News & Updates

My son, Michael, and I ventured into the wooly world of college people by traveling down to Georgia Tech on Tuesday night. We were going to hear a CCC college resident speak. I talked to a 5th year math degree student at length. Why did I do that? At a lunch this week, I engaged a waitress who struggled to put her health and wellness degree to work. She talked me into a healthy salad instead of a turkey rueben.…

Do you remember a scene from Bruce Almighty where Jim Carey dares God to smite him? “Smite me, Almighty Smiter,” Bruce screams at God! It’s funny, but it’s also somewhat laced with a tension many have with God. How can God be loving and accepting, and be so vengeful? With our culture’s bend for tolerance and relativistic morals, isn’t a God of wrath and judgment a bit outdated? Even a large cross section of a Christian sub-culture wants to define…

The story is told of an aspiring young missionary who was invited to spend an entire day shadowing Mother Teresa. With each passing hour, the young intern was bobbing and weaving to catch a moment and actually talk with the holy whirlwind of Calcutta. No such time was captured. Mother Teresa was getting ready to fly off to her next city. The young intern quickly told Mother Teresa he would buy a plane ticket and go with her if they…

When the stock market crashed by 1,000 points a few days ago, what were your thoughts? Let’s just say you are a savvy Jesus follower who has invested heavily in the stock market. What does a China-influenced stock market crash do to your soul? Would you panic? Would you begin envisioning your retirement condo and future life of ease begin to slowly be erased? For some, there would be a painful mourning of all that was lost. What radical adjustments…

My heart is heavy this morning. I’m reading about 74 children crucified by ISIS for not fasting properly during Ramadan. I went to Google images to explore the reality of this horror. The dark clouds outside my office window punctuated the pit in my stomach. As I read through Isaiah 15, the graphic images were given holy words of our world’s present reality. There’s so much hurt and brokenness and need my coffee is trying to numb. And then through…

Late last night, Michael stopped on the ascending steps, looked down into the living room and blurted, “Hey dad, can you take me into school early tomorrow?” Without hesitation I replied, “Sure!” And with a confident “thanks,” Michael meandered up to bed. It’s an interesting little exchange. Not wanting to make too much ado about nothing, why was this such a quick and positive interaction? I could have grunted and mumbled something under my breath about sleeping in on a…

This summer two computer hackers took control of a Jeep Cherokee using a laptop 10 miles away. They killed its transmission, as well as messed with its windshield wipers, radio, and air conditioning. As our cars are getting smarter, apparently they are also becoming even more vulnerable to hostile takeovers. We westerners are a sophisticated lot. Think we’re susceptible to hostile takeovers the more efficient and self-sufficient we become? Could an app over take me? Do people get taken over…

What affects our behavior? Why do I brush my teeth twice in the morning, and only once before bedtime? Why is my “Happy, Happy, Happy” coffee mug the only mug for me? Why do I do all the quirky things I do? Earlier this summer, my family was serving at a church camp in Ohio. One of the adult faculty members began telling us the difficult season she and her husband suddenly found themselves in. The husband was battling cancer,…

I’m so encouraged to come back from my summer study break to a moving, vibrant, healthy church. AND… to my office which received a major makeover from a small army of great encouragers. I’m excited to be back at it! This morning, sitting quietly in my new office with coffee in hand, I was reminded of Jon Gordon’s words. “Everyone wants the quick-fix solution. They want convenient, immediate success. They don’t want to get messy. But there’s nothing convenient about…

I have a vivid memory of a woman, sitting in a navy blue recliner in her bedroom, open Bible on her lap, and catching a few minutes of a catnap before dinner. Her name was JoAnn and I cared for her child with Cerebral Palsy while I was in college and beyond. I also have a memory of being driven to a camp with my high school youth group, by Laurie and David, a young couple in our church who…