Still waters, in a literal sense, are waters that flow slowly and serenely—an image that is beautifully depicted in Psalm 23:3, "He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul."

This past fall my Aunt Melissa suddenly became very ill. Weeks later she was diagnosed with cancer, too sick to begin any treatment. My mom's oldest sister, who had seemed healthy a month ago, was now on a hospital bed with word from the doctors-"there's nothing we can do."

We all need a little more solitude in our lives. We also need a little more community as well. The more I experience life as a Christian the more I truly believe that communal spirituality fuels our individual spirituality and individual spirituality fuels our communal spirituality. We need both. Just like how introverts need a little more extrovertism in their lives, and how most extroverts need to learn to calm down. 

I’m a pastor in a small church north of Boston, MA. Our congregation is full of very different people… Diversity across age, race, IQs, education levels, income brackets… And yet, as worship leaders and pastors, we’re tasked with sharing the Good News of God’s redeeming love, each weekend, in a relevant, engaging way. 

I recently had the privilege of hanging out with about 20 dedicated volunteers who serve the worship ministry of their congregation, one that worships nearly 1,000 people each week. Their worship pastor had just moved on to a new church and, before launching a search for a new one, we thought it best to have a conversation with those most involved in the ministry

It’s mid-March and Easter is right around the corner. If you’re part of a larger church with good structure and organization, you’ve probably been talking about Easter since Christmas. If you’re part of a smaller church (like me!) with less structure and organization, there’s a chance it’s barely crossed your mind yet. 

Quite often we get asked questions through our website and/or social channels. Here's a great question I got last week from a friend named Nigel and thought it might be a helpful conversation to share here. Enjoy!

I’m not a Christmas-card sending person; I’m more of a “post a Christmas picture to Instagram” kind of person. (Stamps are expensive, you guys!). But I absolutely love receiving Christmas cards. Last month I was staring at my refrigerator, which was decorated with photos of family and friends.

I found it in an antique store. I was there to shop for my wife’s birthday, but heard the siren song of an old bookshelf filled with old books and was lured into complete distraction. I stood shuffling through the collection, amused by the lack of organization. Julia Childs cookbook next door to a Ronald Reagan biography, giant hardback coffee table book shoulder to shoulder with a Louis L’amour paperback. Dostoyevsky sandwiched between The Hardy Boys. It was like literature whiplash.

My favorite movie of all time is unashamedly Back to the Future (and for the record, I consider all 3 movies to be one continuous film). 

For those of you who have been living under a rock since 1985, Back to the Future is a story about a teenager named Marty McFly (played by Michael J Fox) who time travels in a DeLorean with the help of scientist Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown (played by Christopher Lloyd). The movie is filled with time traveling adventures to the past as well as to the future.