The Link Between Child Abuse and Street Violence Most people don’t shoot someone because they had a fight with their girlfriend, or someone owes them twenty bucks. People get jealous every day. Lots of folks loan money they’ll never get back, but violence never enters their minds. The very thought of shooting someone is crazy,…Continue reading The Link Between Child Abuse and Street Violence
My friend, Jesse, spent 20-plus years in prison. When we became acquainted, he was in the Putnamville Correctional Facility near Greencastle, Indiana. Established in 1914, the prison was known for nearly 70 years as the Indiana State Farm, because the inmates all worked in the prison’s extensive farm and dairy operations. By the time Jesse…Continue reading How to Make Prison Hell
Here it is: The last blog post of 2021! It’s hard to believe that Covid is still among us and issues we have been facing for years still hang heavy over our heads, but still, I feel a change coming. I believe violence is reaching its zenith, that illness is no longer going to control…Continue reading A New Path
What’s the best thing you’ve ever done? I can easily say it was writing Jesse who was an inmate at Putnamville Correctional Facility. He wasn’t much more than a sad statistic: Raised in a fatherless home by a drug-addicted mother, he was put into foster care by age 5, and was moved around until he…Continue reading The Best Thing I Could’ve Done
“The victim has been identified as 25-year-old Mo’Nesha McKinley,” said the police report. She was found dead on the city’s near-east side just after noon one day about a month ago, when police responded to the 1000 block of North Rural Street on reports of a “possible deceased individual.” Actually, she had been missing for…Continue reading Praying for Mo’Nesha
Most Christians believe if we are faithful and pray for what we need, we will eventually get it. After all, Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask and it will be given unto you.” Like using a vending machine, we have inserted our coins of tithing, faith and commitment, and prayed for that promotion, or that BMW, or…Continue reading The Vending Machine
I remember distinctly the night I heard a radio somewhere in our house playing music that was so innovative and new I had to track down the source. In the next room a small transistor radio was broadcasting the Beatles’ American breakthrough hit “I Want To Hold Your Hand” on WLS. I remember thinking that…Continue reading I Want To Hold Your Hand
Back in 1942—the darkest days of World War II, members of the U.S. Congress were holding informal prayer meetings together hoping to stem the tide of American dead and wounded from the European and Pacific fronts. They prayed for victory over Nazi Germany and its allies, and for our men and women who were still…Continue reading Let Us Pray: Indianapolis Prayer Breakfast
The corpse of Gabby Petito lies under a small plastic canopy somewhere in the 300,000 acres of Grand Teton National Park. Her thousands of YouTube and Instagram followers are shocked. One of them commenting, “she’s so young and looked so happy!” Oh, yes, the couple did look happy. They posted pictures and videos of themselves…Continue reading The Biggest Lie
Seriously, with the crisis in Afghanistan, the hurricane Ida floods, and shootings in the streets, I have been blown-away by all the bad news. So, I began purposefully looking for a shot of encouragement—something big. Turns out, a man named Eliot Middleton filled the bill. In a small fishing town in South Carolina, the former…Continue reading How About Some Good News?
