I'm not sure I've ever written one of these messages on February 29, but it gives opportunity to reflect on the gift and challenge of an extra day. What will…

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Jesus said it. We read it at the beginning of Lent. He puts the challenge about treasure and heart to…

The particulars of our lives Among the many blessings I've received in ministry: gifted predecessors who served with grace, insight and faithfulness. They made my own ministry easier, as I…

Progress not perfection Apart from Jesus, can you think of any biblical character free of flaw? It would have been easy for editors to delete the dirt, spin the story,…

I dug out a Mahalia Jackson CD to play while I'm driving around town. The words of this old, familiar hymn, "What a friend we have in Jesus' struck me.…

One Early in my ministry, I worked at a soup kitchen that offered a meal to scores of homeless people each week. A noble, inspiring, loving, well-run effort. There was…

Calendar collision Today, our nation honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a leader who showed us what it means to apply Jesus' teaching to the complex realities of our world.…

Epiphanies Tis the season, apparently, for epiphanies. I can't tell if that's a churchy word, or if the broader culture uses it, but epiphany means revelation or manifestation, seeing something…

A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members. -Mahatma Gandhi The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons. -Fyodor Dostoyevsky…

Fear not On Christmas, it was my joy and delight to preach about Peanuts. I talked about a moment in the animated classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas, 50 years old…