Lifestyles
Four emails
The following four emails came at various times throughout my ministry. What each writer expresses is a need…
Lifestyles
The Church: Judge or encourage?
Our family moved to a new area just as I entered the seventh grade. During the first week…
Lifestyles
‘Hang in there’ and Colin Powell
When people came to me for spiritual guidance and counseling, I listened carefully and tried to offer sound,…
Lifestyles
More $10 challenge stories
Recently, each family received a $10 bill with a challenge to multiply and use it in a way…
Lifestyles
Leadership and the cockroach letter
On a dinner flight, the man opened his meal. Right on top of the salad he saw an…
Lifestyles
Column – What’s going down
The song on the radio was an old sixties hit, “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield. Stephen…
Lifestyles
What’s going down
The song on the radio was an old sixties hit, “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield. Stephen…
Lifestyles
One tornado, two churches – Part 2
Early one Saturday morning, Cordelia Alexander awoke to the sounds of a concrete truck and men talking. The…
Lifestyles
One tornado, two churches
I read an ad that said, “95% of our daily decisions could be made by most anyone. It…
Lifestyles
Heaven and hell
Ship of fools or lifeboat to heaven? Did you hear about the man traveling from New York to…
Lifestyles
The $10 challenge
A church giving away $10 bills? Whoever heard of such a thing? Especially in September when most churches…
Lifestyles
Riding a dead horse
Bill Dettmer wrote: “The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from one generation to the next,…
Lifestyles
How do we prepare for the return of Christ?
A church member emailed asking about end times. One sentence stuck with me: “Most Christians do not have…
Lifestyles
God comforts us so we can comfort others
We all occasionally suffer. Some hurt more than others, but all of us experience pain in different ways…
Lifestyles
Persistent prayer is a part of our relationship with God
We pray about something important or painful. We desperately need an answer. We hope for a response of…
Lifestyles
Angry man at Costco provides a lesson
A recent news article covered the violence and anger increasingly prevalent on airplanes. There were more than 3,400…
Lifestyles
Prayer is a crucial tool in battle of good vs. evil
The novel “This Present Darkness” by Frank Peretti is about a struggling church deciding whether to keep their…
Lifestyles
Why should I go to church?
As we would say in the south, I was raised right. My family attended church off and on.…
Lifestyles
Teachers exhibit duty, honor and grace
Anyone in the military, looking at this title, “Duty, honor, grace,” would be tempted to correct me. The…
Lifestyles
How do we react when we stumble?
For a children’s message I wanted to illustrate Job from the Bible losing his family and his possessions.…
Lifestyles
Why I am so passionate about serving
Our church along with others support a group of aid organizations and churches in New Mexico and in…
Lifestyles
The impossible dream is alive in each of us
Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Even during tragedy and disappointment, God is in control. If…
Lifestyles
In search of the impossible dream
My favorite song within my favorite play, “Man of La Mancha.” is “Impossible Dream.” The story is loosely…
Lifestyles
Reconciliation and healing puts old hurts behind us
Years ago, I visited someone who after a few moments began to weep. “I’m so sorry.” For the…
Lifestyles
Believers reach out to suicidal person
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part two of a series on a person contemplating suicide. Years ago, someone sent…
Lifestyles
How can we help those contemplating suicide?
Years ago, I received an email. “Please pray. I know God is my Savior. I know nothing is…
Lifestyles
Offering seeds of encouragement and hope
The stranger who entered the church was young and new to the community, struggling with her faith and…