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July 31, 2020

July is an anniversary month. For a nation. For a vision. For a dream. 244 years and counting.   During this month, and in the midst of what feels like a crumbling foundation, I have been tugged back to the beginning. Yes, the beginning of the United States, but also The Beginning. The design of […]

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Seven words

July 24, 2020

In a book with over 783,000 words, these seven pour a footing in the foundation of grace, justice, and redemption. They were words spoken by a bit player in an epic drama. But in a profound and meaningful way, they splash light on the darkness of prejudice… and they do so Biblically. Profoundly. Authentically. At […]

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Becoming Ugly, Admitting Ugly, Transforming Ugly

July 10, 2020

I was between my Junior and Senior year at Wheaton Central High School. A spindly and awkward teenager, trying to carve his way in the world… and more importantly, his high school. My brother Ken, ten years my senior, was the Creative Director for the Campus Life Magazine, and somebody I admired and trusted. That […]

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Free Indeed

July 6, 2020

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31–32, ESV) Truth is the combination to the lock that keeps us confined, or bound, or trapped. But as Jesus pressed into this truth with the Pharisees in the 8th […]

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Once a zealot and a tax collector went into the Temple together…

June 26, 2020

Sounds like the opening of a joke. The setup and then the big close. But the line above is anything but a joke. It’s the truth. And it happened under the intentional and watchful eyes of Jesus. His crew, His disciples were His to call. His to select. And He… the Son of God, selected, with […]

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“That’s What I Thought”

June 19, 2020

Lines have been drawn. Walls have been built. Headlines have been created. Fights have been picked. Posts have been written. Friends have been unfriended.   Hostility is the dial tone of the day.   But conflict isn’t new. Neither is prejudice or injustice or hatred. And Jesus, the Savior who we follow, endured all of […]

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Corporate Confession – Amazing Grace – Mama Jones

June 12, 2020

1974. I was 19. Just finishing my first year in college. Roughly 600 miles from where I lived in a dormitory, a young, lovely woman, walked into a Youth For Christ facility in Kansas City, Missouri. She was joined by a few of her family and friends. They were with her, at her invitation to […]

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The cameras speak, and the world listens.

June 5, 2020

Then, an electronic inquisition. Google explodes with the name of the deceased. A resume or a criminal record will tell the story. The past narrates the present. Either “Of course…” or “How could they…” A value assessment becomes a fork in the road on our way to a juryless verdict. Guilty or innocent? Villain or […]

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“Don’t You Care?”

May 29, 2020

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” (Mark 4:38, NLT) “Don’t you care?” Desperation amplified their voices to a shout. Above the roar of the storm. Unfiltered. “Don’t you care?” The reality […]

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“The Blame Game”

May 15, 2020

Don’t be fooled, blame is not a game. But whatever it is, we’re seeing it perfected in our current culture. The flaming arrows of accusation fly. The shield of denial is thick. Headlines tilt. Interviews slant. And we peddle blame like an ice cream truck pushes Slushies in the middle of July. Our appetite for […]

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