The front-page story in last Sunday's Washington Post fills in a few blanks about the parents of Seung-Hui Cho, the murderer in the Virginia Tech mass killings.Cho's mother, Hyang In Cho, was desperate to help her son.  Last summer she had sought prayers, intervention and help from members of One Mind Church in Woodbridge, Virginia. Continue reading "A mother’s love…and her prayers"

Thirty years ago a killer stalked the streets of New York City.  I was a young college kid who had just  become a follower of Jesus, and I remember the story on the news.  The notorious killer is named David Berkowitz and was known as "The Son of Sam."Take a look at this recent storyContinue reading "Transforming an evil heart by God’s power"

My mother always calls it like it is -- always has.  After my Grandpa died, mom heard me say to a friend of mine, "He passed on.""Don't say that," she said.  "Say, 'He died.'" I read a thoughtful piece in "The New Republic" called "Trigger Shy -- Virginia Tech and our impoverished language for evil."Continue reading "Calling Evil, Evil"

Sex God -- Exploring the endless connections between sexuality and spirituality (Zondervan, 2007)Author:  Rob BellHighly recommend.  Bell, founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a very creative thinker.  Very fast read.  Very thoughtful.I'll whet your appetite with these lines:  "This is something only God can do -- the creation ofContinue reading "Rob Bell and his ideas about Sex"

In February I was in Mazatlan, Mexico, with a team from the Vineyard.  (The picture at the left shows my daughter Maddie in the yellow t-shirt, Canadian Dave Newton in the middle and Ellen Benefield [soon-to-be Mexico missionary] in the blue t-shirt second from the right.) A week ago I returned from being with anotherContinue reading "Considering Missions"

This is the year to leave the Land of Numb, the land where I was born and reared.  Not the land of Oz, friends, the land of numb.My Friday religion column in Today's Jan. 5, 2007, Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, is titled:  "2007's the time to leave the land of numb."Everyone will feel two kinds of emotionsContinue reading "Leaving the Land of Numb"

Back in October conservative evangelicals were pretty shocked when Ted Haggard, then senior pastor at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, admitted not only to a three-year cycle of sexual trysts with a Denver male prostitute, but to  a decades-long struggle with homosexuality.  While Haggard and his wife are undergoing rehab in an undisclosed locationContinue reading "Sexuality purity … What does it mean to walk in the light?"

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Be on guard!  Be alert!  You do not know when that time will come.  It's like a man going away; He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assignedContinue reading "Watch for his coming"