Category Archives: Devils Lake Journal

No Leisure Even to Eat

All you football moms out there can identify with having no leisure even to eat. You’ve carted them to practices and cheered them on in games. You’ve driven the length and width of the state of North Dakota (for example) with kids and crockpots in the trunk. Paper plates, pickle jars, and plastic forks areContinue reading “No Leisure Even to Eat”

Searching Before They’re Lost

My church hosted a 3 on 3 basketball tournament at our local recreation center over the weekend. There was a great turnout, and it was fun to see the young folks competing and laughing. Several people shared their testimonies. Jesus, the Good Shepherd who goes looking for lost sheep, was doing just that on SaturdayContinue reading “Searching Before They’re Lost”

20 Chickens and the Good Samaritan

I put an ad on Tradio looking for giveaway chickens or roosters, and I was inundated with calls.  The inflated price of chicks competed with the inflated price of eggs this Spring, so instead of buying chicks, I waited. Perhaps someone would have extra chickens in the Fall. They did. After our homeschool group onContinue reading “20 Chickens and the Good Samaritan”

Out of the Depths

The kitten’s piteous meowing sounded weak.  It had fallen down an old well in our yard. My son carefully removed the sheets of corrugated metal and peered into the grimy blackness. “It’s so far down,” he said. “I’m not sure I can get it out.” As one of my daughters went for a long-handled net,Continue reading “Out of the Depths”

The Lost Art of the Missionary Story

When Jesus sent His disciples out two by two, they cast out unclean spirits, and they called for people to repent of their sins.  They were excited when they returned to Him with the world’s first Christian missionary stories.  Missionary stories aren’t in vogue any more. My favorite one, written by Amy Carmichael, a missionaryContinue reading “The Lost Art of the Missionary Story”

On Praying for Your Pastor

I prayed for my pastor today. He had crawled up into the church’s playground equipment and was scrubbing graffitied profanity with a magic eraser.  As I watched him scrub, I thought of the many times people brought him their sins, cloaked as problems to be solved. Instead of offering magic erasers, my pastor gave theContinue reading “On Praying for Your Pastor”

The Resurrection of Liturgy

This article first appeared in the Devils Lake Journal Sept. 25, 2025. liturgy: (n) a form or formulary according to which public religious worship is conducted; from the Greek “leitourgia,” meaning public service The mass might have been in Latin for all my classmates knew. I peeked to the right and to the left. ItContinue reading “The Resurrection of Liturgy”

Conservatism’s Door to the Gospel

Charlie Kirk didn’t begin his political activism from a Christian point of view. He, like many others, thought that religion could be held separate from the political sphere, a self-imposed separation of church and state.  But, the more he became involved in conservative politics and policies, the more he changed his views on the roleContinue reading “Conservatism’s Door to the Gospel”