As a family we don’t do layovers. Of course as in an individual, if I ever fly by myself, I don’t layovers either. It’s just that you can’t beat the convenience of the direct flight. You leave one place and then you arrive at your destination.I would like to think that my family could do a non-direct flight, if we really had to do so. But I do know at one point in our lives, no amount of money cou...  Read More

I’m not hip enough to watch any music award ceremonies. But I am regularly on twitter and saw post after post from people I think are hip (though that might not be saying very much) praising the duet of Tracy Chapman and county singer Luke Combs. As someone who loved the original song “Fast Car,” - jamming to it on guitar back when I had a lot of hair-I had to listen for myself. Wow was I blown aw...  Read More

                           “Would you say they had a plethora of angels?” - Luke 2:8-14Shepherds as a whole were not the most respected folks around these parts. They couldn’t serve or give testimony in a court of law, and were known to “confuse” other sheep with theirs, and so add to their flock. There is no reason to think that these particular blokes were moving stolen property, nor that they w...  Read More

Read Luke 2:1-7. Luke already claimed to be a fastidious historian, getting details about Jesus' life compiled so that people could have sufficient information on which to base their faith. However, not too terribly long after he wrote his gospel, people had some “details” questions regarding the census that brought Joseph and Mary back to Bethlehem. There was an infamous census when Quirinius was...  Read More

A few years ago, a fairly inebriated Indian lad decided to make the ill-fated decision of jumping into a zoo’s lion enclosure. Fortunately for him, some workers witnessed the worst decision of his life - I may be giving him too much credit but hopefully this at least cracked the top 3 -and tranquilized the lions before they could pounce. Unfortunately the short lived rescue celebration soon ended ...  Read More

If you were to visit Bethlehem this year, this December, it would not look like Bethlehem last year on a couple different levels. The Patriarchs and heads of church got together and all agreed to cancel all  public festivities and the large-scale display of brightly lit and expensive decorations Bethlehem wouldn’t be as outwardly ostentatious and celebratory this year, in a sense of solidarity wit...  Read More