“The Changeling,” is the story of a mother victimized by her son’s alleged killer, and a system set on teaching her a lesson.
The “Roaring Twenties” was a decade of much change. Flappers danced the Charleston, and civil rights were beginning to glimmer with promise. Suffragists had won the vote, and women everywhere were shirking conventional mores. It was in this era, Christine Collins found herself a single mother to a son, Walter. Compared to other women of the time Collins had standing. She held a good job as a telephone operator that enabled her to support her son on her own. Also, she was white, and in 1928 that mattered. …
True Crime: John List, Family Annihilator
He killed his family to hide his debt; unbeknownst to him, he was sitting on a treasure.
For John List, success was everything. Equally as important was his image and he did everything in his power to keep himself perceived well by those around him. Managing that image, however, took a lot of work and in 1971 it began to take a toll on his mind.
List had always been a meticulous planner and was always careful to weigh his options when making important decisions. Later in life, he would be diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but traits of his illness were visible throughout his life in many of his choices and life decisions. …
The Christian church finds itself in an unprecedented time; effectiveness requires we change how we operate
In one year the entire world has been shut down. This is a time unlike any of us in the global community has ever seen. For believers, we should be able to discern that everything that has come to pass is merely a part of God’s plan, foretold to us throughout the bible. In a recent survey conducted of pastors, 97% believed we were in the“end times.” Matthew 24 3:12 tells us how we know, the end times are near: Pestilence, wars, rumors of wars, offense, betrayal, false prophets, and the love of many will wax cold: hate will abound…
The first presidential debate mirrored two children in a sparring match; the biggest loser: American citizens
Blink and you may have missed it, it came and went so fast: those brief moments at the start of the 2020 Presidential Debates when both candidates seemed able to behave themselves; to actually debate the issues.
Unfortunately, it didn’t last. Viewers tuning in to see President Trump and former Vice President Biden’s first debate last night were instead left trying to make sense of who was saying what and when. On many occasions moderator, Chris Wallace was forced to reprimand the president for his continual interruptions during Bidens timed segments — at one point returning thirty seconds to the…
As a mom to tween boys, spending time means I sometimes have to get creative.
It can be hard; raising boys without their dad’s help. I won’t be naive enough to say I’m a single mother. I’ve had the help of my mom in raising them since the day their father walked out of our lives and I’m immensely blessed for it. Still, my boys are both twelve(twins) and most days I can walk away from many of our encounters wondering, “who are these kids?” It takes a bit of trial and error to find something we can all agree on — and that’s where The Avengers come in.
In The Avengers, we find something…
Christianity and culture
The many tools that emboldened the movement against Christianity
I have a confession to make; for a long time, I didn’t care for Christians. There was something about the self-righteous religious spirit of many of them that irked me; strange considering if asked about my religious affiliation Christian was the little box I’d always check. The label in my eyes had been thoroughly tarnished by many, and I preferred to say I had “a relationship” with God. Growing up in the ’80s in Southern California, I had a first-hand look at a cultural shift happening worldwide: the Jesus Movement. …
Watching the riots with my child, as my mother did before me.
It’s five after five p.m as I sit with my mother inside her living room. Together with one of my son’s we are all fixated on the television screen. We watch as crowds of protesters and looters break out the glass doors of a Vons grocery store and pharmacy, carrying out merchandise, medications, and of all things, handfuls of stolen American flags.
We are watching the live coverage of riots on my local channel 7 news station.
Another woman hurriedly walks to her waiting vehicle and dumps in the four or five bouquets of flowers she’s just stolen from inside…
Mass Media
The media decides what constitutes a story and what we think about; how does that play out in a pandemic and how well are you listening?
The pandemic has the world in a tizzy. That’s saying it about as politely as I can. Amid the shouts calling for you to “stay alive by staying inside,” and the belief that showing true neighborly love means you always wear a mask, a new cry is emerging. Quiet at first but rising in pitch and tone: “Enough is enough, something isn’t right, open the world again!” It isn’t a popular opinion. Most online media platforms have joined the bandwagon that insists on 24/7 reports of rising death rates, worst-case scenario depictions, and unprecedented calls to restrict our fundamental rights…
The parenting plan that finally brought me peace
As any parent will tell you, a child’s birthday has a way of making you reflect on how fast children begin to need you no longer. My twin boys turn twelve this week, and so I’m reflecting. It’s much too quick a shift from the time between them calling out my name and needing me for everything to ignoring my calls and pretending they can’t hear me calling their names. It’s a confusing kind of love that can make you want to shake sense into someone one moment, and the next wrap them in your arms and promise always to…
What the book of Esther can show us about embracing and living in your destiny.
“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” -Esther 4:12-15 NIV
The book of Esther is many things: a story part comedy and tragedy but also one of loyalty, and revenge. Paramount, however, is the underlying theme of destiny. Esther was a beautiful Jewish…
