What I Learned from Gordon Lightfoot, 1 of 3

In honor of Gordon Lightfoot’s passing on Monday night at 84 (a year older than my dad), I’m reposting this first part of a three-part series I wrote in 2020. My deepest sympathies to his family, fans, and friends. And I’m so grateful my son Tim and I got to see him live last year on April 5th in Phoenixville, … Read More

Gardening in Lent

By Timothy Austen There are good Christmas songs and there are bad ones. Stay with me, folks. I know it’ spring. The good: Some traditional Christmas music beautifully captures the spirit of waiting and patience that Advent—and, for that matter, our current season of Lent—requires of us. For example: “How long is this Mariah Carey song, and when will it … Read More

Why I Believe Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Part 1 of 3

When I was a sophomore at Lancaster Bible College, I had the privilege of taking a philosophy class from the school’s most gifted and popular professor at the time. For reasons I won’t go into here, I’ll just call him Bob. Bob had a gift for making difficult subjects like epistemology (the study of how we know stuff) clear and … Read More

Changeless as the Sea

Pam, I, and our dogs had a wonderfully healing vacation in the Outer Banks the first week of November. One night she captured the great picture of the moon above. It goes so well with a song I wrote many years ago that I thought I’d share the lyrics with for you the holiday. Although I wrote it on July … Read More

Finding Peace in a Global Pandemic

So much has happened these last few weeks and things keep changing every day! Praying for all of us to stay safe, flexible, and know how to navigate our responsibilities and callings in the coming days. The practical angst related to an incredulous lack of toilet paper aside, the more difficult quest for most of us is the search for serenity… Be … Read More

Evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection

“So the other disciples told him [“Doubting Thomas], ‘We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’” John 20:25, ESV A healthy skepticism is good but Thomas … Read More

Why I Believe in a Loving Creator

Let the godly sing for joy to the LORD;it is fitting for the pure to praise him…The LORD merely spoke,and the heavens were created.He breathed the word,and all the stars were born.He assigned the sea its boundariesand locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.Let the whole world fear the LORD,and let everyone stand in awe of him.For when he spoke, the world … Read More

Focus for Fall: Big Lessons from Small Creatures, Part 5 of 5

Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer; the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs; the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank; the lizard you can take in your hands, … Read More

Focus for Fall: Big Lessons from Small Creatures, Part 4 of 5

“Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise:  the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer;  the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs;  the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank;  the lizard you can take in your hands, yet it is in kings’ … Read More

Focus for Fall: Big Lessons from Small Creatures, Part 3 of 5

Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer; the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs; the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank; the lizard you can take in your hands, … Read More