Sixty years ago this August, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and declared, “I have a dream that one day… the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of…
Over the last forty years, Americans have become increasingly aware of the importance of diet and nutrition. Extensive efforts have been put forth to discover and utilize the most beneficial foods to optimize health. In addition to weight loss strategies, many vitamin and supplement routines have been developed and marketed…
America’s Prayers For Damar A few weeks ago, NFL fans watched with horror as Damar Hamlin collapsed on the football field after tackling Cincinnati Bengals’ receiver Tee Higgins. Thankfully, due to the quick action of medical professionals, CPR was administered and a defibrillator used to resuscitate him before he was…
I’ve always appreciated good workmanship. Whether it’s with maple, metal, music, or whatever, there’s something glorious about intentional effort combined with honed skill. This appreciation also carries over into language. Well-written books, thought-provoking sermons as well as clever proverbs and puns not only hold my attention but receive my admiration.…
We humans have a wealth of explanations to excuse our poor choices and disobedience. From little up, we learn to justify our misbehavior with phrases like, “Everyone else was doing it,” “I just couldn’t resist,” or “In this particular instance it wasn’t really wrong.” All of these ring hollow yet…
It’s hard to believe but as of tomorrow, another year will officially be in the history books. If you are planning to accomplish something in 2022, you’d better be doing it quickly. As we peek into the New Year, we each face different opportunities as well as different challenges. Not…
Several years ago I borrowed my parents’ book History of the Descendants of Jacob Gochenour and got sucked into a passion I’ve never been able to escape: genealogy. I was never very interested in my ancestors but when I started reading that book, I was up until after 2:00am. As…
One of the primary characters surrounding the events of Jesus’ birth and early life is his stepfather, Joseph. While His mother, Mary, often gets most of the press this time of year, Joseph also played a crucial role in that first Christmas and the years following. Although we don’t know…
Several years ago my wife took a nasty fall and severely broke her ankle. Thanks to the help of emergency personnel and the skill of the surgeon and physical therapist, her ankle is healed today and does not limit her in any way. Unfortunately, for four months following the surgery,…
One of the mixed blessings brought to us by COVID has been the rapid expansion of virtual meetings and online events. Although Skype got us moving in this direction, Zoom, YouTube, Facebook Live and other platforms accelerated the movement toward meetings where we don’t actually meet. All of these options…