The Easter season is a time to think about baptism—and about launching a new family tradition. Continue »

Easter is the most important feast of the Christian year—so important that the Church sets aside a seven-week season to rejoice in Christ’s victory over sin and death. Continue »

A Simple Presentation for Kids Ten and Under Continue »

Jesus spent a lot of time and energy trying to get his followers to see the deeper reality beneath life’s surface. He did this by telling stories in which the obvious conclusion got turned on its head: The first becomes last, and the last is welcomed as first. Continue »

When I celebrate baptisms, I love to ask for the help of a child in the congregation, preferably an older sibling of the baby being baptized. Continue »

We live near the ocean. In our part of the world, residents of coastal communities don't have to worry much about tsunamis. Our concern is erosion. Continue »

In Minnesota, where I live, Lent comes at just the right time for penance. February and March are the dreariest months of the year. The skies are gray, often for weeks at a time. Temperatures can be quite cold, and the snow no longer covers the earth like a beautiful white blanket. Continue »

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). When a mother watches her little child get on the school bus and head off to kindergarten for the first time, her heart may be filled with a swirling eddy of emotions—pride, loss, sadness, nostalgia, excitement, joy, and fear—all with a little faith mixed in. Continue »

The relative wealth of our nation sometimes desensitizes people to the problems of poverty. During the Great Depression, almost everyone knew what "hard times" were all about. Continue »

Ten-minute guides, ten-minute workouts, ten-minute meals, ten-minute devotionals—the bestsellers aimed at busy people often give the impression that everything can be accomplished in ten-minutes or less. This is hardly true of parenting. Continue »