Have you ever wondered why we pray in Jesus' name? I was thinking about this the other day. After all, there's no prayer recorded in the Bible that ends in his name. And when Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, he doesn't say, Now, make sure you mention my name when you talk to God. This is by design. Jesus' name isn't some magical code that unlocks God's ears or coerces his powers.

A couple weeks ago I came across a helpful framework for Scripture reading and prayer. If you're like me, then likely your daily"quiet time" turns into monthly with frightening ease. Sometimes it's our schedule that seems unmanageable and opening the Word and prayer are, regretfully, two of the first things we forgo to make our lives work. However, sometimes it's not a lack of time, it's a lack of a plan.

Language is developed through relationship. Early in life, we don't enroll in a class on speaking. Instead, "We are plunged at birth into a sea of language," (Working the Angles, 49). We simply go about our lives, soaking in words, tone, inflection, and dialect from everyone around us. And then, usually shortly after our first birthday, we speak.

Billie Jean King once said that sports are a microcosm of society. Regardless of whether or not you're an athlete or a fan, we learn a lot about ourselves by tuning in to ESPN or going to Wrigley. What we deem to be fair, celebratory, and courageous on a court or field demonstrates what we value in all of life.

Walking through our Jesus + Sexuality formation class has me thinking a lot about where we've gone wrong. It’s prompted me to reflect on my own story and pastoral experiences. In particular, I keep returning to a question I've heard many times over the past 20 years of ministry: Why does Jesus care so much about sex?

Happiness is the most sought after commodity of the modern age. And yet, it's also the most elusive. Many of us are feeling the exhausting side-effects of this restless pursuit. We try to curate our lives, chasing positive vibes and avoiding pain, seemingly, at all costs. But what if our frantic pursuit of happiness is precisely what is keeping us from it?

We believe generosity isn't a program—it's worship. It's one of the ways we train ourselves and our children to live as people who actually believe the gospel.

A couple of months ago, Kids in the Square launched Kids Helping Kids, a new initiative giving our youngest members a concrete way to practice worship through giving. In partnership with The Humanity Share (THS), our kids will directly support education for girls in Kenya—children not so different from them, whose futures are massively affected by their opportunity to attend school.

Something special is happening on the northwest side of Chicago—and our Good Friday gathering was a great picture of what God is up to.

We're part of a growing partnership called the Chicagoland Collective, a network of churches and ministries committed to seeing the gospel take root and flourish in neighborhoods throughout the region. Alongside partners like Centro Cristiano and Refuge Chicago, we're linking arms to do together what none of us could do as well alone. Our conviction is simple: more churches, not less. More communities gathered around Jesus. More neighborhoods with a place to belong.

Most of us were introduced to faith through the language of certainty. Do you know, without a doubt, that if you died tonight you'd be with Jesus? It's a question asked with good intentions — but it may have done more damage than we realize.

If we’re honest, we like tidy categories. Good or bad. Right or wrong. Faithful or faithless. Our brains are wired to simplify the world that way. But Scripture doesn’t always cooperate with our need for clean lines—and neither does real love.