By Andy Hale After morning had broken and the women had experienced the triumphant surprise of that first Easter morning, John’s Gospel takes us to a room where the disciples are locked away in fear, guilt, uncertainty, and apprehensive hope. They had all experienced the trauma of the last few days, as their Lord and … Continue reading
By Andy Hale They say that you should never meet your heroes. Generally speaking, I have had a good run of meeting people I admire. But I’ll spare you the list of my childhood heroes since you’ll probably have a hearty laugh at my expense. We tend to iconize and exaggerate the character, achievements, and … Continue reading
By Andy Hale Have you ever had a moment where you realize you are at an impasse with Jesus and his teachings? I’m going to go out on a limb and say that most of us would never publicly acknowledge an agreement with that question. However, internally, many of us have wrestled with some aspects … Continue reading
By Andy Hale We’ve officially been under the various degrees of pandemic mandates for over a year. My wife and I were flying home from DC when everything began to shut down. We had just wrapped up CBF’s Advocacy in Action conference. Many strains were felt from this pandemic, from dramatic changes to work to … Continue reading
By Andy Hale America has so many favorite Canadians, whether William Shatner, Michael J. Fox, Rachel McAdams, Sandra Oh, Drake, or Ryan Reynolds. If you had to just pick one, that’s a tough game to play. And then we have the Canadians that we blame for the failure of the Star Wars prequel trilogy; we’re … Continue reading
By Andy Hale “I can’t even imagine pastoring a church throughout this crisis,” a church member said to me over the phone last week. “Well,” I responded, “I did take a class in seminary on leading through a global pandemic.” What prepares us to lead in moments of crisis? What knowledge do we need to … Continue reading
By Andy Hale Everything froze at that moment. The air stood still. Every one of my senses was locked into the moment as I looked into my newborn daughter’s eyes for the first time. When you have the humble privilege of becoming a parent, everything changes when you see them for the first time. You … Continue reading
By Andy Hale When I was a child, I was petrified of the dark. I can distinctly remember waking up at night, terrorized in my bed, as I convinced myself that shadows and objects were something awful. You can’t tell me that you never woke up at night, saw a belt on the carpet, convincing … Continue reading
By Andy Hale Let’s not sugarcoat it, the church in America is at a critical crossroads. No, it is not the intersection of the pandemic and what life will be like afterward. Instead, this is a theological crisis, decades in the making, of what happens when you wed the desire for religious rightness with political … Continue reading
By Andy Hale If any good has come out of the year 2020, it might be that many Americans’ blinders to systemic racism have come off. But why did we ever think that it went away? Did we honestly believe that constitutional legislation would change the hearts and minds of the American landscape? But before … Continue reading