They say my grandfather wrote poetry. He did most of his writing in his farmhouse kitchen late into the night; a single light bulb, like a noose, dangling above him. There he pounded out meter and rhyme. He was a farmer by trade, peddled fruits and vegetables. He used to pick my father up at…
God’s Love Coming Back
In the novel, The Gift, Pete Hamill ends the story by saying, “I hadn’t received much for Christmas in any ordinary way; but my father loved me back, and there was no other gift I wanted.” For the first time that December, the son on leave from boot-camp, risked entering his father’s sanctuary (a bar)….
Clobber the Bully!
JoJo. My older brother. Fond of fast motor bikes, climbing trees and beating the tar out of his younger brother. Although only a year apart, he inherited the family genes for rippling biceps. I did not. So, how does a stick with ears survive the cruelty of premeditative ‘brotherly love?’ I learned to run at…
A Toss of the Bucket
C.S. Lewis said, “If we do not learn to eat the only food that the universe grows, then we must starve eternally.” Early on in my walk with Christ I discovered that unless I worked to put myself in a place for God to feed me, a lot of ‘good things’ would displace my passion…
When the Wind shakes the tree
Over the holidays I found myself writing in a favorite café, when an older gentleman sat down across from me and wanted to chat. I stopped and we conversed. Topics ranged from the great religions of the world, to raising sons. He told me he had been reared in a mainline denomination, but now was…
Mr. Greengrass
Mr. Greengrass lived on a quiet street in Flander’s New Jersey, and to satisfy your curiosity, yes had an immaculate lawn. Leighton taught Sunday school for 44 years in the same brick church on Hill Top lane, and never tired of telling me of Christ’s imminent return. One time as we stood on his porch,…
“Their Worm Does Not Die”
Talking with my friend Clyde the other day, I was reminded how much evangelism has evolved in a generation. Clyde cut his teeth with Campus Crusade back in the 70’s, when ‘confrontational evangelism’ was the norm, and the word radical on the lips of everyone. There’s good evidence to suggest that the swell of revival…
Look for the Dove
Early morning, rain threatening. I leave the apartment and head for the high school track down the street. Hobbled by a sore hamstring, head down, I inch along avoiding cars, piles from pets, and others walking to the subway. Suddenly, off to the right I spot a brilliant pulse of light. But wait, there’s nothing…
In the Margins…how badly we need grace
I met him sitting on a park bench. The star on his cheek was the first thing I noticed. It made me curious, and so began our conversation. It turned out that he had gotten stoned one night and woke up inked. The mark changed his life, brought him out of the main, and into…
Super Man
“Can I tell you a story?” The students around me nodded their heads, gave me permission to hold church in the courtyard, under the shadow of their school. I began by recounting the back story of the civil rights movement. How Martin Luther King as a new pastor was contacted about joining a Bus Boycott….
In the Herb Garden-A Scent of Mercy
The sixth chapter of Micah verse 8, states, … “the Lord requires of you, to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.” The phrase, ‘to love mercy’ can be overlooked like a middle-child, yet it waddles up to you, surprises you with it’s penetrating gaze, demanding attention. That phrase means…
On The Stoop
Who was your first friend crush? Do you remember? Chances are you do. Mine was Chris Helmer, who lived a quarter mile down Flocktown Road, a meandering dirt road that connected larger streets. Our world sat between us, farm land and acres of forest our playground. I still remember the acorn war, which pitted Chris…
To Sir, with love 