My husband and I recently returned from a 12 day Mediterranean cruise, a gracious gift from and with my parents in celebration of their 50 years of marriage. We began the trip in Venice, a beautiful city with a very rich history. While most people know it for its many canals and gondoliers, I was struck by its copious number of churches. Within a small geographical space, Venice has more than 170 church buildings, most of them built at the height of Venice’s wealth and power. But sadly, less than half of these beautiful structures house active congregations today. Many of them have been turned into museums, concert halls or show pieces. As we explored and happened upon church after church, it was hard not to wonder what Venice was like when the Christian faith was so prominent that churches were needed and used around every corner. I felt sorrow as I remembered that while Venice is a particularly clear example of this, cultures all over Europe are now espousing themselves as post-Christian.

Counterposed to this image was the last stop on our cruise: Split, Croatia. Here we walked through the great palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, built in...

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I love stories. I love true stories most. I try to read at least one or two biographies a year. During the last two weeks I’ve been savoring the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life. I’m reading about him through the biography written by Eric Metaxas titled Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy.

Bonhoeffer’s faith is a powerful witness. When he was confronted by evil, he responded with courage and conviction. So I have found it fascinating, that when he speaks of his own life, he states that he didn’t really feel like he had a choice other than to respond the way that he did. On the surface, that makes little sense given there...

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At various points in our journeys with God we are going to confront questions that challenge our faith. For some it may be a question about why God allowed a particularly painful event to rock their world. For others it might be an intellectual question where one tries to establish the reliability of Scripture or any other key affirmation of the Christian faith. While we might wish we could tread this journey without facing such questions, having faith does not mean there are no questions; it means that we trust in the midst of the questions and contingencies of life.

A couple of weekends ago, I was with some acquaintances talking theology over dinner. During the course of...

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Rodney and I recently went out to dinner and were shocked at the bill. It was nearly double what it should have been. There was clearly a mistake. Well, it was clear to us at least. As Rodney tried to explain the error on our bill, it did not seem to be registering to the staff at the restaurant. We even brought out the calculator and added each item to show her that it was not adding up correctly. Rodney patiently calculated the bill four times to show the correct amount. Still, she was not seeing the obvious. I could feel my annoyance increasing with each calculation. It just seemed so obvious! Rodney, on the other hand, responded with such...

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