Competing Christian visions of America

I have been writing in this blog space for over seven years, and a very small number of people have faithfully and lovingly followed much of what I’ve said over that time. I write for many reasons, but primarily it’s one of the few ways you can really get to know someone short of having […]

Status update on my book

A handful of my followers will know that I’ve been slowly putting a book together and likewise will be interested to know that I have finished my first draft and several rounds of complete edits. Some close friends will soon be taking a look at it to provide the perspective of some fresh eyes and, […]

Why hope matters

Depression comes in many varieties. There’s the subtle type that most of us deal with off and on, a slight melancholy that hits us throughout the day for different reasons and passes quickly. There’s the all-consuming experience of panic, which can make you absolutely desperate and tempt you to make drastic choices for any kind […]

A prayer of repentance to truly know God

Father, though we have sinned against you and are not worthy, we humbly beseech you to deliver us from ourselves. We have made you, your Son, and your Spirit in our image and likeness and not sought to know who you truly are. We have prophesied in your name, and in your name driven out […]

The shattered pieces of our hearts

My body and my heart have been betraying me of late. Physical illness combined with a broken heart is a heck of a one-two punch and can take us to really dark places. But I don’t want to write yet another lament about my misfortunes in love. The temptation is there as I wrestle once […]

Remembering Jacob Wisener

None of us are here without the sacrifice and effort of those who came before. One reason I’ve become attracted to family history is the deeper appreciation I have for how fleeting life is. You don’t have to go very far back in your ancestry before you come across people who are integral to your […]

Only one hope

I stopped writing in this space months ago to focus on putting together a book that has been incredibly slow going. I haven’t given up on the book, but my progress is depressing to me. It’s easier to think of jotting down my thoughts within the confines of several hundred words here than in the […]