Tag: columnists

To put it in the words of my country kin: In 19 and 35, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order that created...

Someone said, “If children are the rainbow of life, then grandchildren are the pot of gold.” We just had our pot of gold sweetened...

That’s a question that I have put to youth groups and my congregations over the years. “Is there anything God doesn’t know?” The answer...

With the tax deadline just around the corner, guess it’s time to start working on them. With the thought of all the fun stuff...

I’ve been writing this column for 43 years and speaking publicly for nearly as long. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that when...

A few years before my birth, Mama and Daddy, stringing a lot of pennies together, managed to build a brand new but tiny brick...

Rush Limbaugh’s December 2018 Limbaugh Letter has an article titled “Demonizing White Men.” It highlights — with actual quotations from people in the media,...

There’s an old political saying that presidential candidates appeal to their parties’ wings — left for Democrats, right for Republicans — in the race...

Yes, today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. It is rather interesting that Ash Wednesday also coincided with my turn here in The...

“Are you sitting down? You’re not divorced.” Even in a sitcom, it’s a wildly unfunny joke. When some smug young man in the county clerk...

Housing needs, trends and designs change constantly. Through the years, homebuilders have learned to meet the needs, wants and pocketbooks of homebuyers while innovating...

Since November 2016, following the election of Donald Trump, at least 22 reported hate crimes, primarily blamed on supporters of Trump, have been found...

You think that since I’d been a firefighter for 28 years, I’d be well prepared for any emergency. Because of my intense training, even...

A friend of mine named Scott shared an absolutely brilliant thought with me when I dropped in on him unannounced at his workplace, a...

There are many times that I recall a friend, who years ago was raising two high-energy, willful sons on her own. The boys were...

Last month I wrote about an accident I had in which my leg was nearly completely severed. This near-death experience showed me something about...

Frequently, someone, often a clerk at a store, will say, “Have a blessed day!” I like that. It’s positive, encouraging, and expectant. But what...

As you remember from last week’s column, Twin Brother Mark had just pulled off his genius Bedroom Blanket Bungle leaving our room in shambles,...

A journalist recently asked me for the single biggest mistake being made by today’s parents. I was tempted to say, “Having children,” but stopped...

Kermit the Frog was wrong. It is now easy to be “green.” The evidence is the “Green New Deal,” which CNN describes as a...

The quest to make sense of America’s present political situation goes on ... and on ... and on ... and ... Oh, the heck (by...

When I arrived to begin first grade, I had already formed an independent nature that was far older than my actual years. The morning of...

DEAR FATHER PAUL: I am a Christian, but try as I might, I can’t seem to gain total victory over two or three nagging...

Last Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, marked the 49th anniversary of when I got off the bus at Parris Island, South Carolina, and stood on...

The fighting between my twin brother and me started early. Even before we were born — at least that’s what Mom always said. While...

I receive a steady stream of missives from teachers, ex-teachers, and other folks who have insider knowledge of America’s schools. They all say the...

“Moral authority.” Hmm. Who shoe-horned that notion into the national conversation? According to former Vice President Joe Biden, moral authority is the property that Virginia...

The uproar over New York State’s Reproductive Health Act, which allows late-term abortions performed by “health-care practitioners” when the “patient is within 24 weeks...

A letter came the other day. Just like an old-fashioned epistle from the past, a time when people sat down, took pen in hand,...

Martin Lloyd-Jones said, “Man is at his greatest and highest when upon his knees he comes face to face with God.” Jesus knew the...

Every poker player knows that sometimes a good bluff is better than a good hand. But the poker player also knows that, if his...

While driving to church last Sunday with our granddaughters, Little One and Sweet Caroline, a request came floating up from the backseat, “Big Papa,...

Seventy-one years ago last month — in January 1948 — a black, 17-year-old high school dropout left home. The last grade he had completed...

As regards nearly every public policy topic these days, myths abound, but few mythologies rival that of public education. A sample: Myth: Smaller classrooms promote...