It always sends a chill down my spine when I join the congregation in singing “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” This hymn assures me of a strength I can draw upon that will ultimately vanquish even the darkest powers. My own personal struggles are, it reminds me, ultimat...

Just yesterday one of my daughters called, and I could hear the despair in her voice as soon as I answered the phone. She called me to ask for prayer about a number of things that were conspiring to make her life really stressful right now. She has just turned thirty a...

Claude Monet's painting, "The Magpie," is one that exudes the very essence of peace and quietude. He has captured a moment of absolute stillness in the wintry French countryside. A solitary magpie sits atop the ramshackle gate, surrounded by a stone wall which is, like...

The Annunciation, the name given to the moment when an angel appeared to Mary to announce the birth of the Savior is one of the most popular themes in religious art. Nearly every well-known artist has attempted their own interpretation of this famous story.

The moment...

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” – A.A. Milne

Recently I had one of those mornings where it seemed like nothing was going well. I’d managed to make a friend unhappy with me, I was worrying ab...

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." So says Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's masterful novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Her story about the courage required to overcom...

I can enjoy fast food as much as anyone. Sometimes a MacDonalds Quarter Pounder with Cheese or a Chik-Fil-A sandwich is exactly what I am craving. And fast food can be a quick answer when I don't have much time and just want some immediate satisfaction and a way to de...

Sometimes the experience of a creative person—whether a writer, visual artist, musician, or whatever—is similar to the experience of the disciples who traveled along the road to Emmaus shortly after Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem.

As Luke recounts the story, two disc...

This Sunday morning our sermon text was taken from the 23rd Psalm, a passage of scripture familiar even to many who know very little of the Bible. Some have set it to memory, and perhaps, like me, have recited it quietly during times of great stress and worry. I rememb...

Perhaps I am of a somewhat rarer breed, but yes, I am a man who has a love for Jane Austen’s books. Will my masculinity be compromised if I admit that not only do I find her novels witty and wise, but that I unfailingly catch myself rooting for her heroes and heroine...