As I’m writing, our friend, Karen is going “under the knife.” I know that’s an indelicate term, but for a year the doctors have been keeping an eye on a squamous cell area on her forehead. They finally decided it needs to be removed before it causes some real trouble. We’ve been amazed at her […]

Do you know the name Lolo Jones? She was a wiry youngster from Iowa, who early-on discovered she was born to run. Ever since she could remember she loved to run. As a teen she couldn’t remember a day in her life that she hadn’t. Sometimes only five miles; sometimes much more. She didn’t walk […]

Not many generations of people have asked as frequently as ours, “Why, God?” Thus far in 2020 more than a million people have died globally with the Corona virus. I suspect the most consistently asked question is, “Why?” You probably have asked it; I have. You may remember that Jesus asked our question, too, as […]

My hunch is that because you’re a reader you are already familiar with the name Philip Yancey. He has more than 15,000,000 books in print, translated into more than fifty languages, making him one of the most widely read Christian authors ever. Yancey grew up in a Fundamentalist church in south Georgia and it was […]

It could be argued that nothing more important is going to happen in your town this week than when your church gathers to worship. God re-seen and His people re-made. What hour could outrank that one? In the 1960/61 football season the Green Bay Packers had played well. They were ahead in the final quarter […]

I pray because I’m helpless. A Friend whom I deeply trust told me that, so I believe Him. He said, “Without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) As I’m writing this the west coast of the US is ablaze. Over a million acres has burned in the beautiful state of Oregon where I grew […]

  Recently Ruthie and I were sitting in a Bible study class. Not large; maybe a dozen or fifteen. Although it was off-topic of the material being studied, the teacher raised a question that got everyone’s attention: When is it appropriate for one Christian to rebuke another? he asked. Rebuke is a rather strident word […]

Not long ago I got a slap up along side of the head about how and why some churches grow. I have a friend who’s on the pastoral staff of a large church not far from us. I mean a very large church. About 20,000 people attend every weekend (before the pandemic) on eight separate […]

A couple of New Years back one of our neighbors invited us over for a party. Probably half a dozen couples showed up. Would you have gone? We did. But what if the drinks weren’t kosher? They weren’t. We drank right along with them; we just drank different stuff. Sodas are not our beverage of […]

The story you are about to read is true; only the names have been changed to protect the guilty. Somewhere across the fruited plain was this dysfunctional church. Beautiful campus; ugly attitudes. The deacons didn’t like the elders; the public address people didn’t like the deaconesses. The adults didn’t like the youth; almost nobody liked […]