Author Archive

Redlining a practice of discrimination outlawed by the civil rights laws of 1960’s has a new face. Most of the homes in our poor community cost less than 50 thousand dollars. Conveniently the standard mortgage companies will not extend a loan of less than 50 thousand dollars for a mortgage. So a really nice family with two teachers that want to move into our community and bring a standard of morality, stability, and work ethic cannot buy a ...

I cannot imagine that any suburban or middle class community would have to put up with the number of trucks that rumble up and down our neighborhood streets. Our community at one time fit the description of a middle class community. Our houses contain sign of leaded glass windows and fine woodwork which reveal a more comfortable past. Times have changed. My house, nearly a hundred years old sits on a street once lined with tall ...

Watching the NFL players protesting while the national anthem plays makes me wonder where these protesters live. First, if I understand them, they protest against violent police and a justice system that appears to be aimed at people of color based upon statistical facts. Yes our kids get arrested, land in jail, live on probation and have little opportunity for changing the world that is stacked against them. Our kids live isolated from the America I ...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

By a biased interpretation of this constitutional amendment the Supreme Court established discrimination against Christian Charitable Service. No Gospel oriented charitable service receives the same resources available to every 501C3 non-profit organization. Most Christians live ...

I witnessed many tragic ends through the years, SR dying in the streets destitute and diseased, JP dying of a drug overdose, LB ending up in prison, and some so bad we cannot talk about. In all these particular tragic ends there was one truth at the core – they all made many very bad decisions. Usually they chose feeling good over being good, thus making their immediate pleasure their god. They all had to set aside ...

Setting aside my own self-interest continues to be one of my greatest struggles in serving the urban poor. We live in a society that teaches us to look out for ourselves, while we serve our LORD who asks us to look out for others. The clearest presentation of God’s concern for others, even at the cost of self is the incarnation and death of our Lord Jesus. Paul asks us to follow His example in taking care ...

I have for sometime noticed that our culture obsesses with the idea of doing good under the title “giving back”. Every celeb, corporation, commencement speaker touts the idea of giving back as a moral imperative. Commercial corporations, sports leagues and others often boast about the amounts they give to charitable organizations. But what are they giving back? Where did they get the resources to become so charitable? In some cases clearly what they give back is what they took from ...

This is the 4th of July! What a day of celebration, I am in my basement trying to keep my poor dog from going out of his mind from the fireworks going off. In the city we do not have much space. So when our neighbors fire off mortars they explode very near our house. Tomorrow our yard will be littered from the shell casings of spent fireworks. Of course this year the 4th came ...