Category: General

Published in Phelps County Focus on November 14, 2024. A meditation on Jonah after the presidential election. We all know the story about Jonah—or at least we think we do. Something about spending three days in the belly of a whale, right? Well, there’s a lot more to the story. At the time, the Assyrian…

Article published in the Phelps County Focus on August 1, 2024. Here’s just the start of it; please visit and support my publisher! Gatekeeping. If you poke around on the internet, you’ll see plenty of examples, where someone tries to determine when someone else’s accomplishments or tastes or interests or suffering are “sufficient” or “authentic.”…

This article appeared in the Phelps County Focus print edition on April 18, 2024, and is now available online. Please visit their site to support my publisher! Have you read the Bible? There’s some strange stuff in there. In Numbers 21, the LORD sends poisonous serpents among the Israelites, and then commands Moses to make…

Below is a lightly edited announcement that I made at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on February 11, 2024, regarding our Ash Wednesday service. The Stoics have a saying, “Memento mori,” which means, “Remember death.” It’s their way of remembering that death is inevitable, so we need to appreciate the present. This week, Lent begins…

My latest article in the Phelps County Focus, published January 10, 2024. Here’s a teaser: For about a decade, I have gone elk hunting every year with my friend Wayne, who has been hunting elk for probably 30 years.  In his early days, Wayne used a topographical map and a compass. Topo maps are great,…

Last week was my rotation on the Faith page of the Phelps County Focus. I didn’t really consider the juxtaposition of the title of my article and my photo! Please read the article here: The World’s Most Dangerous Person Here’s a teaser: A common belief in modern society is that there is no objective Truth, only…

The Phelps County Focus has a Faith page that features a variety of voices from the community. I have joined the rotation, which is now about every four months. Here is my first article, which was inspired by my study of Matthew 9:35-10:23: https://www.phelpscountyfocus.com/faith/article_94def9f4-175f-11ee-9f7d-d3131c9a5ea1.html

The other day, I had coffee with my dear friend Ashley. She is the executive director of The Mission, a position she took just a few months before I started volunteering regularly there. She and I are a mutual admiration society—we both see things in each other that we wish we could be. She recently…

Recently, I posted a list of “Edge of the Bed Advice.” One critique from my kids was that yes, they had heard much of it before and knew the stories behind many items, but without that context, they seemed like bromides or proverbs with no real depth. So here’s my first attempt to put some…

Recently, I read This Is Day One, by Drew Dudley. One of his exercises for identifying your personal leadership values, drawn from lived experience, is to write a list of advice. If you were sitting on the edge of the bed of your son or daughter the night before they left home for good, what…