Jeff Weddle, a 46-year-old, wise-cracking, self-deprecating, Bible-loving, self-described "failing pastor" from Wisconsin, was already thinking of leaving the ministry before COVID and the 2020 election.

Most people (at least those paying attention) expected quarterback Trevor Lawrence to be the first player selected in this year's NFL Draft - and they were right.

On the way home this morning to write a very different column, a turtle turned it into this column instead.

I remember as a kid how the days seemed so long.

When video first emerged of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the back of George Floyd's neck until he died, I said both in print (see my June 7, 2020, column, "The Line Between Riots and Righteousness") and from the pulpit that it was murder, and I stand by that evaluation.

The practice of foot binding, tightly wrapping the feet of young girls in order to reshape them and prevent them from growing too large, began sometime during the ninth or 10th century in China. Small feet on women were considered attractive in Han Chinese culture, and, over time, the practice grew increasingly extreme. In fact, by the 16th century, the foot-binding process broke the bones in young girls' feet. The goal was to produce "lotus feet," with the ideal feet being no longer than 4 inches. Women with "lotus feet" were able to only manage small steps and would sway as they walked, something considered alluring by Chinese men.

For many years, I've had the privilege to visit nursing homes, and I truly enjoy spending time with the elderly.

Like you, I've been afraid a few times in my life. There are different types of fear, and one is being afraid of something we believe is going to harm us. This is a paralyzing and dreadful feeling and one that I would like to stay away from if at all possible. Having a fear of the unknown is common, but this is a great opportunity to believe that God will take care of us.

In the 1992 dystopian novel "The Children of Men," P.D. James tells the story of a world where no child has been born in 26 years.

From time to time, a stereotypical rumor will get started concerning some preacher somewhere, namely that he is running around with his secretary or piano player.

Tennessee legislators will consider two bills Wednesday that could increase the number of families opting out of vaccinations for their children on religious grounds — a growing trend that a recent state report cited as likely driven by anti-vaccine philosophy, not religion.

The Christian life is difficult to understand.

In 1996, American political scientist Samuel Huntington wrote a book called "The Clash of Civilizations." In it, he proposed a remarkable thesis, that while in the past, especially in the 20th century, global conflicts had been primarily between nations, countries and kingdoms, in the future, especially in the 21st century, global conflicts would increasingly be not between nation-states but between cultures, between civilizations.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of doing evangelistic meetings and revivals is that one gets to see new places and experience new things. Mind you, some of those "new places and new things" have been roachy motels and meetings that made me ask "what in the world am I even doing here," but most have been utterly amazing.

The Chattanooga pastor who leased an unused building in Highland Park to house unaccompanied migrant children offered a rebuke Wednesday of criticism he received after news of the agreement broke in the past week.

Have you ever made plans to do something, but it did not work out? I'm sure that most of us have.

The thing about being both well-known and on Twitter, I suppose, is that if you royally, utterly, abysmally blow it, there are no fingers on Earth fast enough to delete it before someone screenshots it and saves it in perpetuity.

Some years ago, my friend Jerry Root of Wheaton College preached during Evensong at one of the Oxford University colleges.

"Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question " (Acts 23:6).

It is the final week of Jesus' life.

Throughout history, no one has made a greater impact on this Earth than Jesus Christ, yet many still do not understand who he is.

The story of Jesus' death, the days of darkness for his disciples and the eventual resurrection is the same as it has been for centuries, but pastors in the Tennessee Valley believe their congregations are hearing the Easter story in a new light this year.

Christians in the Holy Land are marking Good Friday this year amid signs the coronavirus crisis is winding down, with religious sites open to limited numbers of faithful but none of the mass pilgrimages usually seen in the Holy Week leading up to Easter.