Change Your Mind Articles

I am a Christian.  That is, I follow the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, whom Scripture names Lord. 

I do not say now, as I once did, that, “I have decided to follow Jesus.”  I have come to hear that statement through different ears, for the unintended but ever-present individualism and hubris the words imply.  (Any statement of faith that begins with “I” ought to be suspect, as if what is stated after needed my approval in order to be...

There are two common and prevailing models for decision-making in the Western church, as follows:

1.  Objective /Autocratic:  Commonly referred to as “Elder-led,” this form of governance places final authority in a few elected or appointed members.  In this model, discernment and decision-making is “top-down,” relegated to the objective pronouncement of some authority (a pastor, elders, expert) who, through prayer and study,...

My bird feeder was visited a week ago by a mob of angry crows, quarreling.  Big bully birds took turns swooping down from bare branches, scattering the Finches and sending the Chickadees, chick-a-dee-dee-deeing.  I watched from my office window.   One crow flew to my feeder and began shoveling sunflower seeds down to the snow-covered ground like pennies from heaven, or hell, as the case may be, while the other birds stuffed their hostile beaks.

Next to squirrels, I...