I hadn’t seen her in about fifteen years, but last Saturday morning, we picked up right where we’d left off. Our family’s departure from the church we’d both attended and our subsequent move to WI pushed our once-active friendship into a dormant state. I was so surprised to click on an e-mail from her a…

Has something like this ever happened to you? – My Bible reading plan just started me reading the Gospel of Mark.– They’ve just begun preaching through the Gospel of Mark at church.– I’ve just begun a freelance writing assignment that has me working through the Gospel of Mark. Some would dismiss this confluence of Scripture…

We’ve been to Israel three times in the last two years. Bill has been there because he’s serving a three-year term on the board of the Caspari Center located in Jerusalem. And I have been there because there’s no way that I’d miss going to the Promised Land. While Bill’s been in his meetings, I’ve…

Yes, Israel was amazing. And yes, I’ll have more to share about this trip in weeks to come. But after yesterday’s grueling trip back to Chicago, all I have to offer you today are some random observations penned while sitting in Terminal 3 at Heathrow: (1) Anyone who complains about O’Hare has never been to…

Ben and his best man Jacob waiting at the altar. Rachel escorting her ringbearer sons. Do you? I do! Famile Van Loon, May 22, 2010 version We’re so grateful for Sarah – she’s a gift to Ben! Jacob sandwiched between Tom and Bubba, some friends from Boston. It was a blessed, beautiful day – and…

Go. Be. Christ’s. Church. Those four words sum up Felicity Dale’s An Army Of Ordinary People: Stories Of Real-Life Men And Women Simply Being The Church (Tyndale/Barna, 2010). Dale and her husband have been involved in the simple church/house church movement for many years, planting organic faith gatherings in neighborhoods and workplaces in the U.S.…