On November 29, my wife and I became grandparents for the first time. When I walked into the hospital to see my daughter cuddling little Charlotte, it was a magical moment, just like it was when all three of our children came into the world. The season of Advent is...

It’s been a tough week. Three young men whom I knew — in their 20s and 30s — tragically died, all within days of each another. One took his life; another overdosed; the last passed away in his sleep. On Sunday morning, I showed up at the church where the first two men were active...

As we trek through the metaphorical wilderness of Lent, I am reminded that Jesus spent time in a real wilderness. Mark 1:12-15 reports that after Jesus was baptized, “…immediately the Spirit impelled Him (Jesus) to go out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by...

Everybody knows the story of Ebenezer Scrooge  —  the “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner” of Charles Dickens’ immortal novel, A Christmas Carol. The very mention of the name “Scrooge” conjures up the image of a stingy, spiteful old man, and his most famous catchword, “Bah, humbug,” has become a staple...

  I sat uncomfortably in the nicely-furnished room of the doctor’s office, trying to make small talk with my wife. Finally, the urologist walked in, exchanged brief pleasantries and sat down. I was trying to read his face, but it was as deadpan as a professional poker player’s. “I don’t...

  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...