Los Angeles is set to host the 2028 Olympics. What an exciting opportunity for this city. And they are preparing for it. One area they are working really hard on is their sidewalks. LA has about 9,000 miles crisscrossing their busy city. And currently the condition of those cement sidewalks …

The Rev. Charles “Chip” Reynolds, 50, feels like he and his family are coming home.

This week, I will finish up another class I’ve been taking online from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, in Mequon, Wis. My current class is a study of the book of Hebrews.

“For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands: happy shall thy be, and it shall be well with thee” (Proverbs 128:2). 

I didn’t expect to be so moved. I had visited Washington, D.C., before, as a young man. I had seen all the monuments. I had been in Arlington National Cemetery.

I like the country song by Rodney Atkins called, “Watching You.” It’s about a little guy who’s in the truck with his dad enjoying his happy meal. When the brakes slam, the french fries fly and the little boy uses a four-letter word. Surprised, the dad asks where he learned that word. And the…

Sometimes it’s easy to think that we’re too far from God’s love, and that he will never take us back. It could be a bad habit we can’t let go of, a wrong we’ve never corrected, or a memory that haunts us. But the point of the gospel is that Jesus comes to us no matter where we’ve been, what …

Recently, news outlets report the growing protests by the people of Cuba against the communist regime there. Thousands have taken to the streets, protesting the lack of freedom, food and medicine. The people have experienced power outages and restrictions on social media platforms, having su…

"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2).

Most of Sister Carmelita Casso’s 99 years of life, have been spent serving the Catholic church.

“Why are thou cast down, oh my soul? Why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance” (Psalm 42:5).

Family meals were a memorable time for me growing up. Being the youngest of five, I enjoyed not only the food but the fun around the table. We could always count on my parents to celebrate someone’s daily accomplishment or share some helpful insight. Sometimes family meals were a chance to s…

My family and I are officially back from vacation. As often happens, I am more tired now than when I left. This time it was my own fault, though. I brought it on myself. You see, this year my family and I decided to take a road trip.

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.”

I remember reading a story about a woman who lived on a farm. She was out working, and noticed the tail of a snake near the woodpile by her home. She had dealt with snakes before living in the country and didn’t think it was too serious. So, she took a stick and began slapping at the snake’s…

In 1995, Mel Gibson produced, directed and starred in the Academy Award-winning epic “Braveheart.” In the movie, Gibson portrays a Scottish folk hero from the 13th century named William Wallace, known to his fellow countrymen as “Braveheart.”

When we look for God’s will in our lives, one of the first places we look is an open door. When we consider big life decisions we need to make such as jobs, dating, buying a house, or whatever our concern of the day is, it is not clear what we should do so we begin to hope for and pray for G…

“And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, ‘Peace, be still.’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39).

Alfred Nobel woke up to read his own obituary in the morning paper. What a shock! Nobel’s brother had died and they mistakenly thought it was him. As he read, he wasn’t impressed. Nobel was a Swedish chemist who had invented dynamite and had made a fortune doing it. The obituary described Al…

Recently, a fellow pastor, who served many years as a missionary in Japan, taught me an interesting word in Japanese. The word is pronounced “ki-ki” and it is their word for “crisis.” What is interesting about the word “ki-ki” is that it consists of two Japanese characters — the character fo…

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself" (Matthew 6:24).

Jesus told quite a few parables using mustard seeds for illustrative purposes.

Every so often I find them in my ministry — a true love story.

Our God sees us in all the struggles, challenges and joys we see in our families. Perhaps your family feels broken, or has not developed as you hoped it would. But I’d like to tell you that God sees you in the midst of whatever you are going through.

While I was in college, I worked a couple of summers in New Orleans. My brother was coaching at Tulane, and he helped get me a job as a deputy sheriff. I played on the sheriff’s softball team too and enjoyed some great Cajun food. Often while downtown, we’d see the quaint horse drawn carriag…

“Truly my soul waiteth upon God: From Him cometh my salvation” (Psalm 62:1). 

We had a flourishing orange tree in our yard until the recent freeze here in south Texas. My wife bought this tree home several years back. Honestly, it looked like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It was a tiny little stick planted in a bucket of dirt. I had serious doubts if anything would …

We all remember that King Herod tried to kill Jesus. Peter denied Him. Judas betrayed Him. Soldiers murdered Him, and in the end, all forsook Him. Each in turn had to come to grips with the Lord. Each in turn had to decide what to do with Jesus. Each in turn had to come to a moment of truth …

People today say it in different ways. “Stay in your lane, bro.” “You do you and I’ll do me.” “MYOB.”

“Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil.”

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself. … Who is my neighbor? … The one who treated him with compassion” (Luke 10:27, 29. 37).

We are in the middle of a major remodel of our church. It was time. Our sanctuary is over 50 years old — just a little older than I am right now.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brig…

My mother-in-law bought a nice new townhome in Houston about 20 years ago now. Several years back, she noticed these big cracks beginning to appear in her walls. And they weren’t the kind of cracks you could paint over and they’d go away.

“Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil" (Proverbs 3:7).

Years ago, I attended a reception with my father-in-law. And the father of the son we were honoring began sharing his thoughts about his son. But first, he shared remarkable attributes and accomplishments of his grandfather and his father. He went on to share the same about his grandmother a…

I just finished conducting the funeral of my friend Georgia. As a pastor, I consider all the members of my church to be friends, but Georgia was different. We really clicked. She was my buddy. We made each other smile.

Jesus said: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15: 12-13).

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalms 46:10).

As a teenager, I umpired Little League baseball games. And one of my funniest memories happened as I was umpiring a game with a friend. He was on the bases and I was at home plate. My friend’s dad was managing the team his younger brother played on. It was a really big game where the winner …

Lately, the radio in my head has been playing a lot of Alanis Morissette. It seems every time I turn on the news or scroll through Facebook these days, I hear her voice singing, “Isn’t it ironic?”

Since the COVID-19 crisis, I’m sure many of us may have felt trapped or even isolated. Maybe you felt as though you were a prisoner of war in the battle of your soul? If by chance you feel this way, you are not alone. But, we don’t have to feel that way.