A brilliant pink and purple sunset over a pristine island beach–a hardwood ridge on a crisp, sunny autumn day, audaciously popping with every imaginable hue–a baby’s laughter–when all is said and done, the old adage rings true, the best things in life are free. The same could be said of salvation through God’s grace. As a member of a Lutheran church, I’ve been hearing a lot of messages on this topic. The 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation... Read more
I’ve done a lot of driving around my Hoosier state the last few days. I’ve covered much of Indiana from north to south. It’s my favorite time of year around these parts. The air is dry and the breeze is crisp. The woodlots are beginning to burst forth with colorful splashes of their showy best. The farmers are all out harvesting the vast oceans of corn and beans. Today, as I drove past the the miles of golden brown fields with beans... Read more
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” Matthew 18: 21-22 The current sermon series at my church is all about grace and forgiveness. One thing that you’ll find very little disagreement about among Christians of all stripes is the fact that we all have sinned and fallen short of God’s... Read more
I write for the Patheos Blue Channel. My articles often call out the Right. This one, however, is aimed at all of us, myself included. The Harvey Weinstein scandal has revealed the reactionary hypocrisy of which we are all capable, from the most rabid righty to the looniest lefty and everyone in between. The entertainment industry is reeling from this scandal as more and more big name stars have come forward with their stories of how Weinstein as well as other powerful moguls have left a long... Read more
As the administration of President Trump continues to plunge, full steam ahead, into uncharted waters of lunacy, talk of impeachment is never far from the American water cooler. While I can hardly wait to see Trump make an hasty exit from the White House, I also have grave concerns about the potential fallout from an impeachment. I wrote of my concerns here. But there is another way to remove a president from office short of impeachment, and I believe it... Read more
“I pray Heaven to bestow The Best OF BLESSINGS ON THIS HOUSE and All that shall hereafter Inhabit it, May none but Honest and wise Men ever rule under this Roof.” -John Adams That short but powerful prayer by one of our most important founding fathers, our 2nd president, and the first man to reside in the White House, is etched into the fireplace mantel in the State Dining Room. I believe that we, as a nation, need to begin... Read more
We’ve just had another one. The horrific event in Las Vegas has placed another “biggest mass shooting in modern U.S. history” into the record books. This one comes just over a year after the last record mass shooting, in Orlando. In Las Vegas, the carnage came at the hands of a single gunman who had taken up a perch in a hotel room 32 stories above an outdoor concert attended by more than 22,000 people. This event was particularly troubling because of... Read more
Middle school student, Mary, is in trouble. Her teacher has just caught her cheating on a test. She’s never done anything like this before. Being brought up in a Christian home, she feels the weight of her transgression like a boulder placed upon her shoulders. It’s not the guilt she feels from being caught by her teacher, that’s bad enough, but it isn’t what is weighing on her so heavily. What she is dreading most is facing her parents—particularly her... Read more
I'm a gun owner. I have always been a supporter of 2nd Amendment rights. But I have learned something that I didn't know. Read more
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The Tectonics of Rioting
For days, the city was a disaster area. When the news broke, the bubbling magma of racial tension erupted to the surface and spewed violently out as deadly lava into the streets destroying anything and anyone in its path. Crazed men, temporarily relieved of their senses by the sudden venting of a lifetime of tamped-down trauma, wandered the streets in packs like wild, rabid dogs. Their targets were any unfortunate souls who happened to be of another race or of the upper class.... Read more