Prayer A to Z

After I graduated from Northwestern, I very quickly started thinking about Seminary. It was my plan all along to go into some kind of Christian ministry, maybe even a pastor of a church. One Sunday, after the church service, I approached the pastor and asked him what Seminary he would recommend. He said that Bethel (in Saint Paul) was good, but that Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon was the best. So, without question, I went with his suggestion. And before long, I was all signed up to go to Western—Western Conservative Baptist Seminary.

Seminary didn’t start until the fall, so I had the summer off—except for work. For the last three summers I had been working for a company called Super Painters, painting houses. It was kind of fun, but also a lot of work. They had quite a…

I keep hearing the term “white privilege.” I think some people may be suggesting that rich white people need to do more to help the poor black people, or even to somehow make it so that no one is poor anymore. I don’t think that is possible. Even Jesus said, “The poor you will always have with you…” (Mark 14:7). I’m sure Jesus didn’t like that people were poor. He just knew that because of sin in the world, there would always be poor people—and also rich people.

But if I am reading what people are saying, they are suggesting that governments can do something about the poor. Well, many governments have been trying to relieve the poor for many centuries, but have always failed. It doesn’t work. That government system is called Socialism or even Communism. It is what they tried in Venezuela, but you see what happened there…

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Northwestern, and I was fully engaged in my classes. However, on Sundays I always went to church and was involved as much as possible. For about the first couple of years in college, I attended a small community church in Golden Valley, Minnesota, about ten miles from college. I was going there before I started college, so there was no reason to make a change. The pastor wasn’t that good at preaching, but he was quite friendly and I liked him. The thing I liked most about him was his commitment to prayer. I remember going to the men’s prayer meeting, which was attended mostly by the church elders and deacons—and me. As you can imagine, going to that group made me feel important, and they really made me feel…

Though there were, to begin with, somewhat peaceful protests because of the unjustifiable death of George Floyd, it seems apparent now in Minneapolis (and also now in other cities), that outside professional riot groups have come in to stir up riots and looting. President Trump largely blames antifa, but Minnesota officials blame white supremacists.

Well, who ever it is, they are bad. Both groups are evil. Some are saying that white supremacists are conservative Christians. But that is dead wrong. Christians, true Christians are good not evil. True Christians love people—both white and black people. A Christians is a following of Christ. And Christ came to love all people, and He gave His life to save all people. A white supremacist hates all people but his own race. He is totally selfish.

Theantifamovement is a militant,left-wing, political activistmovement, that hold ideologies such as socialism, communism…

It was so sad to see those few cops badly abuse and kill George Floyd. They all should have been arrested and charged for murder immediately. We all saw what happened. There was no doubt about what happened. They murdered that poor man.

We all were stunned and angered, and what Mayor Jacob Frey said about it didn’t help at all. He inflamed the situation. He immediately declared that it was racial hatred, white against black, when there was no evidence of it. So, before long protesting began. At first, it was about justice; but very soon an evil riotous nature rose up in many hearts and things quickly got out of control. What began as a protest for the killing of George Floyd soon turned into mindless rioting and venting of anger…

Besides finding out who my professors were and what my classes were like, I was very interested in what the food was like. I quickly found out that I would be spending as much time in the lunch room as I possibly could—because the food was delicious! And, if I remember correctly, you could come back for seconds. And the coffee was good too. In fact, I think I drank two cups of coffee for each meal. That’s six cups a day—more than I’ve ever consumed.

The campus was great too, old but great. Its oldest buildings, Nazareth Hall, and then later Riley Hall, use to be a preparatory Catholic Seminary. The most beautiful is its chapel—with huge marble pillars and stained-glass windows. I think my most memorable times at Northwestern were those times when I hung out with friends to study and…

After I graduated from Coastal Carolina Community College, it seemed right for me to move home to Minnesota, and to reconnect with my mom. Even though I did drive home every Christmas (with my friend Dave Peterson who also lived in Minnesota), I hadn’t been home for any extended time since I graduated from high school. I went from high school right into the Marines and Vietnam; and then after the Marines I stayed in North Carolina with the Navigators for the next four years. I was definitely ready to go home.

My mom was recently divorced, had sold her house, and was now living in an apartment in St. Louis Park. When I got home, I had no plans, so, at first, I was…