In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. This is the very first sentence of the Bible. In the beginning God created the...

I'm guessing that we all have something in common. Humans tend to be collectors. We collect all of sorts of things. What about you,...

I've been watching the Olympics morning, noon, and night. It helps that one channel is actually broadcasting the events 24/7. I usually...

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." So wrote Henry David Thoreau almost 170 years ago. “The mass of men lead lives of...

O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no...

The Lutheran Church is a law & gospel church. It has been this way from the very beginning. Our namesake wrote: “Distinguishing between...

Do you have a devotional routine? Me? I have several. In the mornings I read through various Christian books, a few pages at a time....

I have a confession to make. I don’t find it easy to pray. I know that this is surprising, coming from a pastor. I share this with you...

I’ve been thinking. I know, I know, it’s a dangerous habit to have. I’ve been thinking about something we say all the time: I...

We tend to take the little things in life for granted. Things like a warm shower. I learned this lesson the hard way this week when our...

There is nothing quite like it in the Bible. The same goes for the rest of world literature. What am I referring to? I’m talking about...

In August 1986 I flew from Heathrow Airport in London to JFK in New York. Before going any further, I should tell you about a quirk I...

Ecclesiastes. There is nothing like it.

I love libraries. It has long been this way. It’s been like this for almost 50 years now. I fell in love with books while in elementary...

What did we do on our summer vacation? We started off by traveling down the Great Mississippi River Road. Our first stop was La Crosse,...

Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.

Today Alaine and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary. We've been marking this special occasion in our preferred way: quiet and low...

I've been thinking about marriage a lot lately, for good reasons. In a little more than two months from now, our son Paul and his...

One simple question changed everything for me

I've never kept a diary before. The same goes for writing a spiritual journal. With this in mind, please be aware that it could take me...