September is back-to-school time. But kids aren’t the only ones whose schedules gear up. Summer vacations are a memory. Businesses focus on projects that languished over the summer. Churches mobilize their ministry programs. Families turn their attention from...


Duck Commanders, Singing Nuns, and Me
Just when I thought our culture could no longer surprise me…it does. Consider these two examples in the entertainment world: A clan of duck hunters from the Louisiana backwoods has become a media phenomenon. This conservative Christian clan has fueled an...
Is This as Good as It Gets?
A friend recently posted on Facebook: “Not the happiest of days in my life. God must have bigger plans for me.” I’ve had days like that. When I didn’t get the job. When a relationship broke. When the medication wasn't effective. At the end of days like these, I’ve...
Who’s Your Daddy?
Food trucks, delivery trucks, pick-up trucks, DNA-testing trucks. DNA trucks? Yup, you read that right. For the sake of accuracy, the Who’s Your Daddy Truck is not actually a truck, it’s an RV converted into a portable office and clinic. Rolling through the streets of...
Eternal Contributions
Mother’s Day is over, but for some, the emotions –happy or sad – linger. I recently spent some time with a young friend who is struggling with her role in the family and in the Church. Her feelings were exacerbated by the calendar – Mother’s Day happened to be the...
Who Needs a Crutch?
I’ve been thinking about crutches lately. Maybe it’s because my Bible class recently finished studying the account of Jacob in the book of Genesis. After he wrestled with God, Jacob was left with a limp. I wonder, did he require the use of a crutch after that...
An Improvement … or Not?
Have you noticed the new trend in cleansers? Laundry and dish detergents are new and improved. Again. Now they’ve morphed from powders to liquids to gels to…pods. No more measuring and spilling. No more worrying if we’re using too much or too little. No more straining...
How Do You Handle Disappointment?
New year. New possibilities. Good thing, too, because many of us look back on various events in the old year and say, “Good riddance!” Still, despite the “Happy New Year” greetings, disappointments will follow us into the new year, too. So what do we do with them? For...
Spirituality or Christianity?
I was thirteen years old when a friend invited me to her youth group. It was there I first learned the difference between religion and relationship in describing Christianity. That was also the year I read Fritz Ridenour’s book, How to be a Christian without Being...
Success or Failure?
Success and failure used to be easy to measure. In school, you either passed or failed based on clearly established grading standards. In manufacturing, success is determined by output. Even in finance, successful deals are measured by profit. But when you write for...
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