Professional sports increasingly are the venue for competing ideologies of identity politics and even religion, whether the anti-racism of the National Football League, the Pride Nights of the National Hockey League or the anti-Roman-Catholic mockery hosted by a Major League Baseball team.
Dear Class of 2023,
"For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen." Esther 10:2
As I have mentioned in previous columns, I look forward to bathing-suit shopping with my daughters almost as much as major dental surgery without anesthesia. But that’s exactly where I found myself recently when my youngest daughter informed me that we were a few days away from an upcoming h…
That was the night Rachel discovered the other love of my life:
Nearly 11 million Americans are thought to have watched live the May 6 coronation of Charles III as King of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms, with the historic rite and colorful pageantry capturing an audience of more than 20 million people in the U.K. and, no doubt, many …
A conversation for the moms who deserve to be spoiled every day — not just on Mother’s Day — and for the dads who might need a reminder why we don’t deserve the women in our lives.
“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5
My wife and I recently drove in our decrepit but cavernous 2013 SUV to move our middle daughter and her dirty laundry back home from college. Upon our arrival to campus, we were immediately confronted by sympathetic glances from other dads in sweat-soaked t-shirts and beleaguered moms whose …
I received mixed reactions Thursday when I informed my family I would be spending part of my morning at a Longview beauty shop.
“Call a spade a spade”, some people say — in other words, identify something as what it is.
“Real Time” host Bill Maher’s recent conversation with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders made headlines when the senator at first could not explain the difference between “equality” and “equity,” and then, when the words were defined, somewhat surprisingly said that he is in favor of “equality” no…
It’s that time of year again when dads of daughters all over the country are experiencing severe headaches, watery eyes, shortness of breath and even hives. No, these symptoms are not from seasonal allergies, but from a traumatic phenomenon known as “prom season.”
Editor’s Note: This column was first published July 19, 2020.
“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” I Corinthians 16:13 (KJV)
In my other newspaper job, sports editor for the Longview News-Journal, I’m blessed to cover and report on the athletic accomplishments of hard-working East Texas kids.
My car is currently in hospice. I’m trying to keep it comfortable and provide a reasonable amount of care, but I’ve accepted that it’s probably approaching the end of its life.
Star Trek: The Original Series fans may quote Mr. Spock’s statement from the TV episode “Galileo 7” that “There are always alternatives” or Captain Kirk’s attributing to Spock in the theatrical release “The Wrath of Khan” the saying that “There are always possibilities”, but I like to say th…
Editor’s Note: This column originally ran in March 2021.
Having two of my semi-grown daughters in college simultaneously has truly been an adventurous journey for our family — the kind where you enjoy amazing new experiences, but your expensive designer luggage gets stolen and you have to request an extra air-sickness bag.
Happy April Fools’ Day! May you not be fooled by others, and may your harmless pranks on them be successful.
Imagine being 17, a two-sport athlete in high school, insanely popular and in possession of a smile God only gave a few people — because too many of those smiles would put the sun he created to shame.
“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Judges 17:6
The little girl might have been five.
When my three semi-grown daughters were young (and since I work in the lucrative world of public education), we’d spend our Spring Break holidays riding bikes to the park, making dad-sized pillow forts in the living room and raiding the gift shop at the zoo. Now that two of the girls are in …
Recently a former seminary classmate of mine sent me a link to a story about how the so-called “Abu Dhabi Declaration” wrongly suggests both that Roman Catholicism and Islam have the same god and that the two traditions are equally “religions.”
“Watch, therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.” Matthew 24:42
I knew by the way the guy was looking at me he wanted to ask, so I saved him the trouble.
Along with identifying as “Swifties,” ignoring the reported Chinese threat of bad dancing posed by TikTok and pretending that plant-based meat is actually edible, many young people in America are engaging in another fascinating trend — not driving.
Have you ever played the trivia board-game Half Truth?
Editor’s Note: This column first published Oct. 16, 2021.
“Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, What does this babbler want to say?” Acts 17:18a
Have you ever thought to yourself, “I sure wish there was a way to help ease the burden on some college students, while at the same time getting a little exercise and visiting one of the most beautiful locations in East Texas?”
In many of my writings, I’ve discussed my “three teenage daughters.” It was a neat, concise way of referring to the people who made me what I am today — deeply in debt.
Who handed-over Jesus for you?
The National Football League is rigged.
“If the World hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the World, the World would love its own. Yet because you are not of the World, but I chose you out of the World, therefore the World hates you.” John 15:18-19
I was the only person in the building earlier this week when the company’s new vending machine — the one stationed in a dark corner on the second floor — spoke to me.
On a recent family vacation to New York City over the holidays, I brought home exactly one souvenir (I ate the others). While we were freezing our philtrums at the Bryant Park Winter Village Holiday Market in Midtown Manhattan, I was teen-pressured by my three daughters into purchasing a “ma…
In the midst of all of our recent rain, someone joked to me that the person’s neighbor down the street was acquiring lumber and building an ark, and I jokingly responded that I would only be concerned if animals started lining up in pairs to go aboard (see Genesis 6:11-7:16).
Fifty years ago, responding to public demand in an era of reform, Texas enacted a sweeping law ensuring the people’s right to know about their government.
I grew up with four sisters, so I definitely didn’t need another watchdog following me around from the time I started eighth grade until I graduated from high school.
“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.” I John 3:10
I slept a little later than usual on Thursday, so my routine was off and the short drive to the gym was interrupted several times by a school bus picking up kids along my usual route.
I’ve never been a huge fan of hot chocolate. For some reason, I don’t enjoy cauterizing the inside of my mouth after being duped by the deceptively-tepid whipped cream or marshmallow topping.
Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade that found a “right to privacy,” including a limited “right to an abortion,” in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Earlier this week, I decided I don’t want to take down our Christmas tree.
“But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who create…
I’ll try not to make this one of those “I know how Damar Hamlin feels, because I got hurt playing football” columns.
In the 1980s, I repeatedly watched a recorded copy of the film “Escape from New York” on my family’s Panasonic VHS player/recorder — complete with tuning knobs the size of hubcaps. Little did I know that I would star in my own version of the movie (as a domesticated, tattoo-less and slightly…
You do not have to be a National Football League fan to have heard of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who, as I write this, remains in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest following a hit to his chest during what otherwise seemed to be a routine tackle of Cincinnati Bengals r…
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