The rain is cold and very wet. It is also much needed. And, perhaps the cold and wet day has also dampened other things. Hopefully I can be vague enough to not reveal identities and yet specific enough to speak to the issue. God himself knows that there are certainly enough examples, so protecting i...

"Many of them just copy a letter from Rick Warren's book and send it out" was the summary sentence one pastor gave me when asked about church starts in his metropolitan area. Yes, he did mention some exceptions that are thriving. Those words set me to reflecting. Last Sunday in our Sun...

At what point do you make significant changes in your life? And why? The past few years have been years of learning lessons I would have preferred to learn in other ways. Actually, I would love to have a read a book on it or attended a seminar. But, alas, it came another way. And it has all been God...

This morning as Cheryl and I were watching the news, I asked, "Did you ever think we would live to see our nation elect an African-American as President?" She said, "Yes, four years ago." And I remembered. We typically watch both political party's major speeches during their ...

2009 is here, but in case you missed the festivities, you may celebrate the Chinese New Year which begins January 26, 2009. In the Chinese accounting, 2008 was the year of the Rat and 2009 is the year of the Ox. In the Chinese mythology, people born in the year of the rat "are noted for their c...

I have been reading with interest some "prophecies" for 2009 and even some beyond that. I have read many "notable deaths" of famous people who passed in 2008. In the spring of 2008, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency delivered a speech in whic...

You can now find me on Facebook. Any "friends" out there? Already I have connected with some very good friends from my school days. Awesome! A few years ago Michael W. Smith (I think) recorded this tear-jerker of a song, "Friends are Friends Forever". The occasion was the moving ...

History is an important lens through which to view the future. An uncertain economy could lead to total despair if we did not have the lens of the economic recovery from the 1929 crash. Although situations differ, one can take hope in that if one generation can recover, so can another. Thus, it is n...

I purchased Tim Keller's new book, The Prodigal God, which is based upon what is normally referred to as the parable of the prodigal son. Keller uses the term "prodigal" as an adjective to describe God because the word means (1.) recklessly extravagant and (2.) having spent everything....

Now that most of my academic work is finished (actually I feel as if I am the one "finished"), I picked up a book that I began a few months ago. My wife completed reading it last week. It is "The Last Lecture". You can go to the website here. Randy Pausch, now deceased, allows th...