After ten great years, it’s time for our family to leave this church. She said this over a cup of coffee and with a hint of tears in her eyes. She wanted me to know … Read More
William Wilberforce: A Man For Our Season
It was Oscar Wilde who quipped, The trouble with socialism is that it takes too many evenings. Had they been contemporaries, William Wilberforce may have responded, And the trouble with abolition is that it takes … Read More
Dancing on the Grave of God
Atheism is not what it used to be. Once upon a time, it seemed, God’s presence was sorely missed. Twentieth-century philosophers and even theologians wrote God’s obituary—and then they sorely missed him. In fact, many … Read More
First Person Singular
It finally happened. Thirty-five years after I first started reading Time magazine, they finally named me Person of the Year. And they extended the favor to you as well. In fact, seven million copies of … Read More
The Joy of Money
How much would God have to give you in order for you to write a ‘giving check’ for $100,000? That’s the question a friend of mine heard at a conference for generous givers, a conference … Read More
The Thousand Years of YouTube
And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my … Read More
Olympians Enjoying Chocolate Cake
by Kenon Neal It has been a year now since our ‘homecoming’ to Santa Barbara Community Church. For more than a decade we were actively involved in the church and watched God use so many … Read More
The Ugly Side of the Beautiful Game
Indeed, the whole world was watching. It was estimated that over 30 billion people watched one of the early rounds of this year’s World Cup soccer tournament held in Germany and well over half the … Read More
Continous Partial Attention
The six of us sat in a meeting and I noticed him punching numbers into his cell phone. Phone low in his lap, next to his leg. Discreet, yet noticeable. Punch, punch, punch. Comment. Give … Read More
The Divine Luster of John Owen
Puritanism is “the haunting fear that someone somewhere might be having fun.” Or so said H. L. Mencken, onetime journalist for the Baltimore Sun. Garrison Keillor of our own time joins the fun by adding, … Read More