The spiritual life I had spent many years trying to locate within the walls of churches and on my knees in earnest prayer, was primarily one of the other world—the beyond. The spirit that I have found is not located beyond, but in the soil right beneath my feet. The new life it calls me to does not...

An attempt at a Bon Iver concert review / The Meaning of Music. So, I saw Bon Iver at the Paramount in Seattle. No big deal. EXCEPT THAT IT WAS A BIG DEAL. ‘CAUSE IT WAS EPIC. … AND IF YOU WEREN’T THERE YOU MISSED OUT. BIG TIME. End of story. Cut, print, thank you come again! – Anyone can...

Sex and Sabbath On Sunday, Paul and I, exhausted from the week and staying up late Saturday night, overslept. The girls still wanted to go to church. We tried to rush, but had to pick up Elsa, who had stayed the night with a friend, and subsequently missed all services. This is not uncommon. When we...

“When art is not flourishing, religion languishes . . . the two often wax and wane in tandem.” Earle Jerome Coleman. There seems to me a mysterious metaphysical connection between aesthetics and religion, art and worship that I find myself hesitant to explore. Each subject on it’s own is daunting,...

Having recently attended a hipster church in Los Angeles, I sat in the audience marveling at a phenomenon which has swept through Christendom. I find “cults of celebrity” highly disturbing. “Cult” is a volatile term to use in relationship to churches, but I lament that it is somewhat...

There was a moment in time when I was really, really into Vaclav Havel. He had only recently spearheaded the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, in which the oppressive Soviet-sponsored government was peacefully overthrown. He had more recently served as guest editor of Civilization, a magazine briefly...

The lights dimmed, the entire place went dark. Massive screens across the back of the stage burst with colors. A video began telling the story of the Passion conferences.  After a few minutes, the video piece transitioned and powerful words scrolled onto the screens as violins and cellos filled the...

Whether we speak of it in terms of corporate gatherings or personal encounters, scripted events or informal experiences, lifestyle or meeting; worship in its most basic sense, is intimate. Far from the limited definition of Worship as the songs we sing on Sunday and the only slightly less limited definition...

When I was visiting my brother in West Palm Beach, Florida last year, we were driving to his apartment and we passed this megachurch, and my brother told me that this church had recently issued some new rules to its worship team. (My brother was serving as worship pastor at another megachurch in West...

This morning, churches around the globe celebrated Palm Sunday, which commemorates Jesus’ purposeful entrance into Jerusalem in the manner of a peaceful king. Prior to this point in his career, Jesus avoided the adoration of the masses. He healed a man and ordered him to keep it a secret. Jesus...