First in a series Another day, another pastoral scandal—at least, sometimes that’s what it seems like lately. Amid such disheartening news comes the modern movement known as “deconstruction”—examining one’s basic faith assumptions in order to tear them down. While I see it as a way of making excuses for leaving church, it’s so pronounced that…
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Second of two parts Read the first part After having to put our treasured dog to sleep in January of 1997, we decided for many practical reasons—including regular out-of-town trips back then—that we wouldn’t get another. That was the reasoning side. The other, more emotion-driven one was that losing Shadow was so painful that I…
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First of two parts Many years ago, I grudgingly accepted the idea of getting a new dog to replace the one we had to put to sleep after he got injured. Unlike people who shell out hundreds of dollars for a canine, we found ours for free through The Denver Post classifieds. Only two members…
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Back in October of 2015 Sam Quinones spoke at the Marshall University student center, an event that drew a packed house. It was six months after the release of Dreamland, the author’s chronicling of the opioid epidemic in Middle America that still plagues this part of the nation. Most audience members were familiar with the…
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After encountering a pastor recently who questioned my motives for contacting him (maybe to get his side of the story?) for a magazine feature, I am more convinced than ever that Christians need to take some chill pills and shed their media hostility. The church seems to often swallow the same hysteria consumed by the…
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For years, I wasn’t that interested in the Psalms, a reflection of my “I don’t write poetry or read it” sort of outlook. I credit our pastor with changing my view. I now consider the Psalms a must-read in Scripture. I have a number of favorite entries, such as Psalms 103, 27 and 127. I…
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No sooner had I penned a lament about the death of country singer Naomi Judd than I saw a commentary about her written by Terry Mattingly, a longtime journalist I’ve never met but have long admired. A senior fellow at the University of Mississippi, Mattingly was the religion editor of the Rocky Mountain News during…
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We received a gift card last Christmas season, which we immediately used for a dinner out to celebrate my wife’s birthday. With more than $48 left on the balance, we decided to use it again for our anniversary dinner six weeks later. Despite a great meal, our delight turned to disappointment when our water returned,…
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The verse has been one of my favorites since my wife and I made the decision to follow Christ many years ago: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11 MEV). Sadly, in our frenetic-paced society, we have lost sight of the value of sharing…
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My first exposure to Hillsong Church’s worship music came 25 years ago while attending a series of Friday night meetings at a church in the Louisville, Kentucky area. While the Shout to the Lord album had been released in the U.S. the year before, I had never heard of it or its popular title track…
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