Evidence of a series of storms, in the form of layered grit, can’t quite mute the expression of gratitude on this license plate. If the plate was clean and shiny, it wouldn’t preached the message it did to me this morning in the Kohl’s parking lot. When things aren’t all so shiny-lovely in my life…

I grabbed a paper cup and pumped hot coffee into it just as I did each week before the Sunday morning worship service began. The coffee table in the lobby of the church was a hive of pre-service Sunday morning activity. As I reached for a lid to cover my cup of brew, I noticed…

Why should the devil have all the good music? If those words immediately trigger a memory for you of a live performance of Larry Norman pounding on a piano a la Jerry Lee Lewis, you might be an aging Jesus Freak. While religious and social historians who study such things are divided on whether the…

Earlier this week, 78 year-old Dr. Tony Campolo announced he would be closing the doors of the ministry he launched three decades ago. I appreciate his faithfulness and consistent voice on behalf of the marginalized, and applaud his wise words in the RNS piece about his retirement from the organizational part of his speaking and writing ministry: “Too often,…

They leave the security of family and community to travel to the ends of the earth in the name of God. Destinations for these emissaries have included Bangkok, Salt Lake City, Alaska, Russia…just about anywhere there is a possibility they can be used to reconnect someone with God. They maintain their own unique lifestyle based…

Every time I walk past an American Legion building in a nearby town, there are always a couple of grizzled dudes hanging around outside. Sometimes they’re smoking. Other times, they’re tinkering under the hood of a 10-year old Buick or polishing a spit-shiny Goldwing. When I peer through the darkened windows of the place, I…