April 2021

This week a former Minnesota police officer was convicted of murdering a man he was arresting. Sadly, it is not uncommon in our times for someone to die at the hands of a police officer. And yet, it is unusual that it would be called murder and that the trial would capture attention throughout the world. So this guilty verdict has been seen by many as a landmark decision.

I have been doing taxes this week. Lots. As an American citizen living abroad, I need to submit a tax return to the U.S. as well as to my country of residence. As a business owner, I also need to submit returns for my business to both countries. My Norwegian taxes can be done fairly quickly. They can be filed online in a fairly straightforward process, where most of the information is already filled in. My American taxes are another story. This year's return was more than 40 pages, which cost me about $9 in postage.

The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, The Call of the Child.

Jesus, in what is often called The Great Commission, called us to make disciples of all nations. That is frequently interpreted to mean that we should disciple some people from every nation. Which is true. But I believe it also means that each of us should live in such a way that we disciple the nation in which we live.