Community

By Charles Christian The old saying goes, “You can talk about anything but politics and religion.” It could be that our reluctance to talk about either has made it more difficult to navigate both religion and politics. Maybe this reluctance has contributed to why the number of people who claim a religious faith is dwindling,

By Charles Christian The core teachings of Jesus are included in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5 through 7. A key passage is right in the middle of these. Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to

By Charles Christian Traditionally, the season of Lent is a time of deep spiritual reflection that for most Christians includes fasting. Fasting is the act of intentionally refraining from something. Usually, this involves food, but it doesn’t have to. People can fast from social media, caffeine, chocolate or a variety of other items. Fasting is

By Charles Christian An old farm saying goes something like this: “The sweetest water comes from deep wells.” Starting with Ash Wednesday, Christians have entered into the season of Lent. Lent is a 40-day period leading up to Easter. The journey through Lent involves a deepening of our walk with God. This is often done

By Charles Christian Best-selling Christian author Max Lucado once asked this question: “What is the holiest part of your day?” According to Lucado, most people’s answers will be when they are well-groomed and wide awake. Others may say that most of their days contain no “holy moments,” implying that God will just have to wait

By Charles Christian Brain researchers tell us that our “fight or flight” response is due to what is called our limbic system. This system is associated with the brain stem and spinal cord and is triggered when we sense danger or surprise. It signals our bodies to either fight or flee (run away). Those of

By Charles Christian I once participated in an exercise among pastors where someone asked, “If money were no issue, what would your church do in the coming year?” Of course, one pastor (not me) could not resist a reply. “If money were not an issue, we probably wouldn’t be at this seminar trying to figure

By Charles Christian Some refer to it as “the wilderness.” Some call it “the desert of days.” Others call it the “dark night of the soul.” Whatever you may refer to the times in life that feel “in-between,” like we are waiting for the “next thing,” it certainly can’t be described as fun. These are

By Charles Christian There’s a song by the late Christian singer Rich Mullins. The key line in the says, “We are awfully small, and we’re not as strong as we think we are.” At first glance, this song may seem like a reflection of someone with low self-esteem. Even worse, it may appear to be