WHAT IS GOOD ABOUT GOOD FRIDAY?      On this somber, yet beautiful holiday we call Good Friday, let's investigate what's good about it.  On its face, we are remembering the only perfect man to ever lived being killed by Roman conquerors at the request of jealous religious leaders.  Another example of the deep flaws of a human justice system.  What is there to celebrate?  What is good about Good Fr...  Read More

THE IMPORTANCE OF CONNECTION     Last night I was supposed to participate in an online class through a Zoom meeting.  After about 15 minutes of trying I gave up and skipped the class.  I just couldn’t get a good connection.  Today with the challenges of COVID-19 many are struggling to connect.  Social distancing has basically shut down much of the human contact we normally get.  But in this diffic...  Read More

DEALING WITH WORRY          Worry and Anxiety are huge issues in the U.S.  In a given year nearly 50 million Americans will feel the effects of a panic attack, phobias or other anxiety disorders.  Anxiety is the number one mental health problem among women and second only to alcohol and drug abuse among men  (Anxious For Nothing, Max Lucado, 5). Even followers of Christ are struggling with worry a...  Read More

DEFEATING FEAR       I was driving down the road listening to K-Love on the radio recently and I heard the announcer say: Fear says “What if” faith says, “Even if”. Today many of us have minds filled with fear. The "what ifs” are intimidating. What if I get the coronavirus? What if my aging parents get it? Maybe you're a restaurant owner or entrepreneur, weeks or months of little or zero income co...  Read More

Hebrews 12:1-2“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the thr...  Read More

Newsminer Article--Good News      Our world is full of bad news isn’t it?  U.S. Political conflict and the epidemic in China just to name a few.  In 2014, there was a virulent outbreak of the Ebola virus in several countries in Africa.  Ebola is almost always deadly and has claimed many lives.  A few courageous doctors and medical personal traveled to the epicenter of the outbreak and tried to hel...  Read More

NEWSMINER FAITH ARTICLE OCTOBER 2019     Disappointment, we’ve all experienced it.  Disappointment with a spouse, business partner, a grown child; even God.  Years ago, my wife and I started Journey Church in the Regal Cinemas Theater and for twelve long years hauled all of our sound equipment in and out of that facility.  Most of the time it was fine, but there were moments in the extreme Fairban...  Read More

      How would you describe your pace or speed of life?   Socrates once said, “beware the barrenness of a busy life.”  Ghandi concurred with “there is more to life than increasing it’s speed.”  Maybe we should listen.  It appears to me that most of us are running through life.  We are frazzled and stressed.  Even many of us who say that we follow Jesus, the Prince of Peace, don’t seem to walk in ...  Read More

FROM FEAR TO FAITH      FEAR, a powerful word.  A suffocating emotion that has robbed many of joy and opportunities.  One time when my wife and I took our five children blueberry picking I gave the kids a brief warning about the possibility of running into a bear.  In my effort to be a responsible Alaskan parent I said too much because when I finished our youngest Henry would not get out of the va...  Read More

HAPPINESS     Happiness and Joy.  All of us want it.  Seems like few find it.  Even our Declaration of Independence  enshrines “pursuit of Happiness” as an unalienable right.   Everyone has a hunger for happiness.  Google lists over twenty thousand happiness titles.  Haven’t you ever thought “I just want to be happy?”  There is an urgency to it.  To use an earthly example, it’s like when you have ...  Read More

NEWSMINER ARTICLE REAL CHANGE 2020          Just a few days ago you probably called out “Happy New Year!”  It’s a unique time of year.  It feels like a new chapter, in this case even a new decade begins.  Many of us embrace the idea of New Year’s Resolutions, changes we want to make in our lives: get healthier, exercise more, shed toxic relationships, start a new career or change a difficult habit...  Read More

Have you ever felt hopeless? Your marriage seems beyond repair. Bill collectors are calling. Maybe that addiction you’ve been battling has roared back to life with a vengeance. I worked a crisis line for 3 and half years; if I had to sum up almost every person that called with just one word, that word would be hopeless. Countless people called...  Read More