Bedrock

( September 4, 2015 at 9:57 AM )  " I've asked my friend and fellow clergyman, Roger Wilson , if he would write up a brief on the whole situation and how we as Christians should interact with government. Roger, I know I'm putting you on the spot, but of all the people I know you have the most Biblical clarity when dealing with conflict. You also have a good way of expressing it. If you would do this, I will gladly share. Thank you for even considering it."  Yes, it has only taken me 4 1/2 years, but I have finally responded to my friend Randy's request.  In the meantime, it might seems the questions have changed with the change in the Oval office, but my focus is pretty much the same. The Role of a Jesus Follower in Our Democratic Republic (see also "God & Government" and "Why Not Trust the Government?") Observing Christians during the 2016 campaign for President and then through the first three years of Donald Trump'

Perhaps like the beloved grandfather I never got the chance to be, I am writing especially to younger folks,. I'm the oldest of 4 sons, the oldest of the cousins on one side, and third oldest on the other side of my extended family. My youngest brother was born when I was fifteen, and I was his frequent baby-sitter. I often gravitated toward the elderly because so many that I grew up with were older—grand parents, a couple great grands, aunts and uncles and great grands there as well, and my parents' friends. I also have always had a love for kids. After our father died, I discovered I had a concern for others, like my brothers, going through loss or alienation from their dads. I've lost track of how many in their teens and twenties, mostly boys perhaps because I had only brothers, I befriended. I have been a friend, mentor, tutor, and teacher to young men and a few young ladies growing into adulthood, some have even lived with me. I found them in coffee shops, r

Between a degree in physics and a second in pastoral ministry, I'm well prepared for work as a teacher and tutor, and I have done both. Between one school and the next, I saw a request for tutors for young refugee students from southern Sudan, often called the “Lost Boys.” Though I never had an interest in foreign missions, I became enamored of these survivors, many of whom were eager for an education and the chance to make things better for their people back home. Over time, I helped students from other places in Africa, the Middle East, South and Central America, and Asia, many refugees, but also foreign exchange students and international college students. I hosted 5 exchange students in my home, 2 from South Korea, 1 from Brazil, and 2 from China and supervised a few others. I loved them all like sons, and still do! In the process, I have learned much about the histories and cultures of southern Sudan, Liberia, Gabon, Ethiopia, Somalia, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Honduras,