The First Time I Heard God Speak
I was ten years old the first time I heard God speak. It was autumn, a new school year had just begun, and a new fad was spreading among my adolescent …
Beliefs of the Heart
Information or Intimacy?
Over thirty years ago, I stumbled upon a 60 Minutes episode in which Mike Wallace interviewed an MIT computer science nerd. He had a tiny …
When Obedience Doesn’t Make Sense
My family moved to Detroit the summer between my first and second grade. Tommy was the first friend I met. Like me, his dad was a pastor; but unlike …
Striving for Spiritual Impact
A few months ago, I mentioned that I had been diagnosed with kidney cancer. The treatment involved five uncomfortable procedures, but the recovery was …
Desires of The Heart
I’ve used my Scripture Meditation Plan for decades. It begins with a psalm of the day, and last Thursday’s was Psalm 37. It is best known for this one …
Don’t Believe Your Own Headlines
In ninth grade, my brother Andy’s locker partner (the school drug supplier) had a bad trip on LSD. The bad trip continued in a small series of scary …
What About That GTO?
When I grew up in Detroit, the population was over 1,200,000 people. I spent the next forty years living in Ann Arbor, population of about 120,000. …
Trusting Doubt
My friend was recently fired from a job when his boss blamed him for a mistake the boss had made. He said to me, “All is good.” The next week his wife …
Is Sunday School Destroying Our Kids?
Several years ago I met with a woman distraught over her son’s rejection of Christianity. She said, “I did everything I could to raise him right. I …
When You Lie …
My sister Sarah went to a small college where real professors taught the classes. Her history advisor was Professor Petrovich. He was born in …
Indispensable or Invited?
Last week I visited my oldest son to celebrate a few birthdays. He showed me a picture of a time he helped me fix a drive shaft on my old pickup. He …
Gifts and Gods
When I fly, I never talk to the person next to me. I sit quietly and read a book while they sit quietly and watch a video, just as God ordained …