I realized I was singing with ease words that cannot be taken lightly. The song was more sincere than I was, and I knew I needed to do something with that realization. The song had to become for me not a celebration of the way things are but a confession of the way things are not. It had to become a prayer—a way of asking for things to be as they ought.
Read MoreI have never been very good at the whole Lent thing—even though I’ve successfully given something up for Lent a number of times. Growing up in the Southern Baptist church, Lent wasn’t something I had any awareness of. So as a freshman in college, newly involved in a church that celebrated the season with the option of fasting from something, I remember being genuinely excited to try it.
Read MoreWhy are we doing communion every week this summer? It has been said—and I believe this—that partaking in the sacrament of communion is the most intimate act of worship we will experience this side of eternity. Think about the word: partake. We are ingesting physical elements that at least represent, and at most embody—in some mysterious way—the presence of Christ.
Read MoreAs my friend and co-worker, Trey Colson, was combing through the liturgies that different church traditions have used to celebrate Holy Week, he noticed something that struck him— and as he shared it with me, it struck me as well. A seemingly small detail at the end of the Maundy Thursday service: The service continues on Good Friday.
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