Yes is the heartbeat of the incarnation story. Mary’s yes allows God’s promise to take flesh, Joseph’s yes protects and provides for their family, the shepherds’ yes leads them to the manger, and the magi’s yes draws them out in search of the divine mystery. There are so many points in this story where someone, or a group of someones, give a very significant yes.

But really, it means a revealing, the revelation of Jesus. So ultimately, this book shows us who Jesus was in ancient times against the Roman Empire and might invite us into something about what the world is now.

Together, their stories paint a portrait of a religiously and culturally diverse corner of the Middle East disappearing, and the people saving it with their stories. Each voice puts us in front of an essential question: What is the deepest part of ourselves, the one thing that can never be taken from us?

I found in [these letters] stories of men working hard to be countercultural to our training. We wished to leave behind the more arid and shallow masculinity of traditional male friendships.

In the midst of declines in attendance and donations, many congregations find themselves at a crossroad: How do they live out God's mission in this time and place when they seem to have less and less assets to do so?

I wrote this book because I wanted to change the narrative [on immigration] and help people be more informed about this complex issue.

An interview with ConseCrate subscription box founder Dr. Rev. Ruth Hetland.