Earlier this year a Floridian man was found practicing medicine without a license. Or a degree. Of any kind. He was 18. “I’m not trying to hurt people,” the young man stated.  He had started a practice “to do some good in the community.  “If that is a negative thing,” he continued, “we have a lot […]

Read More How to tell a faithful pastor from a fake one (pt. 1)

With my daughters now heading back to school, I realized that I hadn’t adequately taught them something vital about Jesus: His disobedience. I’ve taught them a lot of about his obedience–how he “was obedient to death, even death on a cross” (so says the glorious ‘hymn’ of Philippians 2). But his disobedience?  Ummm…. not so much.  Though […]

Read More Jesus’ disobedience (or: prepping our kids to go back to school)

Hey, everybody!  Guess where the Clarks are headed to next?!! To find out, just click here. We can’t wait!  Isn’t it crazy that God includes us what He’s doing for His world? (And, yes, the above pic is actually of a place located about 45 minutes from where we’ll be living.) Please, pray hard!  And if […]

Read More Where are the Clarks going next?!

Jesus said (of himself), “If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.” Paul said, “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.” In his insanely gripping and subversive read Ethnic America: A History, Thomas Sowell describes the tragic social and economic conditions of (emancipated) slaves immediately after the Civil War.  He writes: […]

Read More Do you want to be free?

“No, please, don’t touch it, Ro!  It’s my picture–I drew it!!” This is what my 4-year-old son Winston recently said to his sister Ro(semary).  But this is actually what it sounded like: “No, pweez don touch it, Wo!  It’s my pikshow–I dwoo it!!” He had been drawing with his crayons at the kitchen counter at breakfast […]

Read More Teaching kids about humanity’s (great) worth

Sometimes in the middle of the night my wife Sarah will suddenly wake me up in the following way: I will hear next to me a sudden GASP!, followed by her jumping out of bed, sprinting to the kitchen, opening the drawer to the freezer of our fridge.  I then hear some fumbling around with various items in the […]

Read More Why do some churches baptize babies?

In life it’s not about what you know but who you know. How so? Travelling by airplane is always an interesting experience for me, mostly because I’m sort of a people-watcher.  What’s most interesting to me is how we air travelers respond so differently to the same experience. For example, the plane can be mid-flight and, […]

Read More How knowing God changes everything

Here is a beautiful Jewish prayer, dating from–ooohh–probably around 100 B.C.  The prayer (well, perhaps, a hymn) is found at the close of a document found in the caves of Qumran.  The document is called the Community Rule, and it seems to have functioned as a kind of binding document, or constitution, or a Jewish community. Above is a […]

Read More An Ancient Jewish Prayer celebrating Justification

Throughout my childhood my father would often take me hiking with him in the wild and rugged mountain of Montana. I hated it:  the eternal early morning drive to the trailhead, the excruciating load of my backpack, the straps of which would cut deep into my shoulders, sure to leave scars (my backpack had all kinds of things in it like […]

Read More “What is love? (Baby, don’t hurt me)”

While serving in the military I used to travel quite a bit–just brief 2-3 days trips.   I would usually travel with the rest of my team, arriving at our location some time in the late afternoon.  Our usual routine was to check in to the hotel and then grab a drink, hopefully in time for happy […]

Read More Holy Week meditation: God’s infuriating mercy