The Tension Where Truth Lives

There’s a tension I always experience when I’m forced to wait.It doesn’t matter if I’m waiting on the condition of someone I’m visiting in a hospital… or sitting on a runway while a plane refuses to take off. Waiting carries a pressure of its own. Waiting is never neutral. It presses on the parts of…

The Healing We Avoid and the Work We Need If we are honest, most of us don’t throw stones because we are cruel. We throw stones because we are uncomfortable. Uncomfortable with tension. Uncomfortable with complexity. Uncomfortable with what a moment might expose about us. Standing beside Jesus in that courtyard, it becomes clear that…

Look again. Not at her first — but at everything around her. Before Jesus ever addresses the woman, a crowd has already formed. It doesn’t feel chaotic. It feels organized. Certain. Confident. They are close enough to speak for God, yet far enough to avoid seeing themselves. What stands out immediately is how quickly attention…

After more than twenty years of preaching, someone who knew me well once asked a question that stayed with me: “Why do you dumb down your preaching?” It wasn’t criticism. It was clarity. She knew my capacity… and she didn’t always hear it reflected in my words. At the time, I told myself I was…

Seeing How Jesus Sees Why Understanding Our Formation Comes Before Every Position There are moments in Scripture where the question being asked is not the question that truly matters. The passage where Jesus is asked whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar is one of those moments. On the surface, it sounds like…

Faith That Remains When Disappointment Has a Voice There were moments when leaving would have been easier. Easier than explaining. Easier than staying present in discomfort. Easier than holding faith and frustration in the same hands. I would be dishonest if I said the thought never crossed my mind. But I stayed. I stayed not…

What a Moment Taught Me That a Movement Couldn’t Some of the most sincere language in the Church has been spoken in the name of reconciliation. I’ve heard it preached passionately. I’ve watched it taught earnestly. I’ve seen it celebrated publicly. And I believe much of it was genuine. But over time, I’ve learned something…

life between the lines by Pastor Charles Howse Most of us were taught — directly or indirectly — that faith should resolve tension. If there is discomfort, we rush to explanation. If there is conflict, we search for language that smooths it over. If there is silence, we fill it. But I’ve come to believe…