Have you ever thrown down the God Card? Playing the God Card happens whenever one uses "God told me" as the ultimate justification for a decision that requires group consensus. Picture a meeting about budget allocation or using space in the building or ministry direction, and someone goes "all-in." They might say: "I really feel like God wants this ...

Since I was small, I have enjoyed the idea of archaeology. Whether a fictional exposition in the movies or the images of real life expositions, I have always been intrigued—not just by the discovery, but primarily by the process. Of course, all sizes of tools are used by archaeologists during their digs for historical artifacts, but I am most captivated by the painstaking ...

In 1984, I wanted to be Sandra Day O'Conner, the first woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. I wrote to her and tacked her signed picture on my bulletin board. She was a pioneer, and even as an eight-year-old, I revered the place she had made for herself in what I considered a man's world. This month, Elena Kagan became the fourth woman to sit on the court. Of ...

I'll admit that I like to pull a Scarlett O'Hara when it comes to the less attractive side of church leadership, like getting the parking lot paved or turning in a budget. "Fiddle dee dee!" I shrug. "I can't think about that now! I'll think about that tomorrow…"

I think the business of church can be excruciating. What do you ...

Who are you calling a leader?

John Maxwell says leadership is influence. Well, if that's the case, I guess I've always been a leader. I'm the oldest child of two strong-willed, independent parents, so I may even have been born a leader! If I were in a group and no one was in charge, it was natural for me to step into the role. People often looked to me for ...

Between sessions at a busy conference, I rushed through my email at a student kiosk. I clicked open an article and time stopped. Finger poised over the mouse, I read the headline about Jennifer Knapp, a million-record-selling, multiple-Dove-award-winning singer-songwriter: "Jennifer Knapp: resisting the label lesbian, but ‘in love with a beautiful woman.'" ...

In an ever-growing list of words that annoy the living daylights out of me, excellence has clawed its way to the top. It's everywhere, and I'm sick of it.

Funny, because I used to love this word—when written in perfect grade-school-teacher cursive atop a worksheet or when my piano teacher (rarely) scrawled it on top of a page of a songbook. It meant something ...

I couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 years old when I first watched Wonder Woman on TV, but I remember specifically thinking,

She is awesome.

I want to be her.

She's so strong.

She's so pretty.

She quickly became my super hero. I even sported Wonder Woman Underoos until I could no longer fit in them. (Don't judge; I know you had your favorite super-hero Underoos ...

"How does a caterpillar make a cocoon?"

My three young children are incessantly curious, asking questions of nature, of people, and of God. As their mother and primary answer-giver, I find their curiosity alternately fascinating and frustrating.

"Why does Emma have two daddies and two mommies?"

I used to relish curiosity. But lately busyness and ...

I love the old hymn "All Creatures of Our God and King." Whether spiced up by David Crowder or belted out in the King's English, my soul is forever thankful to St. Francis of Assisi. When his 12th century refrain pops onto the screen in our sanctuary a burgeoning desire for God have me fearlessly belting out the lyrics.

Thou rushing wind that art so strong ...