On Pope Francis’ recent trip to South America he made a visit to Bolivia. While there he used a Burger King as a sacristy and a location to store the chair he sat on during the mass, along with other items used during the Mass.  His attendants asked for Burger King’s help because  it was…

I am proudly wearing my Twins Cap again.  Our beloved Twins, after some bad years, at the writing of this blog have the third best record in the AL.  The new manager Paul Molitor has something to do with our resurgence.  A Twin Cities sport writer recently wrote, “Paul Molitor is a baseball Hall of…

In a recent online survey conducted by Hart Research Associates and covered in the Wall Street Journal, 44 percent of American men said they are finding it “harder to be a man today compared with their father’s generation.”  The most common explanation pointed to the rise of women: “Women attaining a stronger position in the…

In the beginning of his book entitled “Coming Home” (1993), Richard Foster wrote, “Today the heart of God is an open wound of love.  He aches over our distance and preoccupation.  He mourns that we do not draw near to him.  He grieves that we have forgotten him.  He weeps over our obsession with muchness…

I agree with the following comments regarding the recent decision of the Supreme Court to declare same-sex as a constitutional right. ” [It]will have wide-ranging and perilous consequences for the stability of families and for freedom of religion” (Russell Moore).  We are being asked to “walk away from millennia of history and the reality of…

Dads recently celebrated Father’s Day.  Father’s Day,however,  has lost some of its punch because culture is unsure about “manliness.”  It’s tough being a dad when our manhood is under attack.   Jonathan Last in an article about fatherhood, observed, “….fatherhood is the wellspring of a quality critically important to our culture: manliness”.   One characteristic…

Back in 2015, Judy and I attended a memorial service for “Skee” (Lloyd) Green.  Skee had been married to Judy’s cousin, Nancy.  In his early 70’s, he had gotten involved with the church I was pastoring in Remer, MN … even though he had not been active in a faith community up to that point. …

David Brooks, the New York Times writer (yes, the Times), describes his spiritual journey in his new book, “The Road to Character.”  He wrote “to save my own soul,” realizing at midlife that he’d spent too much time cultivating what he called “the resume virtues”- impressive accomplishments – and too little on “the eulogy virtues”-…

Russell Moore suggests that we consider America not in a “Post-Christian” era, but rather as having been a “Pre-Christian” nation all along.  That thought might surprise some of you men. He refers to Soren Kierkegaard’s observation  that a nominal, civil form of Christianity is the greatest apostasy, in which pagans live thinking they are Christian.…

Did you know that the list of approved activities for the Boy Scouts of America makes it clear that water gun fights are not allowed because “pointing a firearm” at someone – even a “simulated” firearm is not “kind.” The BSA shooting manual clarifies, “For water balloons, use small, biodegradable balloons and fill them no…