When I was in high school, I played with the church high school hand bell choir. One day our director, Dr. Jim Whitmire, told us we had been invited to play at a local synagogue. I was surprised, to say the least, but Jim said that if we blessed the Jews, God would bless us--it's a scriptural promise. So we went and played, and God planted something in my heart that later blossomed into a … [Read more...]

People who are really good at what they do make it look easy--but usually, it's not. Becoming truly expert at something, or even good, takes years of practice. Wasn't it Malcolm Gladwell who wrote that to become expert in ANYTHING requires at least 10,000 hours of purposeful practice? That's more than one full year of doing NOTHING else--no sleeping, eating, or stretching one's legs. And of … [Read more...]

As I write this, we have just come through (or been passed over by) Hurricane Ian. We were fortunate, with damage limited to scattered fallen branches and a wee bit of rain, but others weren't so lucky. We continue to pray for the devastated communities near Fort Myers, Florida. But even though we suffered very little, much of our area is still without power. My daughter's family was at … [Read more...]

A few years ago I wrote a novel, THE DEBT, about what happens when a famous TV preacher's wife unexpectedly meets the son she gave up for adoption long before she became a Christian. That story came to me all in a rush, and I knew the Lord was in it because it convicted me. I have always believed, you see, that Jesus meant what He said when he prayed, "I pray not that you take them out of the … [Read more...]

The other night I came into the bedroom, dropped onto the bed, and started clicking the TV remote, looking for something to watch while I rested. I don't even remember what channel I clicked, but suddenly there was the Lawrence Welk show, and the familiar walls of my bedroom seemed to melt. I felt as though I was being swept into a time machine and transported back to 1960 or so, when life was so … [Read more...]