Tap, Snap or Nap?

August 2009:  This is one of my favorite columns (perhaps because I felt like a real journalist). The feedback I received was interesting – apparently quite a few men want a Christian context for smashing someone’s face. I watched a lot of television as a child....

Who’s Side is He On?

This was published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette the week of Independence Day in 2009.  In my neck of the woods, asking questions about patriotism in church is like asking “Why is the sky blue?” “Because it is!” But I understand the confusion – especially in light...

People like Us

I wrote this column for Pentecost in 2009.  Pentecost is the day each year we remember when believers in Jesus were given God’s Spirit.  With more computing power in our smartphones than was used during the Apollo missions, we probably don’t miss the...

Poppa’s Prayers

I wrote this for Easter 2009.  It got the most responses of all the columns I’ve written.  And the response I remember most was the woman who said “Now you go and let Poppa pray for you.”  Which I did. (Pictured is Poppa’s easy chair).   My step-father is...

My first newspaper column: February 2009

I had only been pastor at Rolling Hills Baptist Church for a few years when a local newspaper reporter came by to do a story on our annual candlelight service for grieving parents.  She picked up a copy of our newsletter from our Welcome Desk and a few weeks later...