Author: Gordon Govier

It’s not everyday you see a governor blush, rarer still when your grandmother is the cause of it. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker commemorated the 20th anniversary of Family-PAC’s Boat Cruise in Chicago on Tuesday and I had an opportunity to sit down with him. I invited my grandparents down from Sauk County, Wisconsin to meet the man they had voted for.

The Midwestern Gentleman website, based in Detroit, Michigan, last week profiled Cottage Grove resident and entrepreneur Kenton Sorenson. MWG was attracted to the craftsmanship of Kenton’s leather work, as well as his modesty and confidence (“qualities that separate a Midwestern man from his counterparts”). Setting him in the footsteps of Johnny Appleseed, Federick Pabst, and Frank Lloyd Wright, is pretty exclusive company. But Kenton’s modesty and confidence is not news to those of us at madisonchristians.com. MC was, after all, Kenton’s idea. It was his idea to use this website to provide a service to the Christian community of Madison. Kenton was the…

Although the sounds of rock music roared from a stage in Veterans Park on Saturday, it was easy to tell this was not a typical Milwaukee lakefront summer festival. If the Christian lyrics of the songs weren’t enough of a clue, the sign on a tent near the stage was the giveaway. The sign said, “Prayer.” At most summer festivals here, the sign would have said, “Beer.” There was no beer at the Rock the Lakes festival Saturday, but there was lots of spirit.

Despite all the affected teenage rebellion, I continued to call myself a Christian into my early twenties. When I finally stopped, it wasn’t because being a believer made me uncool or outdated or freakish. It was because being a Christian no longer meant anything. It was a label to slap on my Facebook page, next to my music preferences. The gospel became just another product someone was trying to sell me, and a paltry one at that.

Tod “Doc” Mishler — a 75-year-old itinerant evangelist on horseback — is gearing up for his next long-distance trek after being reunited with his three equine traveling companions and clearing one legal hurdle following his arrest by Madison police who said his horses appeared dehydrated and underfed.

The Rev. John R.W. Stott, whose funeral was held in London last week, had a long connection with Madison-based InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. And although he preached on behalf of InterVarsity many times, he apparently never preached in Madison. In fact it’s not even clear if he ever visited Madison. Stott, the long-time rector of All Souls Church in London, has sometimes been referred to as the closest thing to a pope  in the world of evangelical Christianity. Upon his recent death Stott’s low-key but influential leadership was heralded not only in evangelical publications such as Christianity Today, but also by…

It feels like summer just started but already we need to think about going back into the schools! One of the best things about heading back to school is the chance for a fresh start. A new year, new teachers, perhaps even a new school offers children an opportunity to come to know Christ as their Savior. Praise God that he allows us to always start over. Jeremiah writes that the Lord’s mercies “are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23a). With God’s help we can begin another year of Good News Clubs with a clean slate and a new attitude, determined…

Picture a group of pastors and chaplains with limited or no racing experience battling it out on Madison International Speedway’s Ring of Fire to see who can take home the honor of “Fastest Pastor.” That’s exactly what is going to happen on Friday, August 12th when MIS hosts the annual Faster Pastor Charity Race. This year the event will be raising money for two area organizatons: The River Food Pantry and the Oregon Police Department K9 division.

Stephan Bauman, former Madison resident and graduate of the University of Wisconsin as well as President and CEO of World Relief, has just ridden a bicycle across the U.S. in seven days, as part of a team of riders drawing attention to the desperate conditions in the Congo. Stephan was named president of World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, earlier in 2011. Stephan was called to the mission field almost 20 years ago, while living and working in Madison and attending Madison Gospel Tabernacle (which has since changed names to Lake City Church and then…

SUN PRAIRIE — The constant din of heavy machinery and buzz of traffic along Highway C did little to disrupt the still peaceful nature of a long-neglected shrine that was recently uncovered on a construction site just off Highway 151. The upended bathtub framed in stepped, peeling white bricks was a relic of earlier times when such shrines — known as bathtub Madonnas — commonly were found in front yards of Catholics throughout Wisconsin and across the country.