“Can I shine your shoes?” asked a man with bucket and brushes in hand. I paused and looked at my supervisor, who was in midsentence discussing a work project. He looked around the crowded street, wavered, and then lifted his shoe onto the man’s stool. The man knelt down and… Read More

My friend Joan was bragging about an actor she often worked with. “He’s so good, he doesn’t need a director.” Joan obviously meant well, but she clearly didn’t know much about directing. It’s far more than merely telling actors where to stand. Directors are mirrors, mentors, conductors, cheerleaders, translators, philosophers… Read More

My acting student was mumbling lines from a Tennessee Williams masterpiece. I was straining to hear him from the back of the room. “But I was really feeling it!” he said later. “That’s great,” I replied, “but you need to let those feelings live. You need to share… Read More

Prayer is one of the ways we can satisfy our inbuilt longing for God. The Psalmist says, “As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for you, the living God” (Psalm 42:1-2a). Prayer helps us express our deep desire… Read More

The bustle of New York City always catches me off guard. “You’ll find people from every tribe and nation in New York,” my cab driver told me as we left Penn Station. Taxis, tourists, billboards, fast-paced locals—everyone seems to be meeting in this epic center of civilization. “Every language… Read More

At the start of a busy day, a college student loads her backpack with books and papers—and of course her phone. She’s off to a full day of classes, but she also has a number of relationship issues stirring in the background. She’s hoping for a call from… Read More

Most churches have a small contingent of people who faithfully read the Bible every day or two. These are the “Bible engaged.” Then there’s a larger crowd of those who never get around to it, despite their best intentions. As leaders, there’s only so much we can do. At… Read More

There has been some hand-wringing over our latest State of the Bible survey, which showed that “Bible skeptics” now outnumber the “Bible engaged,” 21% to 17%. We have been brainstorming ways to reverse that trend by countering skepticism in our society, and that’s a worthy pursuit, though a challenging… Read More

“Isa” was arrested in 2010 as a suspected member of a terrorist group that bombed the World Cup in Kampala, Uganda, killing at least 74 people. Yet this teenager’s story began long before. He was abducted from his madrasa by an Al Shabaab operative when he was only eight… Read More

Innovation. Courage. Paying attention to those on the margins of society. Learning from those you disagree with. These themes bounced through Boston’s historic Tremont Temple during the Q Conference, held in late April. It was a heady time, teeming with new info and ideas. And… Read More