Growing up, motels were magical places for me. We didn’t have a lot of money, so when one of my sisters and her family moved to Connecticut, we all went into deep mourning.

A few years ago, professional football player Aaron Rodgers went on a darkness retreat to help him shed some light on his future in the NFL, which turned out to be with the New York Jets rather than the Green Bay Packers. Back in January, Rodgers didn’t need to retreat to darkness—a multi-million-dollar...

Going from one place to another: by design, that’s what a boat does. It helps people cross water. There are ferries that take humans and cars across channels to homes or workplaces, and there are catamarans that catch the wind and tilt sideways, a kind of surfboard or skateboard on the water…

Who hasn’t played devil’s advocate or admired the devil’s advocate among us? Me? I’ve done both. One definition of this idiom says that it refers to someone who intentionally takes the opposite side of a popular opinion or idea in order to encourage thought—thought that typically turns into an argument…

I like to think I grew up at the beach. As a boy, there was nothing better in life than standing at the shoreline, waves washing up around my legs, the feeling of the sand washing back out in the receding surf as the ocean gave a hiss and another wave crashed and brought more wet sand to circle around my legs…

“We want to make you a birthday cake, Mom, from scratch!” my sisters and I announced. My sweet mother agreed and turned over her kitchen to her daughters, whose curious minds more than made up for their inexperience in the kitchen…

As we began a new season of kindergarten ministry a few weeks back, we were getting to know the children. In that first week, they seemed remarkably well behaved.  Given that the curriculum was situated where the Old Testament prophets were speaking out against rampant idol worship, we were tasked with explaining idolatry. “What do you love?” I asked the children….