“Honor your father and your mother.” The first six words of Exodus 20:12 (ESV) will be quoted from numerous pulpits this weekend as church attendance swells. After all, Mother’s Day (59%) ranks only behind Christmas (84%) and Easter (93%) in popularity for church attendance. Presumably, one reason is recalcitrant children joining Mom to please her.…
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As a member of a professional editors group, I regularly receive inquiries from would-be authors about editing their book for publication. Many aren’t ready for editing, let alone getting their words typeset and between the covers of a book—whether in printed or electronic format. Too many newcomers think their job is done once they have put…
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Years ago, producing newspapers, magazines, books, or other printed materials took a small army of writers, proofreaders, advertising artists, graphic artists and typesetters. Today, thanks to technological advances, one person can spit out a product that used to take at least a dozen sets of hands to prepare. The mistake too many would-be authors make…
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Since the news broke two months ago, most folks know that in the next week or so, Skype will go dark. It’s a bit of a sad day, since it signals the end of an era—albeit only a 22-year-old one. Still, for a once-nascent technology that became so popular that giant eBay acquired it three…
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Deconstruction is all the rage these days. Once-faithful followers of Jesus have torn their faith down to the studs, taken a hard look, and decided: “Nah, I don’t believe.” This trend helps explain the great church exodus researchers Jim Davis and Michael Graham detail in their August 2023 book, The Great Dechurching. The authors say…
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Easter arrives in 10 days. If the past is any indication, that Sunday will bring our church’s largest attendance of the year. We may have to set out extra chairs to make sure all the visitors get a seat. Yet for the first time in five years, no one will be able to sit at…
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Years ago I wrote material for a missions agency based in the Atlanta area. Once a year, they brought writers in from around the nation for a conference; it proved a valuable exercise in building relationships and improving the materials we produced. However, one year a problem arose on the second day of the conference.…
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While one could argue that any coins are irrelevant in the age of electronic transfers and cryptocurrency, I still lament what appears to be the pending demise of the penny. As chronicled by the New York Times and other media, last month President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Mint to stop producing pennies. They cost…
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On the same day President Donald Trump’s White House slugfest with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy grabbed international attention, the Associated Press distributed a lesser-noticed story. The latter concerned the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s decision to increase its giving over the next two years. It was a response to the Trump administration’s freeze…
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Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s experiences in a Nazi concentration camp led him to write Man’s Search for Meaning. Published in 1946, the book has sold more than 16 million copies and continues to maintain best-seller status. One of his most noted quotes—“When a person can’t find a deep sense of meaning they distract themselves with…
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