The Little Friar

God Made Me Unique is a beautifully illustrated picture book that helps parents and caregivers teach children that God creates every person in the image of God and each individual has tremendous value, regardless of his or her appearance or abilities. The story is set in a Sunday school classroom where a new girl, Brie, is introduced by her mom.  Brie's Sunday School teacher takes the time to welcome Brie and to explain to the other children why she is wearing headphones.  Through getting to know Brie, the children are guided into a biblical understanding of the uniqueness of each of God’s children.  Along the way they learn to ask questions and gain an understanding about their new friend. It's a charming story complete with beautiful artwork -- all of which makes this hardcover children's book a must-have to help children with special needs understand that every person deserves to be treated with kindness and respect. The back of the book contains a special secti...

Inevitably, there are some Christians who ask whether we should celebrate Halloween.  Of course, it's a complicated question for me.  I have walked this earth yet another year as of today.  So on Halloween I confront my own mortality.  Not something our culture prizes, for sure. I think Halloween performs two important spiritual functions.  First, Halloween allows us all  to collectively process our eventual death and mortality.  The graveyards, corpses, blood, skeletons and coffins of Halloween allow us, on a yearly basis, to confront our physicality and work through our largely repressed fear of death.  In this, Halloween serves an important existential function.  Second, Halloween allows us to work through our fears of the uncanny, the things that go bump in the night.  This is the second major theme of Halloween, which manifests itself in Halloween's evening and monster motifs, the bats, owls, ghosts and goblins.  The world ...