True Patriots

True Patriots

We have once again celebrated July 4th, marking the 248th year since our founding fathers announced the Declaration of Independence. Flags have flown, fireworks have been displayed, and fresh performances of “God Bless America” have been shared. It begs a critical...
Passionate Pursuit

Passionate Pursuit

We disciples of Jesus are in a continual process of transformation. We are called to a life of becoming more and more like Jesus and less and less like ourselves as we pursue a growing relationship with God, with other Christians, and with those who have yet to make a...
Indispensable

Indispensable

I can’t say it loudly enough—“It’s about relationships!” We as Christians must remind ourselves again and again that the core of our lives as disciples of Jesus is not religious activity; the indispensable aspect is our relational connection with God and with others....
Anticipation

Anticipation

The miracle of the fallen walls of Jericho recorded in Joshua 5-6 is among the most familiar Old Testament stories. The Israelites marching around the walls, the trumpets and shouting, and the “against all odds” disintegration of an up-until-then impenetrable barrier...
A Trip Never to Forget

A Trip Never to Forget

I was deployed with the US Army just 2 weeks after the attacks of 9/11. Eventually, much of our unit found its way to Afghanistan where we were assigned several interpreters. I connected with an interpreter from Pakistan who happened to be Christian. We became very...
Winter Trees and Empty Graves

Winter Trees and Empty Graves

My childhood home area was the Appalachian foothills of northern Pennsylvania, a place aptly nicknamed “the endless mountains” of PA. It’s a landscape of wooded rolling hills capped with untold millions of trees, making for bright greens in spring, deeper emeralds in...