A recent report on family leave policies suggests, “As citizens and culture-shapers, Christians should advocate for and develop policies and practices that protect, rather than fragment, family time.”

The Modeling Religion Project is “an international team of computer scientists, philosophers, religion scholars, and others … collaborating to build computer models that they populate with thousands of virtual people” in order to predict, among other things, how religion affects cultures.

“Being the good Shepherd did not prevent Jesus from being wounded. Nor does it keep today’s ministers from being wounded.”

There is an expectation that when we worship together we are going to sing. So, let the people sing. Take some time to figure out what your people sing and sing well.

“So it’s just a personality test?” I asked. I have since learned that referring to the Enneagram as “just” a personality test is to its aficionados like calling Beyoncé “just” a singer.

Are you demoralized, pastor? Have you been hollowed out? After telling everyone else about God’s grace, do you need to know it for yourself? May you find it in Bill and Skye’s story.

Marcia Davis reflects on the rescue of the Wild Boar soccer team in Thailand and realizes ‘No matter how deep or dark or hopeless we feel, God doesn’t want us to drown but to emerge triumphant.’

The image of the gun-toting preacher has recurred with remarkable persistence in U.S. history and culture.

“The news over the past few weeks might make you think that places such as my hometown—McAllen, Tex., in the Rio Grande Valley—are under siege from waves of undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers … The view from down here is different.” (via The Washington Post)

What’s your guiding image for ministry leadership?

On Independence Day, let us remember that religious liberty is not a bludgeon but a birthright.

“We support the rule of law, the ‘zero-tolerance’ policy, but we also want to see a compassionate response to the families attempting to cross the border illegally.”