Religious change is in the wind. A spirit of discontent is placing Christianity at the threshold of a new reformation. On the vanguard of this pervasive change is a fast-growing group variously labeled the "de-churched," the "unaffiliated," the "spiritual but not religious," or the "religious do-it-yourselfer." Disenchanted with the present, the de-churched are searching for new language and forms by which to pursue their spiritual quest. There's a Hole in the Sky speaks to the religiously unaffiliated, encouraging them to see their own frustration within the context of larger social change...

The book of Ruth is probably best known as a romantic love story that, through the expression of loving devotion, overcomes tragedy and ends with the founding of the most famous family in all of biblical Israel. But the book wasn't always this way. In fact, it wasn't a book at all but rather a story told with a very different purpose in mind. Before Ruth, there was the Story of Naomi, a subversive story designed to challenge a male-dominated status quo. Through comedy, sarcastic irony, and unparalleled rhetorical skill the Naomi storyteller holds up for inspection social gender roles and the...