-
I just watched a news report tonight on ABC’s Nightline that explored the subject of miracles, featuring a town in eastern Europe that claims to have regular appearances by the Virgin Mary. It’s part of a larger project by Bill Weir, one of the anchors and a fine reporter, that airs Wednesday night. Now, about…
-
I just watched a powerful Outside the Lines Report on ESPN that chronicled a MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighter named Rad Martinez and his dedication to a promise he made his dying grandmother. The promise has deeply affected his life in many ways. A young man of 31, his life has been deeply affected by…
-
Baseball is a marvelous game. It rewards acts of greatness — say, hitting a ball 400 feet over the center field fence — and acts of failure. Failure? Rewarded? Yep. A good Major League player averages about 2.5 hits for every 10 times at the plate. A great player gets 3 hits every 10 times…
-
Well, June is a thing of the past and July is upon us once again. Most Texans with any wealth have hit the dry and dusty trail out of here for a few months, most likely seeking the pleasant and mild air of Colorado or the tropical beaches of the Caribbean. Those of us without…
-
I’ve been doing a lot of research and interviewing lately about what has happened to the spiritual lives of the younger generations in Europe. You see, it isn’t a pretty picture over there. Or so missionaries keep telling me. Churches across Europe are emptying out and aging as each year passes. Younger folks aren’t taking…
-
Every day I scan the day’s top stories to see what going on in the world, locally, in entertainment and, of course, the sports world. It’s a daily habit I picked up as a journalist years ago. Today I noticed these headlines: “Uncontacted Tribe Found in Remote Corner of Amazon” — It appears that researchers…
-
We got into a discussion today in the church office about the common tendency in modern evangelical Christianity of adopting an all-or-nothing mindset towards salvation and our relationship with God. The conversation centered around a theology often called “lordship salvation” which emphasizes the importance of making Jesus Lord of every area of your life. That…
-
Went to Dollar Tree tonight. It’s located about seven miles from my house — a fairly straight route. A very straight route. Along that seven mile path lie 16 stoplights. Yes, I said 16 stoplights. That’s a ratio of more than two stoplights per mile. Factor in that the first three miles have no stoplight…
-
I was looking through some old files yesterday and ran across some comics I had scanned years ago. This one always made me chuckle, not because of Linus, the persecuted prophet of the Peanuts world, but Snoopy, the resident theological watchdog. Truth be told, I thought both were in fine form here: Peanuts was created…
-
I’ve been blessed over the past five years to live in a rather unconventional place in the suburbs of North Texas. A lake cabin first built in the 1950s with the massive size of 300 square feet, this house has grown and evolved over its nearly 60 years if life. It now has a bedroom,…
J.C. Newton 