It started with Toilet Paper

September 4, 2020

I think it started with toilet paper. You remember, grocery store shelves empty from end to end. But like the pandemic itself, the shortages and binge buying raced through other aisles as well. Hand sanitizer. Pasta. Cleaning products. Rice. Masks. Meat. Perhaps a bit irrational, but real.  Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash Consumers clamoring for items that […]

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Buyer’s remorse

August 28, 2020

Buyer’s remorse. You know that feeling. The purchase is complete, the product firmly in your hand, and a wave of dissatisfaction or worry washes over you. My most vivid experience of this occurred when Mary and I purchased our first house in Fort Wayne, Indiana in January of 1979. A three bedroom, one bath house […]

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He Is What He Says He Is

August 21, 2020

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  (Matthew 11:28–29, ESV) Gentle. Lowly. In heart. The outstanding new book by Dane Ortlund […]

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Not Even Solomon

August 14, 2020

A brisk and energizing hike led to a beautiful and clear alpine lake. Ptarmigan Lake. And nestled in the rocks and roots along the way… the Giant red Indian paintbrush. Against the rugged and rough, a splash of color and beauty. Delicate, yet durable and tough. A flower suitable for a wedding bouquet, yet isolated […]

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Tuned

August 7, 2020

The room was dark, the blankets snug, but fear and worry moved through my young mind with sleep depriving power. I was 11 or 12. One of the smallest boys in my school, and a young man trying to find an identity. So, when lights were turned off, my brain was not. And sleep seemed […]

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All…

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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