Category Archives: Culture

For a Long Time

Posted on November 1, 2025 by Mark

This is our second autumn in Kansas. We have a wonderful assortment of oak, ash, and maple trees whose leaves flash every color from purple to scarlet. Yesterday we saw a bright red oak catching the setting sun in its … Continue reading →

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A Violent Halloween Meditation

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Mark

Huge monsters, ghouls, and skeletons crowd the yard of a neighbor a few blocks away. Some are 10—15 feet tall. Zombie and skeletal babies crawl across the lawn between the plastic skeletons of dogs. If prizes were given for Halloween … Continue reading →

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Do You Miss Him?

Posted on October 13, 2025 by Mark

I think I was as surprised as my student by the question. We were in a scheduled conference to discuss the topic of her research paper. Recently, some celebrities were choosing to begin families without the help of man, so … Continue reading →

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Time on My Hands

Posted on September 11, 2025 by Mark

Just when you think you are past all the temptations to live a fleshly life, you get old. It is not sensual pleasure, but rather the love of comfort that entices you. All the aches and pains make comfort paramount. … Continue reading →

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A Left and a Right

Posted on March 31, 2025 by Mark

During prayer today a lament erupted in my heart. I cried out, “God save the children. Send a revival of hope, joy, and love into the hearts of the young. Jesus, come.” I had been praying by name for my … Continue reading →

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A Distant Shore

Posted on February 17, 2025 by Mark

In the middle of night, I listen to the rumble of the trains. The sleepy sound carries me away to nights camping on the Oregon coast. When the winds had died down and the traffic on 101 slowed, Teckla and … Continue reading →

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Gollum and the Great Secrets of the Darkness

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Mark

In The Lord of the Rings Tolkien offers a penetrating description of one of the principal lies the enemy uses to seduce us. In the second chapter of The Fellowship of Rings Gandalf explains to Frodo how Gollum came to … Continue reading →

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A Believing Wife

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Mark

Teckla caught me writing this and said, “I am not worth writing about.” I will write about her anyway because there was a scene in the video series The Chosen that perfectly expressed why I love her so much and … Continue reading →

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Kansas City Prophets and Global Warming

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Mark

During my years living in Olathe and Kansas City, I had a bird’s eye view of the prophetic movement in Kansas City. I got to see the good, the bad, and the merely confusing. As one deeply concerned about our … Continue reading →

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Mere Church

Posted on January 14, 2024 by Mark

I believe in mere church. I have sojourned in denominational and nondenominational churches. I now attend a Church of the Nazarene but am not a member. Once a month I preach at the Presbyterian church. God’s people of every kind … Continue reading →

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