I have over 57 years of life experience - including dairyman's son, antique auto restorer, civil engineer, musician, gardener, well driller, business owner, theologian, church planter, missionary, pastor, teacher, father, and husband. Jesus follower since 1971. I'll let you decide if I have something to say.
When is the next election for U.S. President? When is the baby due? When did the U.S. declare its independence? The assumption behind these questions is that important events are marked by their place in time. We humans are wired to understand things by their place in time. Demographers use a person’s birth year to […]
Someone invited Phillip Johnson’s daughter to attend Vacation Bible School at a local church. Though an agnostic at the time, he became interested in what she learned. He was raised in a Christian home but had never considered the evidence for faith. He graduated at the top of his class at Harvard and clerked for […]
The Hallmark Channel’s 10th Countdown to Christmas has begun. Actually, they began their series of Christmas movies before Halloween while you weren’t looking. Maybe you still aren’t looking, because you’ve already seen that movie. Aren’t all those Hallmark movies really the same? The title is a pun, like “Write before Christmas.” A career woman in […]
Kanye West just released his much-anticipated album, “Jesus is King.” His conversion to Christianity has been met with both enthusiasm and skepticism. As a cultural influencer, is he a shrewd businessman or a transparent truth-seeker? Time will tell, as for all of us who “run with endurance the race set before us” (Heb. 12:1). In […]
A friend and I stopped at a small, mom and pop restaurant. While waiting for our order, the proprietor sauntered over to our table to amuse us with a math challenge. As he explained it, three men went to an inn and procured a room for $30, which they split equally. Later the innkeeper gave […]
I attended my 40th high school reunion. I have a confession about that. We were a class of only 46 souls, but I could not shake this fear that I would not recognize someone or remember a name. It wasn’t that I wanted to impress anyone with a nimble mind to which I lay no […]
In 1936 a sixth grade girl, Phyllis, wrote to Albert Einstein asking, “Do scientists pray?” He expressed his doubts about prayer influencing the course of events but admitted, “Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly […]
The politicians and pundits wait breathlessly for a document from the White House. It finally drops. Opposing camps see what they expected and implement their messaging strategy (Impeach! Witch hunt!). If you live by politics, news cycles, and social media, you swing from outrage to incredulity, from vindication to condescension. It is exhausting and frustrating. […]
Mark Twain published a book in 2017. With a little help from Professor John Bird and creative collaborators Philip and Erin Stead, Samuel Clemens (his real name) scored a bestseller 107 years after his passing! Bird discovered Clemens’ handwritten notes while researching old files. Clemens had written 16 pages of story fragments for a fairy […]
A dairy cow has a strong maternal instinct. She objects to the standard practice of removing her days-old calf and challenges any barrier to it. That natural instinct is the basis of a curious historical event. The Philistines captured the Israelites’ holy symbol, the ark (think Indiana Jones, not Noah). They began suffering plagues and […]
