I was on the first leg of a church bus trip when I learned about the horrific shooting at a Charleston church last week. In the quiet moments (which were few), I went through a swirl of emotions. First, sadness washed over me as I thought about the victims and the families...

  I have been an impatient person for as long as I can remember. I guess I picked up this dubious quality from my father, who would often stand at the front door 20 minutes before we were supposed to leave for somewhere, looking like a bobblehead doll as he repeatedly checked...

  The other day, I informed my wife that the number of “nones” are growing in the American Protestant church. She looked at me quizzically and asked, “The church has nuns now?” No, I explained, not those kinds of nuns. I spelled “none” and told her that this was a group...

  Could you imagine being reunited with a child that you thought was long-dead? That was the unbelievable situation that Zella Jackson Price found herself in after meeting a daughter she hadn’t seen for nearly a half-century. When Price gave birth in a Missouri hospital in 1965, she was informed...

  Now’s the time for mirth and play,Saturday’s an holiday;Praise to heaven unceasing yield,I’ve found a lark’s nest in the field. Christopher Smart, Hymns for the Amusement of Children  I don’t know about you, but finding a bird’s nest on the ground wouldn’t excite me like it once did. When...

  United Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton tells this story: “A woman in my congregation, after years of fertility treatments, finally conceived. She and her husband were filled with joy. But early in the pregnancy she became extremely ill. By her fifth month, doctors informed her that if she continued to...

  Read Joel 2:1-2; 12-17  My dad grew up in a Texas sharecropper’s shack during the Great Depression. He was barely a teenager when the “Grasshopper Wars” began. The winged insects darkened the sky like storm clouds, swooping down on crops and stripping them to stubble. Driving turned dangerous as the...

  That curious season of Lent is upon us with its ashes and forty days and emphasis on self-denial. Where did it come from? What does it mean? Should we even care? Here are 9 interesting facts that you can add to your kettle of Lenten knowledge. 1. Yes, I Have...

  Forget the groundhog. Today is Candlemas, a celebration in Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican churches. Traditions include blessing and lighting candles, making crepes and taking down any remaining Christmas decorations (see, you’re not late, after all!). But Candlemas also marks a biblical observance–the 40 days after Jesus was born and presented...

  In my travels as an evangelist, I meet a lot of pastors. I get to hear their dreams for their churches and the frustrations that come with the job–which are the same obstacles I faced when I pastored. Sadly, pastor burnout is at a disturbing high. According to a...