In the Algonquin Wilderness my Nalgene sustained major damage. The bottle is still functional but the strap holder broke off. Today I treated myself to a new one–a lovely shade of blue and strong enough to survive a nuclear blast. A thing of beauty. It’s just one of life’s simple pleasures. Everyone should own at least one of these.

Everywhere I have ever gone, I have noticed that people are open to human touches – friendliness, compliments, smiles, gifts, tips, kindness, appreciation, a listening ear. These are the kinds of things that nurture human relations. It is in the exchange of human relations that we influence others for eternity. Ministry to people depends on human relationships.
Campton is the county seat of Wolfe County, Kentucky. Every Thursday night all summer long there is a singin’ on the street in front of the courthouse. People sit on the courthouse steps …

I’m headed here this morning to hike and teach the Bible to a group of young people. Yesterday on the plane I was meditating on 2 Corinthians 4:6 and I noticed a mention of the Creator God:
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
This looks like a great place to adore our Creator.
I’ve preached in some really interesting places. …

Here’s a short story about stories pulled out of a recent talk I gave.

podcast produced by Daniel Pierpont

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Do you believe there is such a thing as soul-thirst? I do. Deep down in the heart of every person is a thirst only Jesus can quench.
I once directed a Christian ministry housed in a sixteen-story hotel in Michigan. The hotel was built on the river. One morning one of the children was looking out over the river and said; “Oh, Dad, that guy just took a cup out and dipped it in the river and drank from it.”

Here is the title story from my book Sunset on Summer. Download and enjoy. Let me know what you think.
Sunset on Summer
Thanks to Daniel for producing the podcast.

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I do have a wife. This is a picture of her and our youngest daughter.

Our daughters Holly, Heidi, Hannah, and Hope are singing this month in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. Last week one of the places they sang was Pigeon Roost Community House of Prayer. It was a tiny, neat church hidden in the hills of Kentucky, hill after green, forested hill from a town of any size. The girls have become such flatlanders living in Michigan that they usually arrive at their engagements green as the surrounding mountains.
They recovered enough to sing. When they sang, each of the girls testified. When …

Mexico–May 2006
In May 2006 I skipped my graduate school commencement and Chuk skipped his college graduation ceremony to take advantage of a missionary opportunity. Our family went with an evangelistic team to Mexico. One evening we visited a tiny, humble village on Lake Chapala. Most of the streets in the village were dirt. The main street was cobblestone.
The street was filled with children when we got there. We had a big watermelon to use for a skit, but someone had the idea that we should just slice the …

I brought this post to the top of my site because I mentioned it in my message Sunday morning. Be sure you follow the link at the end of my essay.
Do you know who Janice Meredith Wilson is? You should. Let me get on my soapbox here for a minute and then I will introduce her to you.
The guest list for lecturers at the National Cathedral in Washington D. C. is heavily weighted toward an odd amalgam of men and women, writers and preachers, educators and …