January 7, 2019
I love it when people say they have reviewed the past year and figured out what went wrong, and what went right. I wish my memory was that good. But in general, I think people tend to remember what they want to remember. We go into every personal encounter with expectations, and too often, we get what we expect...
December 21, 2018
I saw a bumpersticker yesterday that said "Non-Judgement Day is Near". At first it rattled my sensibilities--challenging as it was to my Christian training. But, after a thought or two, it brought a smile to my lips as I came to agree. Non-judgement day is not only near it has been here for a long time. At this time of year, it only seems appropriate to celebrate non-judgment day as a part of Christmas...
December 7, 2018
Jim and I have been watching a widening crack in the whitewash of political correctness. The politically correct narrative says we must go along with all the trends today. It tells us to "be cool." It says the ideas of our parents and grandparents were for another time. Women, we are told don't need men. Children, we are told, can do fine without fathers. Moms can earn the bacon, as the song says, and fry it up in the pan...
November 21, 2018
We all know someone who is terminally grouchy. The sun can be shining, they might have people who love them all around, but really, for them, nothing is ever good enough to raise a smile. They probably think Thanksgiving is a huge bother. There are groceries to buy, food to prepare and of course, there will be lots of dirty dishes. Hopefully, you are not that guy. But we all have that tendency. We cast aside all that is good in our lives and concentrate solely on any problems...
November 18, 2018
Once upon a time, many years ago there was a good pastor who served a flock in a town a mile or so on the other side of the woods at the end of a well-worn path he had walked for years. Also in the wood there lived a group of people who had some different customs and ways, little money and no land to speak of. History and fate had not been kind to them and the good pastor's wife had put together a small package of needed items for them.She asked the good pastor, "Will you go by the new path that goes by the settlement and take these gifts to those in need?" "I would love to help" he replied, "but...
October 22, 2018
Jesus heard that Lazarus was gravely ill...yet he waited. Days passed before He went to the home of his friend and by that time Lazarus had died. Why the wait? Sometimes we learn something in the space between need and the answer to our prayers. Sometimes, the wait makes the problem so pressing that providing help becomes a demand on our hearts---a demand to which we must respond. No more waiting...
October 7, 2018
All of us are fighting the good fight. There are small and large caring ministries and charities all over Indianapolis working every day to help others. They struggle for volunteers and often for the money necessary to do their work. These people aren't worried about getting awards, they are worried about people getting hungry, cold or shot. We at UNITE INDY know from living in this town for 40+ years that most people don't know how big the needs are. They don't know about the...
September 21, 2018
I woke up this morning and walked out to my car to start my round of meetings and appointments. I had parked on the street as our garage is still full of boxes from our move. As I got closer to my little white Jeep, I realized it was covered with coffee. At first I thought kids were just walking by and someone bumped an elbow or something. But you don't get this kind of coverage by accident. Every inch--front sides and back were covered with coffee. Someone clearly worked at this...
September 7, 2018
What does the future hold? Why do we do what we do, making small decisions that seem mundane at the time, but end up redirecting our daily lives? Six weeks ago Jim and I were happily ensconced in a comfortable suburban house in a friendly neighborhood. Then I got an email from a woman who owns a condo in Broad Ripple--one of my favorite places. I have walked the Monon trail through Broad Ripple for 20 years with a dear friend and meet with a group of disreputable folks at Perk Up coffee house a couple of days a week there...
August 21, 2018
I've always had a little problem with authority. Maybe because my dad was very strict, or maybe because it took me until about 40 to figure out I didn't know everything. At that point God provided a series of lessons to point out to me that basically, I knew nothing. Anyway, I got the message. I got the message again on the 14th of August, 2018. That day is Jim's and my anniversary and it is Jesse's birthday…Jesse is an inmate at Putnamville Correctional Facility who started writing me about a year ago which began a friendship resulting in this visit to said prison. Nothing is easy when it comes to visiting an inmate...
