Opinion

Judge Judy vs. Jeopardy: Smart, relevant people choose smart, revelant TV

Is most modern American TV programming really that measurably intellectually inferior, or does it just seem to be stupid, boring and spectacularly unoriginal? Before I answer that question, let...

Praying for rain -- til Saturday night

The extra batteries are in the camera bag; the spare knee brace in the suitcase. As I prepare for a late week trip to Tennessee and Kentucky, I have one huge fear: That something big will happe...

Letter to the Editor: Benghazi Answers?

  Supporters of President Obama will stand by him no matter what.  It is interesting that Chris Mathews is now a critic at least temporarily.  Critics of Pres. Bush an...

Lessons in news photography

I've been asked to teach the basics of photography to some area teens. I enjoy this part of my job -- sharing what I know (or think I know) with others, especially the people we call "kids...

Pastor's Blog - PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE

  The show, "Neat," on the ION network has inspired me to get back to a regular practice of going through my stuff and organizing it by the "keep, give away, toss or re...

Fantasy Explorers: Why men REALLY refuse to ask for directions

  “Why are we going this way?” “Where are we going?” “Why can’t we just go the way we always go?” I have heard these questions countl...

The Prayer of Mike: 10 words of wisdom from an Iowa farmer

Every so often, a new prayer craze catches on among American Christians. Someone writes about a new or newly re-discovered way to find God, or at least talk to him. Soon, a cultural phenomenon...

Pastor's Blog - SATURDAY MORNING

  There are other things I'd rather be doing on a Saturday morning, but duty calls ... The kitchen is threatening to produce a new life form unless I get a week's wor...

Pastor's Blog - FIRE AND WATER

    Walt Disney's "The Lion King" opens as animals from all over the African savanna gather to meet a new prince, the recently born cub of the Lion King. ...

The three lists in every man's head (and heart)

  "WHAT are we looking for?!?!?!?" A clearly-irritated female voice echoed across the aisle of a building supply store. I do not know the lady or her husband. (I assume ...