As I was grading another stack of papers for a college writing class I teach I was impressed with one particular paper It was so well-written Soon though I realized it was too well-written Sure enough a little research revealed that the paper had been plagiarized from an online source I sent the student an email to let her know that her ruse had been discovered She was getting a zero on this paper but she could write a new paper for partial credit Her response ldquo I am humiliated and very sorry I appreciate the grace you are showing [... more]

I rsquo m not sure who rsquo s responsible for turning out the lights and locking up the church after our Sunday morning service but I know one thing about that person Sunday dinner is going to be delayed That rsquo s because so many people love to hang around after church and talk about life decisions heart issues and struggles and more It rsquo s a joy to look around twenty minutes after the service and see so many people still enjoying each other rsquo s company Fellowship is a key component of the Christlike life Without the connectivity [... more]

While on vacation my wife and I enjoyed some early morning bike rides One route took us through a neighborhood of multi-million-dollar homes We saw a variety of people mdash residents walking their dogs fellow bike riders and numerous workers building new homes or tending well-kept landscapes It was a mixture of people from all walks of life and I was reminded of a valuable reality There was no true distinction among us Rich or poor Wealthy or working-class Known or unknown All of us on that street that morning were the same ldquo Rich and poor have this in [... more]

Ann was meeting with her oral surgeon for a preliminary exam mdash a physician she rsquo d known for many years He asked her ldquo Do you have any questions rdquo She said ldquo Yes Did you go to church last Sunday rdquo Her question wasn rsquo t intended to be judgmental but simply to initiate a conversation about faith The surgeon had a less-than-positive church experience growing up and he hadn rsquo t gone back Because of Ann rsquo s question and their conversation he reconsidered the role of Jesus and church in his life When Ann later gave [... more]

When Mary Slessor sailed to the African nation of Calabar now Nigeria in the late s she was enthusiastic to continue the missionary work of the late David Livingstone Her first assignment teaching school while living among fellow missionaries left her burdened for a different way to serve So she did something rare in that region mdash she moved in with the people she was serving Mary learned their language lived their way and ate their food She even took in dozens of children who rsquo d been abandoned For nearly forty years she brought hope and the gospel to [... more]

As I was helping my sixth-grade grandson Logan with some tough algebra-type homework he told me of his dream of becoming an engineer After we returned to figuring out what to do with the x rsquo s and y rsquo s in his assignment he said ldquo When am I ever going to use this stuff rdquo I couldn rsquo t help but smile saying ldquo Well Logan this is exactly the stuff you rsquo ll use if you become an engineer rdquo He hadn rsquo t realized the connection between algebra and his hoped-for future Sometimes we view Scripture [... more]

When the Mars rover Perseverance landed on that red planet on February those monitoring its arrival endured ldquo seven minutes of terror rdquo As the spacecraft ended its -million-mile journey it went through a complex landing procedure it had to do on its own Signals from Mars to Earth take several minutes so NASA couldn rsquo t hear from Perseverance during the landing Not being in contact was frightening for the team who had put so much effort and resources into the mission Sometimes we may experience our own times of fear when we feel we rsquo re not hearing [... more]

In an orbit between Mars and Jupiter zooms an asteroid worth trillions and trillions of dollars Scientists say Psyche consists of metals such as gold iron nickel and platinum worth unfathomable amounts of money For now earthlings are not attempting to mine this rich resource but the United States is planning to send a probe in to study the valuable rock The promise of untold riches just out of reach can be both tantalizing and frustrating Surely in time there will be people who will champion the cause of reaching Psyche for its treasure But what about the prospect of [... more]

It was a warm summer day and my four-year-old granddaughter Mollie and I were taking a break from playing ball As we sat on the porch with our glasses of water Mollie looked out at the yard and said ldquo Look at the puddles of sunshine rdquo The sunlight was filtering through the thick foliage to create a pattern of light amid the dark shadows Puddle of sunshine Isn rsquo t this a beautiful image for finding hope in dark days In the midst of what can often be challenging times mdash when good news seems in short supply mdash [... more]

It was time to give the inside of our home a fresh new look But just as I rsquo d begun prepping a room for painting our state government announced it would be halting the sale of many home improvement items due to the COVID- pandemic As soon as I heard the announcement I rushed to the store and nabbed the essential materials You simply can rsquo t remodel without the proper supplies Paul had a bit of a remodeling project in mind when he wrote Ephesians But the changes he was talking about went far beyond superficial alterations Of [... more]

A family rsquo s prayer time ended with a surprising announcement one morning As soon as Dad said ldquo Amen rdquo five-year-old Kaitlyn proclaimed ldquo And I prayed for Logan because he had his eyes open during prayer rdquo I rsquo m pretty sure praying for your -year-old brother rsquo s prayer protocol isn rsquo t what Scripture has in mind when it calls us to intercessory prayer but at least Kaitlyn realized that we can pray for others Bible teacher Oswald Chambers emphasized the importance of praying for someone else He said that ldquo intercession is putting yourself in [... more]

Harriet Tubman was one of the great American heroes of the nineteenth century Showing remarkable courage she guided more than three hundred fellow slaves to freedom after she first escaped slavery by crossing into free territory in the United States north Not content to simply enjoy her own freedom she ventured back into slave states nineteen times to lead friends family and strangers to freedom sometimes guiding people on foot all the way to Canada What drove Miss Tubman to such brave action A woman of deep faith she at one time said this ldquo I always told God I [... more]

ldquo Don rsquo t get on the expressway rdquo That text came from my daughter one day as I was leaving work The highway home had become a virtual parking lot I began trying alternate routes but after experiencing gridlock on other roads I gave up The trip home would have to wait till later in the day so I drove in the opposite direction to an athletic event my granddaughter was involved in Discovering that no roads would lead me home made me think about people who say that all roads lead to an eternal relationship with God Some [... more]

When two of my grandchildren tried out for the musical Alice in Wonderland Jr their hearts were set on getting leading roles Maggie wanted to be young Alice and Katie thought Mathilda would be a good role But they were chosen to be flowers Not exactly a ticket to Broadway Yet my daughter said the girls were ldquo excited for their friends who got the leading roles Their joy seemed greater cheering for their friends and sharing in their excitement rdquo What a picture of how our interactions with each other in the Body of Christ should look Every local [... more]

I recently attended a high school graduation during which the speaker provided a needed challenge for the young adults awaiting their diplomas He mentioned that this was a time in their lives when everyone was asking them ldquo What rsquo s next rdquo What career would they be pursuing next Where would they be going to school or working next Then he said that the more important question was what were they doing now In the context of their faith journey what daily decisions would they be making that would guide them each day to live for Jesus and not [... more]

Recently I read through a stack of World War II-era letters my dad sent to my mother He was in North Africa and she was in West Virginia Dad a second lieutenant in the US Army was tasked with censoring soldiers rsquo letters mdash keeping sensitive information from enemy eyes So it was rather humorous to see mdash on the outside of his letters to his wife mdash a stamp that said ldquo Censored by nd Lt John Branon rdquo Indeed he had cut out lines from his own letters Self-censoring is really a good idea for all of us [... more]

I can never recapture the splendor that was our daughter Melissa Fading from my memory are those wonderful times when we watched her joyfully playing high school volleyball And it rsquo s sometimes hard to remember the shy smile of contentment that crossed her face when we were doing family activities Her death at age seventeen dropped a curtain on the joy of her presence In the book of Lamentations Jeremiah rsquo s words show he understood that the heart can be punctured ldquo My splendor is gone rdquo he said ldquo and all that I had hoped from the [... more]