This is not my first wheelchair ride


Wendy on being wheelchair-bound in an airport: My plane is late. My gut reaction is that it is God’s judgment. But I know he doesn’t work that way. Just like I know that most people are more generous than I give them credit for and less interested than I Read more

Justin Lee: ‘Gay Christian’ is not an oxymoron


Excerpt from Justin Lee's CNN Belief Blog titled: "My Take: 'Gay Christian' is not an oxymoron." Read more

Phil Madeira on Heather Kopp


God on the Rocks author Phil Madeira takes a look at Heather Kopp's Sober Mercies. Read more

On Becca Stevens and her Heart


"It is a dangerous thing to give your heart away to someone you have only just met." Read more

Enter for a Chance to Win a Copy of Heather Kopp's Sober Mercies


Enter for a chance to win a copy of Heather Kopp's Sober Mercies. Read more

brian mclaren » Jericho Books

On Easter and Holy Week

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Thoughts on Easter and Holy Week, from the Jericho Staff and Authors

As we did on Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day, we took a moment to ask the Jericho staff and authors what Easter means to them this Holy week. Comment below and let us know what Easter means to you.

From ShutterstockHeather Kopp, author of Sober Mercies:

I love Easter Sunday as much as the next Christian. But in recent years, I resonate more with the spiritual themes of Good Friday.

I don’t mean to sound flip, but since God is all-powerful, the idea that He could raise Jesus from the dead is not all that surprising.

But the idea that God Incarnate would make himself vulnerable to his own creation—to the point of death on a cross—astonishes me.

As a recovering drunk, I’m keenly aware that I am powerless over alcohol. The idea that God once made himself as powerless as I am—so that one day I could rely on his awesome power instead of my own—seems almost too good to be true.

Yet here I am sober, living proof that it’s so.

“God allows himself to be edged out of the world and onto the cross. God is weak and powerless in the world, and that is exactly the way, the only way, in which he can be with us and help us.” –Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Phil Madeira, author of God on the Rocks:

Easter is the one Sunday in the year that calls me to rise early. Mind you, I’d rather sleep in. But if I’m vigilant enough to rise, and hightail it to a favorite park before the sun gets there, I can be reminded of the Light that has been visited upon my darkness, from which I raise my mug of coffee and shout “Christ is risen!”

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On Valentine’s Day

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Thoughts on Love, this Valentine’s Day, from the Jericho Staff and Authors

As we did on Thanksgiving, we took a moment to ask the Jericho staff and authors what love means to them on this Valentine’s Day. Comment below and let us know what love means to you.

Phil Madeira, author of God on the Rocks:

My Southern Born Woman resists Valentine’s Day. In the early days of our courtship, I found this quirk to be annoying. All the easy traditional opportunities to present symbols of my affection for her where thwarted by her distaste for the commercialization of the day.

As has often been the case, her quirks were a gift to our relationship. She didn’t want the expressions of love and desire to be connected to a string around my finger. She liked flowers to come unexpectedly, and a love note to be inspired by something other than routine.

The best way to celebrate Valentine’s Day is by loving without a calendar.

Wendy Grisham, Publisher:

Wendy's Valentine's Day Photos

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Brian McLaren on Lillian Daniel

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By Brian McLaren

I think Lillian Daniel became famous for the words: “Please stop boring me.”

She put them in a blog post that went viral and suddenly people all around were talking about this bright and bold UCC minister from the Midwest.

Lillian finally said what a lot of folks had been thinking – especially leaders in churches that are certifiably part of “organized religion” – when they heard the ninety-seventh person say four other highly predictable words, “I’m spiritual but not ….”

Of course the word “religious” completed the sentence. And of course Lillian and thousands of others have every right to be tired of hearing about how the person next to them on a plane doesn’t need the church anymore because they find God in sunsets and puppies.

One could imagine how a doctor would feel if he heard ninety-eight people say, “I don’t really go to doctors anymore. I just consult a website.” Or how a politics or history professor would feel after ninety-nine people say, “Universities are really outdated now that we have Cable News and talk radio.”

“Please stop boring me” would be a completely understandable response.
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