My grandfather died unexpectedly from complications from surgery on Saturday, March 18th. I made it to the hospital in Topeka in time to spend his last hours with him before he moved from this life onto the next. These are the words I shared at his memorial service last week. In his last hours of…

A legal expert comes to Jesus and asks him a question, “What must I do to gain eternal life?” Jesus doesn’t say, “You must believe in me.”  Jesus doesn’t say, “You must accept me as your Lord and Savior.”  Instead, Jesus responds as he often does, not with an answer, but with another question.  “You…

Tonight my four year old came down the aisle of our sanctuary, stood at my feet, and looked up at me, her face framed by her characteristic curls, her big brown eyes rimmed in hot pink frames, her smile spread wide.  I bent down, and traced a cross on her forehead with my ash-covered thumb….