In a somewhat unexpected turn of events, Japan defeated the United States the other night in the World Baseball Classic – a “world series” that identifies more with the “world” than the MLB version does. This means that for at least a year until we have to concede that we were defeated in our own…

This week is Spring Break for FSU, FAMU, TCC, and the Leon County Schools. This means that you will see more students out and about this week because they don’t have school, but there will also be other students that you don’t see because they are traveling. Europeans have taken spring break apparently since the…

I grew up in the ancient days of the “household telephone,” when our entire family shared one telephone line. In those days, I remember my parents training me to answer the phone when it rang. “Hello, Winters residence…” is what I was taught to say. It was pretty fun, as many of the people who…

Many of you know that I spent many of my weekends while I was at the Seminary working for a banquet and event facility in downtown St. Louis. Most of our events during the year were wedding receptions. Given this and my current vocation as a pastor, I’ve seen my fair share of brides.  It…

Just yesterday we began the season of Lent. This season begins on Ash Wednesday and counts down to Easter, forty days excluding the Sundays.  As you’ll hear this Sunday, the number forty figures into the first Gospel reading of the season of Lent. In this first Gospel reading from Matthew 4, we hear that Jesus…

This past Sunday, a number of us watched an NFL game. This was perhaps something that we had not done since last year, perhaps even longer. And if you were one of the occasional NFL game watchers, it’s likely that you weren’t even watching for the game. You were watching for the commercials or the…

New Mexico is going out on a limb and declaring something that not every state declares: a state aroma. New Mexico is considering declaring “roasting chile peppers” as their state aroma. If you’ve ever been to New Mexico, you have probably been by one of the many places that were serving up roasted chile peppers…

Five times a day my phone sends me a notification that most people would not say they want to get: You’re going to die. The notification comes from an app with the cynical name “We Croak.” It’s a simple app that does one thing – it sends you a notification that you are going to…

It is illegal to dance in a bar in Sweden. That is, unless that bar has a permit to allow for dancing. This isn’t exotic dance of any kind. Just regular old dancing. Square dancing and waltzes and such. This is the case in Sweden unless a bill moving through parliament takes hold. If so, the…