Join our church in dreaming together this spring about a more profound, more connecting, more sustainable way to address economic suffering and struggle in our country. Vince sets the table for this ongoing project teaching us about the God of Solidarity, who calls us toward the same mindset. (Illustration by Lauren Rolwing for The Southeast Center For Cooperative Development)
Read MoreIs there any wisdom that is more across-the-board applicable than forgiveness? — to both interpersonal and societal struggles? — to both small slights and major abuse? There might not be! For our part 2 on "conflict resolution", Vince explores Jesus' teaching on forgiveness, as explained by Desmond Tutu and his daughter Mbpo Tutu in "The Book of Forgiving".
Read MoreConcluding our discussion of the modern experience of crushing, constant guilt, Hayley and Vince move us to the topic of grace: a close-relative of forgiveness, but also distinct in important ways.
Read MoreHow can anyone believe in a loving and powerful God when there is so much evil and suffering in the world? If the common religious response that "it's all a part of God's plan" is not satisfying to you (or has hurt you personally), you are not alone. For week 1 of Lent, we experiment with an alternative way to believe in a loving and powerful God -- that doesn't bypass people's pain, that is consistent with Jesus' picture of God, and that invites intellectual curiosity rather than shuts it down.
Read MoreOne tension it feels we must hold to live life well is (on one side) pursuing ideals, and (on the other side) choosing to embrace what is true right now and maybe can't be ideal. Hayley and Kyle discuss how to do that well without losing our minds or succumbing to cynicism.
Read MoreLinda, Vince, and Kyle discuss loneliness, identity, introversion vs extroversion, and the prayers, scriptures, and images of God that are helping them during our shelter-in-place reality or have helped them in past seasons of loneliness.
Read MoreHard-wired into humans is an incredible tool to enhance our daily experience of life, to help us turn our relational circuits on when stress has turned them off, and to connect with God and other people. That tool is our memory!
Read MoreBLV's own Njenga Maina and Tamara King each share from their own lives as a way to represent the two biggest global connections our community enjoys: a church in Nakuru, Kenya, and two churches in Mexico (one in Puerto Vallarta, and the other in Mexico City).
Read MoreBLV's resident spiritual director walks us through the stakes of anxiety in his spiritual life and how, in small practical ways on any given day, he has learned to make choices out of something other than anxiety.
Read MoreA day in the life of BLV pastor Kyle Hanawalt, in which he realizes that God (brilliantly) wants to give him peace before giving him guidance. How? Through conversational prayer.
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