Nine Words of a Christian Marriage

Words have power: power to create and power to destroy; power to build up and power to tear down; power to bless and power to curse. Paul the Apostle had it right when he wrote: “Let no word come out of your mouth but what is able to build up other people...

What Some People Think about What I Write

For more than four years I have been preparing commentaries on religion in American life: first for the radio, now for the newspapers. This week, reaction to these columns went off the charts. First, I discovered that I had made the 2001 annual report of the Catholic...

A Bible, a Guitar and a Two-pound Coffee Can

“Are you aware,” the stranger said from the far end of the telephone line, “that your second-grade son is giving away his coin collection?” No, I responded, but not in surprise. He, like many second-born sons, was a most generous person; a...

The Fastest Growing Church in America

Jim Baldwin is pastor of the fastest growing church in America. I don’t have firm statistics to back this claim, but a common-sense assessment of the man and his remarkable ministry. The facts are these: Baldwin began preaching at the North American Church in...

The Flag, the Pledge, and God

The recent court decision banning the use of the Pledge of Allegiance in some western states has forced us to understand our national past in a fresh way. Simply put, American history is now divided into three parts. From 1776 to 1882, Americas lived in what...