Columns share an author’s personal perspective. Only five states carried out a total of seven executions across the United States last year. That is the fewest state executions in nearly 40 years. However, that is not the full story when it comes to the death penalty in America.In the second half of 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and a reelection campaign, the Trump Administration decided to get back into the act of executing federal prisoners. After going 17 years without carrying
Columns share an author’s personal perspective. Only five states carried out a total of seven executions across the United States last year. That is the fewest state executions in nearly 40 years. However, that is not the full story when it comes to the death penalty in America.In the second half of 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and a reelection campaign, the Trump Administration decided to get back into the act of executing federal prisoners. After going 17 years without carrying
Columns share an author’s personal perspective. Only five states carried out a total of seven executions across the United States last year. That is the fewest state executions in nearly 40 years. However, that is not the full story when it comes to the death penalty in America.In the second half of 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and a reelection campaign, the Trump Administration decided to get back into the act of executing federal prisoners. After going 17 years without carrying
Columns share an author’s personal perspective. You never know how a sermon will turn out, but I knew the one on Dec. 20 was going to be good.My message was framed around the metaphor of a tiny Christmas cactus that sat in the windowsill of our guest bedroom. It had, that very week, produced a wee pink bloom - a sign of life in the darkest days of December. It was the perfect illustration.But as the old saying goes, we plan, and God laughs.The day I had to record the sermon, I walked
Columns share an author’s personal perspective. I have spent the majority of my adult life avoiding snow. I have spent the majority of my adult life avoiding snow because I learned everything I ever wanted to know about the cold, wet, powdery stuff when I was a youth growing up in western Kansas. Snow was a fixture during the winter months growing up. Along with the chill-you-to-the-bone wind, there were many school days spent sloshing through the mounds of snow piled up along the