“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”  Howard Thurman This week I spent three days in New Orleans with the wonderful folks from The Fund for Theological Education (FTE) at their...

Yes, my 13-year-old daughter has political aspirations.  She is a total drama queen, highly photogenic and that red hair is sure to catch the attention of voters.  But she has more than her looks and dramatic personality.  She has a clear platform that will save lives and lead America into...

In a comment to my post, “Is the Church Relevant?”  Karen Muntzing asks a great question: “Serving in a seeker sensitive church provides challenges to my understanding of the gospel, which tends to look more like the island of misfit toys. How do we form communities of authenticity and...

This past Friday, I had the privilege of sitting under the teachings of John W. Kinney, the Dean of the Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. What an amazingly gifted preacher and teacher! Dr. Kinney shared with us that he has been meditating on how to raise...

If you had asked me when I was 25 why I did not go to church, I would likely have answered, “Why should I?”  I had grown up totally un-churched and for me church was irrelevant. At the age of 26, after three miscarriages, God became relevant.  I discovered the one thing this type A...

“Religion is lived by people who are afraid of hell. Spirituality is lived by people who have been through hell.”   Over the years some of the most sensitive and compassionate people I have met have been recovering addicts and some of the most spiritually enlightened people I know,...

I want to thank those of you who have viewed and commented on this blog over the past year.  I have really enjoyed having the opportunity to write and share ideas with you.  It is always interesting for me to compile the numbers and see what posts are most visited each year. Drum roll...

Christmas is just not Christmas without being with my extended family.  However, going home is never easy for me.  It always carries with it the ache for those who are no longer with us.  Christmas Eve was my father-in-law’s birthday, I ache for my husband. Christmas Eve was also my...

John Perkins’ book, Beyond Charity, was my first exposure to Christian community development.  It became the text we used in our Unity Works training and was the foundation for the emphasis placed on “indigenous leadership development” that is core to our ministry at Embrace Richmond....

Last March we moved our Embrace Richmond corporate offices onto the campus of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (BTSR).   I love being at BTSR.  It has allowed me to have greater contact with the seminary community.  In the past two weeks, I have participated in several classes and...