Dean's Blog

I chose to launch my blog with a series focusing on families. In particular, I’ve sought to examine various aspects of a father’s role as head of his own family. Abram/Abraham was a great template for this. If you need a quick review, this should help: Everything begins with God, ...

In Genesis 15, the call to Abram and his dialog with God form a microcosm of the call to all fathers—you and me included. As I conclude this little intro series in the next few verses, things quickly take a strange turn. What’s going on? “And (God) said to him, ...

Time is both fact and dilemma. It frustrates, disappoints, rewards and thwarts. It blinds us (can’t see the future); lures us (maybe today will be better); haunts us (“memories, like the corners of my mind…”); and intoxicates (I never want this moment to end!). It is perhaps the most inescapable ...

“Then the word of the Lord came to Abram, saying, ‘This man will not be your heir; but one who shall come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.’ ” (Gen 15:4) Let us now pause and give thanks for Woman. Abram will have an heir. He’s going ...

Humor me. For just a moment, consider the following “thought experiment:” After a chance encounter at your local grocery store, a world-famous talent scout says you have what it takes to be great and famous. Or maybe Warren Buffett calls and says he wants to make you wealthy. Maybe you ...

As we’ve seen, God chose Abraham for a reason. His plan for history required very specific foundation materials. As a man, he had to have certain convictions, a certain value system. Abraham carried an emotional and spiritual gene which God found desirable to pass on to future generations. In fact, ...

What’s the key to the earthly expression of a heavenly Father’s kingdom? Big clue: Look for the man with a father’s heart. Big Picture: God created Time and Space as a palette for his great story of redemption and love. The story ends (which is really just another beginning) when ...

When I first started writing novels, I did not have a personal email account. The idea was in its infancy, and not widely available. Blogging was on the horizon, but Facebook and Twitter were non-realities. The construct and methodology of those two behemoths would have seemed impractical at best, absurd ...