The Hermit and the Blackbird
By Donavon Riley
03/27/26
11mins

The Hermit and the Blackbird

Lent exists because we are forgetful creatures. We forget how hungry we really are.
Getting Over Your Moral Superiority
Daniel Emery Price
Daniel Emery Price
03/26/26

Getting Over Your Moral Superiority

The Pharisee valued fasting and giving tithes, but could not find value in his fellow sinner.
The Original Sin of Preaching: The Constant Craving for a Useful God in Pulpit and Pew
Magnus Persson
Magnus Persson
03/25/26

The Original Sin of Preaching: The Constant Craving for a Useful God in Pulpit and Pew

God is not a tool in our hands. He does not exist to serve our goals, our metrics, or our platforms.

All Articles

Chad Bird
Chad Bird
06/28/17

Putting to Death Our Immortality Projects

The only recourse we have is to die before we die. To give up on a fake-life. To acknowledge that this stupid, selfish game we’re playing with our immortality projects has zero success.
Jared C. Wilson
Jared C. Wilson
06/12/17

The Upsetting Reality of the Beatitudes

Many, many people—including many church people—have this asinine idea that Jesus showed up on earth two thousand years ago and loosened everything up.
Scott Davis
Scott Davis
05/31/17

Sin Spanx

Have you ever heard of Spanx? Although they’ve only been around since 2010, their predecessors have been around for centuries.
Erick Sorensen
Erick Sorensen
05/24/17

Sin Boldly?

The common knock against “grace people” (or to put it another way, “Christians”) is that preaching too much grace will encourage licentious living.
Zack James Cole
Zack James Cole
05/23/17

Living in a Van Down By the River

My experience as a Christian did not revolve around Christ. It revolved around asking, “What is God’s will for my life?” Hunting the answer to this question was my god, and I paid homage to it every day.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
05/21/17

God Daily Gives Us More Than We Can Handle

He has given you clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home—as well as grocery stores, carpenters, and farmers to provide those goods.
Joel Hess
Joel Hess
05/04/17

Hey Pastor, Your Church Is Not Healthy (goggles required)

Your church is not healthy. If they were healthy, they wouldn’t need someone to heal them.
Daniel Emery Price
Daniel Emery Price
05/03/17

The Wicked Way We Become More Like Jesus

I'm always surprised to hear people say, “If I could do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing.” But we’re all sinners and we all sin every day.
Donavon Riley
Donavon Riley
05/03/17

God's Not Angry At You

Even a sinner who is crushed by the weight of her offenses, who feels in her bones the weight of judgment, shame, and doubt can expect to receive God's good word.
Bob Hiller
Bob Hiller
05/02/17

Can I Be a Sinner in Your Church?

You can talk to me about how Jesus is really forgiving and how you want me around, but what happens when things don’t change in a month?
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
04/30/17

I Would Never Do That: Facing the Lie We Tell Ourselves

We pray for God to deliver us from ourselves. To forgive us, for Jesus’s sake, when we do evil.
Sam P. Schuldheisz
Sam P. Schuldheisz
04/19/17

The Great Eucatastrophe

Eucatastrophe combines two Greek words: ‘eu’ meaning ‘good’ (as in eulogy or euphoria), and ‘katastrophe’ for destruction.
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