Posture and Position

Black and White to Color: Rewiring My Brain for Intimacy 

“I just wish you could connect with me better, and relate to me at a deeper level,” my wife said. It didn’t sound mad this time—but it was with heartbreaking sadness. After decades of marriage, we were once again having this weighty conversation. My dismissive attachment style wanted to run

The Beauty of the Gospel in the Matters of the Heart

We see evidence all throughout Scripture that Jesus was deeply concerned with the matters of the heart. When we take a look at the life and ministry of Christ, we discover a man who saw people in their circumstances—stepping not only into their physical realities, but also their spiritual ones. 

Riding the Waves of Transition

Transitions can be hard, especially those that aren’t expected. But even for the ones we long for, there are still lessons to learn, emotions to sort out and most of all, places where we can meet with the Lord.   I had always wanted to be married. In my mid 20s,

The Reality You Feared: Practical Steps for Making it Through

I had been crying loudly for 15 minutes. My wife was laying peacefully and mostly non-responsive in bed next to me. Cancer had been taking her life for over a year and she was days away from breathing her last breath at age 38. I was at the end of

When Differences Pull Us Apart

 I can’t help but notice that a spirit of argument and polarization seems to have taken over our world. Maybe it feels collectively harder to handle conflict because we’re tired out from the pandemic and wary of political drama, but differences of opinion have existed since the beginning of humankind.

Cheating is Wrong… Isn’t It?

SEEK TO UNDERSTAND BEFORE BEING UNDERSTOOD  The first thing most missionaries learn is the mantra, “Different isn’t wrong, it’s just different.”  In situations where we don’t understand others’ actions, it can be helpful to look at the ways Jesus related to people and the types of questions He asked them—He

Don’t Question the Expert

For as far back as I can recall, being right has been important to me. You might say it has formed a significant part of my identity. I can remember being 10 or 11 and showing a friend how to pop popcorn (in those long-ago days before air poppers and

Position Mixtapes

How do we know what we know? How do we determine our position, or what we believe, on various issues? We all combine different sources of knowledge in different ways, resulting in a highly personalized position mixtape. The four sources of knowledge are Scripture, personal experience, reason, and tradition. How

What I Said and How I Said It

“Pastor, I don’t know what to think. A loving God can’t possibly think this about me, can He?” The voice on the recording belonged to a young woman who described herself as bisexual (attracted to men and women). She had been building trust with our community over the last few

A New Song

“How’s your health, Caitlin?” This was a simple question from a caring Navigator staff woman, as we caught up during a wedding weekend in 2009. Suddenly, the room spun and I had trouble breathing. Heart racing, I lay down on her couch and tried to compose myself. What in the