My oldest son recently emailed me this LINK asking for my thoughts. It’s a video from John Oliver’s HBO comedy show, Last Week Tonight, exposing the shenanigans of some high-profile televangelists.  (WARNING: there is foul language that has been bleeped out). In my response to my son, I did not spare words on condemning...

  If you’re a gardener, you know what a volunteer is. (I’m not talking about a neighbor who helps you pull weeds). A volunteer is a plant that pops up without being planted. They come from an original plant whose seeds scatter by wind, birds or other natural means. Composters know...

  The push to defund Planned Parenthood is picking up steam.  Two senators are introducing different bills to strip Planned Parenthood of federal monies from the organization, while media pundits and such high-profile ministers as Franklin Graham are calling for similar action. The brouhaha ignited after some undercover videos recently surfaced, exposing...

  Author Henry James wrote, “Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.”   Today, in the world of social media that is becoming increasingly unsociable, it seems James’ three rules have been changed...

  There’s been a lot of lively discussion lately about the Confederate battle flag. Some hotly defend it as a symbol of Southern pride and heritage, while others brand the banner as a bygone symbol of racism and slavery. I’m a true-blue American who cherishes our rights and liberties, so I wouldn’t...

  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...