I recently heard a story about a boy who asked an Orthodox Priest if he could pray for Judas’ salvation.

The priest looked at the boy, smiled, leaned down, and responded, “Yes, of course!” When he looked up and caught the concerned and questioning gaze of the boy’s parents, he stood and whispered, “I don’t know what it could mean for Judas, but it will be very good for your boy.”

Control, it masquerades in the religious rhetoric of holiness; its wars are holy, its politics, its inquisitions, its crusades, its genocide, its prejudice, discrimination, racism, sexism, its abuse – all painted with the brush of fanatic righteousness.

        This is an excerpt taken from, Prone To Love There were two trees in the garden of Eden. Well, there were probably thousands of trees in the garden, but there were two particular trees God went out of His way to acknowledge. First, the tree...

Hope, healing, intimacy, unconditional love, and acceptance; in this conversation, Rusty and Erin Pleune talk about the intentional steps they took to create a culture of connection in their marriage and how they now help couples do the same. They also dove into their journey of discovering community and deeper faith as they lean into the goodness of God.

But the Brian Simmons Passion Translation of that verse is my favorite, and I think it’s infinitely more accurate—not based on my academic prowess but on what I know about love.

It reads, “I have never called you ‘servants’… But I call you my most intimate friends….”

Membership in a church does not automatically make me part of the Bride of Christ.