Words are sneaky creatures that don’t carry the proper load of meaning unless we choose them carefully. One youngster wrote in a church school: “St. Paul cavorted to Christianity. He preached...
Last week I picked up a copy of Time magazine, hardly worth anything because it was a year and a half old, and I noticed the cover story on anxiety. They got that...
Somewhere around seventh grade, my boy scout troop was gearing up for the annual pinewood derby race: a contest where scouts whittle down a small rectangular block of pine into polished cars that...
The other leaders were jealous. The foreigner, the boss’s handpicked favorite, continued to outclass, outperform them all. His enemies murmured and looked for ways to spread gossip about him to...
St. Paul is a first-century Christian hero for two reasons. First, in his faithfully following Jesus Christ, he gave his generation the good news of truth and grace. Twenty centuries later, we also...
A few days before I was scheduled for jury duty, I slipped in the shower and broke two toes. I called the courthouse to tell my sad story but couldn’t get through. An...
“So whatever you eat or drink, whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God." 1 Cor. 10:31 ...
"Dad, can you help me with my English homework?" ...
“Did God really say . . . ?” “Who am I?” and “Who do you say that I am?” ...
In his book, Achieving Personal Greatness, author Tim Lavender describes his childhood walk to school past a ferocious dog. Each morning, Tim steeled himself to outrun the charging beast. This...
An old man came to the house after my grandfather’s funeral. While others brought casseroles and tidbits of spoken comfort dredged from their personal faith, the old man found a chair and sat...
John the Baptist went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. . . . John said to the crowds that came out to...
So . . . every person whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just...
The night began with a black-tie event at the convention center, with the emcee calling my wife and me onstage to a standing ovation. Heady stuff to see a crowd laud one's work—in...
A few years ago during the Olympics, a TV report updated the lives of gold medal winners from years past. Story after story, after the shining moments of national anthems and glory, the...
When I entered the room, my father glanced up and then maneuvered his wheelchair to face the window. I sighed and settled into a chair. Seventy miles I drove to be with him...
The musical group U2’s Bono quotes Eugene Peterson from the stage. Readers of the best selling Bible, The Message, find themselves holding...
Smell of hay, a newborn's cry, makeshift crib, anxious first-time parents away from family and friends—uncertain and confusing times, politically and personally. These were the ordinary...
John, the backdoor glass is broken. I'll explain when we get home. ...
I am driving through the rolling hills of New Jersey on a day in early fall, trying to convince a character named Megan to move to Hackettstown, New Jersey, where there is a...
