhere deep in my past, there’s a long trail of really bad poetry with my name attached to it. As an angsty late adolescent, I found poems to be reliable forms of self-expression. There was something about their structured rhythms and rhymes that made me feel safe to explore my feelings regarding faith,…
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That Ain’t It
If you’re looking for high drama and political intrigue, you’re not likely to find much of it here in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. Our humble little slice of America isn’t exactly the most exciting or influential of places. But in the past few weeks, a notable controversy has captured headlines and caused quite the stir. It…
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Some Other Beginning’s End
The end is near. Almost. After four installments and over 8,000 words, my quest to pull back the curtain on my faith evolution is finally approaching its end. I’ve tried my best to distill a years-long process into a few key turning points. Despite leaving out plenty of details and glossing over numerous issues that…
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Truck Shopping
If I had to catalogue all the dates that have been noteworthy in my journey of spiritual evolution, December 10, 2017 would definitely be on the list. At the time, I was the preaching pastor of a church I had served for over seven years, and I was in the middle of a holiday sermon…
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Sleeper Agents
Here’s a plot idea for an action-packed summer blockbuster: A quiet suburban housewife lives on a tree-lined street with her clean-cut husband and a pair of well-groomed kids. She drives a station wagon, attends the school PTA meetings, and occasionally bakes casseroles for her elderly neighbors. Anyone who drives past her house while she’s outside…
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A Public Apology
Spiritual leaders are given access to the areas of life that people hold most sacred, the parts of themselves that most intimately define who they are. They aren’t just institutional decision-makers; they’re teachers, guides, counselors, examples. And nobody can do that sort of work without leaving a deep and lasting impact on other people. Sometimes…
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Why We (Probably) Won’t Change
It’s too bad the Celebrity Pastor Megachurch movement (imaginary NYSE symbol: CPM) isn’t a publicly traded company, because I’d sure love to see the plummeting red arrow depicting its stock price over the last few months. The latest hit to CPM’s value came a few days ago as James MacDonald was removed from his post…
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When You Feel Like a Tourist
Ben Gibbard is a brilliant songwriter. He does just about everything in his craft well. But perhaps what he does best is this: taking that vague, undefined emotion you’ve never quite been able to describe, and then describing it for you in a way that leaves you saying, “Yes! That’s it!” Pull a random Death…
Drew Thomas Humphrey 