Elected politicians can’t fight on their own. — There is a great long-read in the Wall Street Journal about how Kyiv was saved from the Russian Army, not just by its army but by a ragtag group of Ukrainian civilians that joined their military in taking down what was considered one of the world’s mightiest armed forces. Russian…

At a perilous time in American democracy, can the Forward Party rise to the challenge? — I want to believe in the Forward Party. Like a lot of Americans, I would like to see more political parties. Like many Republicans, I’ve grown frustrated and frankly, afraid of the growing illiberalism in the GOP. …

No one really does, but if we care about democracy we should. — There is an old saying about how liberals and conservatives view one another. “Conservatives believe liberals are wrong. Liberals believe conservatives are evil.” Now, these days I don’t know how true this saying is, as there are many conservatives in the Trumpified GOP that seem to hate all things Democrat…

He wasn’t a hero. But he still made the world a better place. — It’s weird to write about the impact Mikhail Gorbachev had on the world. It’s weird because he led a repressive regime that really couldn’t be modernized. It’s weird because the nation he led was responsible for so much suffering around the world. …

The second part of an interview with former Sears Canada CEO Mark Cohen. — We continue with the interview with Mark Cohen, the former CEO of Sears Canada about how a hedge fund manager named Eddie Lampert took down two of the most iconic brands in America. …

An Interview with former Sears Canada CEO Mark Cohen on the downfall of the iconic retailer. — If you have been following the Church and Main podcast over the last year or read my articles on Medium and Substack, you know that I have done a lot, both written and in the podcast about the fall of Sears and Kmart. This time around I wanted to…

A church building isn’t the church, the church is its people. And yet… — It is the end of an era. On Thursday evening, I stopped by to grab some items and I took one last look at the old place. This is a picture of what was the sanctuary of First Christian Church of St. Paul. From 1996 until now it was the…

What to do when your church is at a crossroads. — It’s been a busy summer here in Minnesota. First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) which is located in the suburbs of the Twin Cities is moving. We spent the winter and spring looking for a realtor and getting the property ready to be sold. It sold faster than expected and…

Praying and Living the Psalms in wartime — On February 24, 2022, the nation of Ukraine was invaded by Russia. Since then, Ukraine has been under brutal assault by its larger neighbor which wants to erase the nation off the map. Ukraine is a budding democracy, something that threatens an authoritarian Russia run by President Vladimir Putin. In…