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Some years back I noticed a man walking across a field near our house with a big labrador retriever running circles around him. The dog looked like he was having the time of his life, thoroughly happy to be there with his owner, and—to my total surprise—no leash. No matter: the dog seemed to be finding so much pleasure in being close to his master. Back in those days, we had a little shih-tzu dog named Lucy (don’t judge me…). Unlike the labrador in the field, Lucy would nev

Sociologists have noted the unprecedented “acceleration of change” happening in our world.. Information is instantaneous. People change locations more, change work more, change relationships more in our time than any other. And let’s be honest: a pandemic has made it easier than ever for Christians to check out other churches…and change. And yet, change is still one of the greatest factors of stress in our lives. Let’s have a reality check, leaders: change makes us uneasy, do

My hometown of Cincinnati is (in)famous for a number of reasons, not least its name. Hardly anyone can spell it, and few people, including most lifetime residents, have any idea what it means. Cincinnati is named after an ancient Roman war hero who lived from 519–430BC, about the same time as the biblical characters Nehemiah and Esther. Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was a politically conservative aristocrat whose views landed him on hard times. His son, Caeso, fell into a seri

In the first book of the popular children’s series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, four English children are transported into the other-worldly land of Narnia. They find themselves befriended by a talking beaver (it could happen…) who gives them an overview of the current crisis in Narnia but then quotes a prophecy about how the True King of Narnia, a powerful lion named Aslan, will return to establish his kingdom. Of course, the children have no idea who Aslan is, b

Some years back I had lunch with a young man who had immigrated to America at fifteen to escape an abusive father and a broken family system. He worked the orange groves of Florida—“the hardest work I’d ever done”, he said—from sunrise to sundown, paid pennies per ninety-pound boxes. He knew no one there and spoke no English. He eventually found his way to Cincinnati to work at a relative’s restaurant, married a young girl, working two jobs while his new wife went to school t