I’m listening to The Civil War’s “Poison and Wine,” feeling the light elasticity of my lungs. And I’m thinking about how, when I feel most fragile, most ambiguous and craving, that being able to take space from “church” has been helpful. When I’ve been Allowed...

Recently, MSNBC aired a documentary on a popular youth ministry and its alleged cult-like practices. I was eager to view it since I have personal ties to people from the ministry. It is a relatively flat documentary, presenting the ministry as a definite cult that drags its interns through the mud (literally,...

I thought I was ready to date, but now I’m not so sure. Out of curiosity, I created a profile on eHarmony to see what my “ideal matches” would be like. I got 10 matches and I was skeptical of all of them. I imagined them all as the most awkward guy from college, sitting at his computer, typing...

Are you called to be skinny? Let me put it this way: are you called to be fat? In high school, I was friends with girls who ate veggie wraps in the cafeteria or flaxseed cereal for breakfast. I felt like Shrek, with my peanut butter/jelly sandwich and brownie at the same lunch table. When I was 6, I...

Have you ever heard of the mole people? You know, the people that live in the New York City subway system? They are said to be mysterious children of the tunnels, hidden away from mainstream society. Perhaps it is urban legend, but I could believe it. Sometimes I think I understand these under-earth...

This was a Pandora find from last fall. I think it was under a Patty Griffin genre. But have you heard them yet?! Their first album Rabbit Songs was released in 2002 and they are currently doing music for New York City’s “Shakespeare in the Park” event. They are creating the score to “Twelfth...

I’ve been a Christian for almost twenty years, and I am just learning about repentance. That is not to say I haven’t ever repented, but there is so much more to it than repenting of my sin nature once at the age of four. It all started for me in the book of Jonah. Jonah spends a lot of time...