BLOG

A couple of days ago, two guys walked into the Open Pantry on the corner of Pflaum and Stoughton Road in Madison, Wisconsin (a convenience store I’ve been in a few times). One man diverted the cashier’s attention by asking for directions, while the other slipped behind the counter and into a small office where he grabbed a pile of bills the woman had been counting. As the men were about to leave, she glanced into her office and saw the money was missing and began to demand th

For what will you be remembered?     Medieval Europeans often gave permanent names to high profile people who had built a reputation for themselves. Charles the Simple was the son of Louis the Stammerer. They called him this because of his policy of making concessions to Viking invaders rather than fighting. Then there was Louis the Sluggard, noted for his self-indulgence. He ruled from 986 to 987 over the Franks. Ethelred the Unready (968-1016) was so called because of his i

Should natural disasters be considered the judgement of God? There are some who argue, “Absolutely!” and others, “Of course not!” So which is it?     It’s hard to deny that God used natural disasters in Scripture to get people’s attention, both in bringing judgement and in encouraging repentance. In Amos 4, Yahweh spoke to Israel through Amos and told them that he had sent hunger, famine, floods, storms and earthquakes to get them to return to him. Jesus said that in the end

This campaign season is getting old, isn’t it? Could you imagine if we lived in one of the swing states? Here in Illinois, the state is so overwhelmingly democratic that republican presidential candidates hardly have a chance. We see some commercials that are nationally televised, but not like places such as Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Iowa, or even Wisconsin. In some of the more contested counties of those states, campaign commercials are constant...and those communities just w

An angel appears at a faculty meeting and tells the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.     “Done!” says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. Now, all heads turn toward the dean, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleagues whispers, “Say something.”   

My wife is a flight attendant and one of the perks of her job is that she gets to see many parts of the world, albeit, in short periods of time. She will sometimes have an extended layover (24 hours or so) in an interesting place and have the chance to get in a little sightseeing. On some occasions, if I’m able to take the time off and if there are available seats on the plane, I will travel with her and take advantage of the flight and the free accommodations in whatever 4 s

As a church, we are not involved politically. We believe that no church or religious organization should dictate to the government it’s policies and that the government is not to dictate to any church it’s activities. As a pastor, I do not speak out on topics that are solely political in nature, and I have never endorsed a candidate for office or encouraged people to vote for any candidate or in support of any political party.     But there are issues of morality and Biblical

Russel Cornwell used to tell the story of a Persian named Ali Hafed. He was a wealthy farmer who had fertile lands with orchards, grain fields and gardens that yielded faithfully year after year. Hafed was a contented man, known throughout his region as having it all. Then a traveler from the east began to talk to him of the value of diamonds. He said, “If you owned a diamond the size of your thumb, you could purchase the whole county. If you owned a diamond mine, you could b

I made a decision almost three decades ago that has taken the difficulty out of a lot of other decisions since. I decided to marry Linda. Since that decision, most of my other decisions in and around the house are pretty well taken care off. I only need to ask myself, what would be better for our marriage?     So even though my desk is usually pretty cluttered at work, I’m neat, clean, and organized at home. Why? Because Linda doesn’t really care what my desk at work looks li

There are times in your life when you come across a need that appears to be so overwhelming, so deep, so devastating, and so pervasive, that you would rather turn a blind eye to it and ignore the enormity of the problem altogether. Sometimes an issue can appear so massive that our meager efforts seem pointless, like aiming a squirt gun at a forest fire.     27,000,000 slaves being trafficked worldwide. Are my efforts really going to do any good?     25,000 girls in the Chicag

What to do with this huge block of stone? It took months to cut it out and move it from the quarry to it’s current resting place. Now after two of the finest sculptures in the world attempted to make it look like something meaningful, they gave up. It was now thought to be flawed, useless, and an eyesore in the public square. It sat that way, unused, unfinished, unsightly, for nearly a hundred years.     Then a young man, still a virtual nobody in the art world, saw something

Deadlines are important. Having been in ministry for nearly thirty years, working with volunteers and overseeing staff, and being a dad now for 25 years, I’ve learned that some people need deadlines to get things done. If I say, “Please have it done by 3p on Friday,” they have something to shoot for and they get it done. But with the same people, if I say, “Please get this done right away,” without a specific time or day, it often gets put off indefinitely. Deadlines can serv