Writings

Several years ago I “rescued” some of my parents’ old music LPs from certain death. Since then I have often wanted to listen to them, with one main issue standing in the way: I had no phonograph player. I kept my eyes open, but the cost of a new one here in Brazil was always…

There is currently a trend on social media where women ask their husbands or boyfriends how many times they think about the Roman Empire, and are amazed when the answer is “often”. Some of them admit to entertaining such thoughts on a daily basis. Here’s a compilation:   Time for some full disclosure: My lovely…

Two news items caught my interest over the last week. At the face of it, they are not related. But as we progress in this short article, the connection will become very clear. The first involves the heartbreaking case of a young mother who was pursued by the police for allegedly shoplifting. In the course…

Author’s note: I published this article on my Facebook page shortly after the documentary “Shiny, Happy People” came out. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive, so I decided to repost it here. I’ve made only a few minor changes from the original. For years I have studiously avoided writing about Bill Gothard and my involvement in…

In our first article in this series, I shared some of my own journey in the biblical languages, and included some resources that have helped me along the way. The second article focused on the personal and ministerial benefits of studying Greek and Hebrew. To conclude this series, I want to share how I have…

In my previous article I shared a little of my personal journey in biblical languages, and some of the resources that have helped me along the way. Today I want to talk about how a working knowledge of the original languages – even at my own admittedly limited level – has been a tremendous help…

There was a time when I was a member of the tribe whose eyes would glaze over and who would glance at their watches every time a pastor would say from the pulpit “now the Greek here is interesting…” Just keep it relevant, keep it contemporary, and keep it in English – these were what…

Ever since I was a teenager my greatest spiritual hero has been Adoniram Judson. I’ve mentioned him before in this blog. I recently did a short video for a group of teens in New York State about his life. He even gets a shout-out in Missionary Max and the Jungle Princess. For those who may…

June 18th dawned bright and sunny in Upstate New York. I stepped out onto our porch and began my stretches, preparing for a leisurely run over the dirt roads that lead to and from our house. As I started to jog my phone buzzed. It was a text from my brother Daniel, asking me to…