Dear Grace Family: I have mentioned before that I enjoy the daily devotional writings of Fr. Richard Rohr. Recently, he wrote the following: “Having faith doesn’t have to do with being perfect. It has to do with staying in relationship, hanging in there, holding on to union as tightly as God holds on to us. It’s not a matter of being correct…

Dear Grace Family: Peter Marty, the editor of The Christian Century magazine, is one of my favorites. Recently, he wrote an article about the practices of faith. He said, “Faith is a way of life that acquires its layers and contours incrementally, often imperceptibly.” His point was that our faith grows deeper over time as we encounter relationships with people from all…

Recently, I read an article entitled, “The 80/20 Rule is a Problem for churches.” The author, an experienced pastor, explains that even though it is a common observation that 20% of the people in a church do 80% of the work, this is not good for churches. This is because the gospel message, and the life of the early church in Acts,…

Dear Grace Family: Have you ever heard the advice to “keep your expectations low and you will not be disappointed”? I have often struggled with this advice because it suggests that having high expectations of others will inevitably lead to disappointment. Sometimes this is true, and sometimes it is not. But the real benefit of keeping our expectations low is that we…