To me, there are two orphaned wine varieties currently in the marketplace, Merlot and Zinfandel. more

I wish I’d known years ago that my ability to sleep well might have an expiration date. I used to be so good at it. In those early years, I could drop off within minutes, stay asleep all night, and snooze for a 10 to 12-hour stretch any time I had the chance. It was easy. more

Once, in high school, I went to a bonfire in the country. A group of mean boys had injured a black rat snake and were holding it on a small tree branch over the fire. Horrified, my friends and I chewed them out and snatched the branch away, hoping to free the snake. It was probably too late, but we had to try because their cruelty was intolerable. I have recently been thinking about how that experience parallels the way our government is treating so many of our people right now, both directly and indirectly. Who is going to stop this? more

This summer, something powerful is rising—FLOOD VBS is making waves, and we want you to be a part of it. more

Life can change in an instant — I know this firsthand because I lost two family members due to tragedies three and four years ago. Our family almost lost another one this past week. more

Well, it has finally happened; the United States has become the largest consumer of wine in the world, outpacing France by some very impressive numbers, according to the current modern miracle of the age, AI, artificial intelligence. more

Sometimes, I get angry emails. It doesn't happen often, which is good because I don't try to inspire irritation. But when you write for the public every week for more than 20 years, you're bound to tick off a few people now and then. Want to know what topic has most often sparked unhappy responses? It's not politics. Not religion. It's snakes. more

When people ask what I do for a living, and find out that I am a pastor, the next question is always “At what church?" When I answer, “First Presbyterian Church – the one with the rainbow welcome sign” things go one of two ways. Either people smile and say, “Oh I have heard about your church!” or people grimace and simply walk away. It seems there is no middle ground in conversations of God’s welcome. more

The entire wine industry in every wine-producing country around the world is facing a series of daunting challenges, global warming and the threat of higher tariffs from one of their best customers, the United States. more

The Missouri drought monitor shows no drought conditions for our county. Having adequate rain this spring means that most plants are going into the heatof summer in good condition. However, the frequent rains we have had can promote other problems. more

Yesterday, I drove past a house a few doors down from ours and noticed that new neighbors had just moved in. For the past several months of renovation, that house has been a blur of contractors, carpenters, and tile deliveries. But yesterday, I spotted the king of the renovated castle — a small bulldog sitting a few feet outside the new front door, surveying his freshly mowed empire. more

Recently, on a mission trip in Honduras, I watched a video that showed some footage of some of the horrible conditions that people face. This video displayed children who were deep in starvation, it showed trafficking of teenage girls, and it even showed someone throwing a baby into a dumpster. As I sat there watching this, my stomach twisted inside out, and I could not believe the horror before my eyes. To sum it up in one phrase, I was broken hearted. more

My older brother was one of those guys — a fireworks guy. Do you know one? A guy who loves fireworks so much that the 4th of July becomes more like Christmas — the most wonderful time of the year. For fireworks guys, "wonderful" goes "boom." more

l know what one accompanies a fine meal, special events and even weddings, but the question must arise, “what wine accompanies watching fireworks”? more

I am a terrible gardener. I do not like to admit this, but I have tried five times to cultivate the ground, plant seeds and bring forth vegetation. Five times I failed. My efforts were not without a tiny reward. In our family garden of 2020, there was a literal handful of carrots. That was it. Each member of our family got a few bites of beautifully colored carrots. more

Margaret J. Wheatley said, “There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.” I believe our community hopes to be a place where its members have … more

Being a professional writer has a few perks, like knowing when “i” comes before “e” and eavesdropping on strangers’ conversations in the name of “research.” … more

We all know the rules of wine that are ancient and have been written in stone; red wine at cool room temperature when being served with red meats and a slightly chilled white wine with everything … more

I wanted today to write about the multiple horrible shootings over the past weekend, including the cold-blooded murders of a Minnesota legislator and her husband, and the attempted murder of a … more

One of my dad’s favorite television shows was Sanford & Son, which aired through most of the 1970s. I was a little kid then, but what I remember most about the show, other than its iconic … more