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It started with a lack of oversight. We don’t know the whole story yet, but it won’t be long before we learn that maintenance had slipped and accountability was lacking. Someone didn’t do something they should have done. When disaster struck, those responsible minimized the damage. Oversight agencies were assured that the owners would take care of it themselves. All the while, black oozed from the damaged area deep beneath the surface at the rate of 210,000 gallons a day (ini

Unbelievable. I was dumbstruck. You’ve heard all about it as well and probably became as disgusted as I was when I read the story. A Tennessee woman was so eager to be a mom that she spent a lot of money and went through years of preparation to adopt a child from Russia. But when he turned out to be more of a challenge then she bargained for, she thought she could just return him, like you would a coffee pot at Wal-Mart because it lacked the features you expected to be standa

A number of years ago, in a mental institution just outside Boston, Mass., a young girl known as “Little Annie” was locked in the dungeon. This institution was one of the more enlightened ones for the treatment of the mentally disturbed. However, the doctors felt that a dungeon was the only place for those who were “hopelessly” insane. In Little Annie’s case, they saw no hope for her, so she was confined to a living death in that small cage which received little light and eve

Philosopher Walter Kaufmann wrote a book ironically titled, . After explaining our cosmic insignificance, he concluded: “What I want to do and would advise others to do is to make the most of life: put into it all you have got, and live, and, if possible, die with some measure of nobility.” I cannot help but to say that to tell us to die with nobility when there is no hope beyond the grave is farcical at best. Compare Kaufmann’s philosophy to Jesus’ words: “I am the resurrect

Isn’t it amazing the things people will believe?

Have you seen the latest video depicting youth violence in the Seattle bus tunnel? I have been alarmed of late by the growing number of security tapes from school busses, outside businesses in urban areas, and now in a metro bus terminal; videos that depict kids nearly killing other kids (and in the case of Chicago teen, actually doing so). Watching a group of girls pummeling, kicking, and even stomping on the head of another girl should be enough for any of us to become alar

“Hey little squirrel!” He looked up at me with his beady little eyes, his mouth dropped open, and he turned and scampered off in the opposite direction….across the church lobby! Let me explain ☺. We have a beautiful lobby in our church with some very comfortable furniture and big open windows. Some days it is quiet out there and I like to use it to study, pray, and even for some of my meetings. While sitting here on the leather sofa in front of the floor to ceiling south wind

On Thursday afternoon, I stood beside Rosemary VanVleet and prayed with her family that she could be ushered into her new home in heaven in peace. As we finished praying, there was a marked difference in her breathing. A few minutes later, she did just that. With Vernon sitting at her side, holding and gently stroking her hand, she left this earth behind and stepped into eternity to live in heaven. Just three days before I spoke with her at Lutheran General Hospital and asked

A 70 year old woman was pulled from the debris of a collapsed building in Haiti on Sunday after lying there for five days! They located her partially by using a sophisticated electronic device that is able to detect heartbeats. Once they knew the area where she was buried, they pinpointed her location because rescuers could hear her singing under the concrete. Can you believe that? She was singing a Christian hymn! There are some rare happy stories in this unbelievable traged

My daughter hit a patch of ice last weekend and it cost me $500. Just a little patch of ice….that was it. Ice….followed by a little 4” curb, and that was all it took to break the right front strut and render the car immobile. Tow truck….auto mechanic…..$500. Aargh! That’s the trouble with ice, it takes you out of control. I once was leaving Wal-Mart’s parking lot at about 3 mph. As I slowly rolled down the parking apron on to the street, the car in front of me braked, so I di

In my last blog, I talked about growing up and loving to fish as a child. My dad instilled in me a love for the outdoors in general. But I would have to say that even more than fishing, I loved to hunt. I began traipsing through the woods and into duck blinds carrying just a BB gun when I was barely of school age. I still remember arguing with Dad over who actually killed the duck. I was honestly convinced that the one BB that came out of my spring-loaded Daisy was the lethal

I did a lot of fishing as a kid. My dad started me off at a very young age. I still remember how after my sister had caught a blue gill, I exclaimed, “Hey Dad, throw one in for me now!” I was only four and thought that dad must have had something to do with the fish getting on that hook. From my dad’s love of the outdoors and the water in particular, I began to pick up the hobby as my own. A friend and I were so into it that we used to get up before dark and ride our bikes to