What life have you if you have not life together? There is not life that is not in community, And no community not lived in praise of God . . . -Choruses from the Rock T. S. Eliot penned these transcendent words for The Rock in 1934. Although the modern…

Do you want to know what the number one response is to being asked to do something? I’m sure you can guess it. “I’m busy.” Do you want to know what the number one response is to being asked the question how you have been? …

Thirty-three years ago, Vicki Webb got in a car accident in front of Woodlawn Church, which we now know as Woodside Bible Church of Royal Oak. For years following the accident, she avoided that street for the painful memories it carried. At the time, Vicki was in her 30s and…

Suffering has an inherent disjointing affect. It displaces our emotions and refashions our rationale. Suffering becomes, what feels like, an inescapable labyrinth of lament. This emotional entanglement is explored throughout various books of the Bible but is particularly palpable in the Old Testament. …

On my most recent journey through the Gospel according to Luke, I was ambushed by the account of Jesus’ visit to a certain set of sisters. Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had…

There are lots of things I don’t trust. Politicians, most drivers on I-75, half the people’s profiles I come across on dating apps, the neighbors across the street from me with a tiki hut in their backyard, and frankly, a lot of other things — some more significant than others. …

The value of a work of art hinges on its authenticity. To assess its worth, the art undergoes the process of appraisal. This exploration into its validity is ultimately done for one purpose: to help identify its true artist. A similar concept exists in the New Testament book of James…

Last week while sitting at my desk at work, I received an email that it was time to start our 2023 sales and marketing plans. Being what I consider an old pro, I promptly set to work, disregarding a few of the ‘important notes’ in the email instead of getting…

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” This quote is the first sentence of author Leo Tolstoy’s most famous novel, Anna Karenina.* In his work, Tolstoy claimed that for a family to be happy, several areas of need must be met, such as…