I like coffee. For Father’s Day last year my first-born son bought me a French Press coffee maker… and my second-oldest son bought me a full pound of Starbuck’s breakfast blend coffee beans. Oh, my…

The early winter of 1994 was harsh. Our life had been disrupted that year by a difficult move and trying circumstances. Our family of nine was between homes, living in a small two-bedroom apartment waiting for our country house to become available. (We are still waiting for that). Wes was a newborn that winter. Most of our belongings were stored in a leaky garage twenty miles east of town. Our second car was stranded five miles west of town in our church parking lot. …

Reading William Gurnall one day I came across a powerful statement on the attitude we should have toward esteemed Christian leaders. I have always found it helpful. Men and women of exemplary life are some of God’s greatest gifts to the church. One of the ways of walking in holiness is imitiation of worthy men and women. There is only One who is worthy of worship. Read on for the quote from William Gurnall.

When I was in school I craved the admiration and attention that came with being a star athlete but I lacked the skill and especially the confidence to become one. Sadly it took many painful and humiliating experiences to convince me that I didn’t have a future in athletics.

I’m looking out on the city tonight from our suite in the Character Inn in downtown Flint, Michigan. My window overlooks Saginaw Street. It is “Main Street” in the Downtown. It’s a nice view, but let’s not pretend, the city where we live is on hard times. Flint has seen more prosperous days. Industry in our city is a shell of what it once was. The City government is in crisis. Serious tensions divide the city. The economy is troubled. Job …