We each have a family history. Scripture shows us that from His human standpoint so did Jesus, yet He was without beginning (John 1:1). I'm reminded of a quote I've seen making the rounds lately, though I can't for the life of me remember who said it or the exact words. But it basically says that God uses sinners, but the reality is there are only sinners for Him to use. The idea being that we are all sinners, and yet God still graciously has chosen to redeem sinners and use

"Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah" - Matthew 1:16 Not much is known of Joseph. Well, I don't know much, maybe others know more. But Scripture does not mention him much. By my counts he is only mentioned some 15 or 16 times, and that's it. Of those less than 20 mentions, not once are any of his words recorded. And yet, for a man hardly mentioned in Scripture, whose words are not brought to our attention, we a

Hardly an original shot, but a stunning location to be sure. There are few places I can think of in the United States that offer more variety, ranging from wildlife to geology, scenic views to just out of this world features, than Yellowstone National Park. Within this amazing place, one could spend multiple lifetimes researching, exploring, and photographing, and still come up with new things. It is a testament to God's creative power. On the northeast corner of the park lie

Oftentimes, it can be easy to take things for granted. The things we've discussed this week are no exception. That said, relatively speaking, it's easy to be thankful for the good things. Relative to what? The difficult things in life. Even the secular world shows gratitude for the positive things, but Christian thankfulness extends to every area of life, even the difficult parts. "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials," - James 1:2 This is a dif

As we celebrate this Thanksgiving Day, amidst the feasting and the family, the football and fellowship, whatever it is you find on this day, may we remember Paul's words to the Corinthian church: "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" - 2 Corinthians 9:15 We have so many things to be thankful for but the greatest is the fact that God has and will continue to save sinners; and that if we are in Christ, it is by His grace, so let us be thankful for that. Because of Chri

For the final theme of November, we're going to look at... You guessed it, thankfulness. Some of this may be a slight departure from the intent of this site, but I hope you'll see that it fits in the greater context of life itself. I know it seems a bit cliche, but thankfulness is not a cliche idea. In fact, if we're honest, it's a very difficult thing, especially when it comes to the Christian idea of thankfulness which isn't just thankful for the good things, but also fo

As we continue our theme of Theology and its affect on our worldview, todays post share deals with using theology in the area of mental health, specifically dealing with 'triggers'. I know that mental health is a touchy issue; I myself admit my own struggles in this area. But Scripture is once again our guide, and may God help us to use it practically in how we approach issues, including tough ones like mental issues. So, I hope you will find this an interesting read , and wh

At the risk of sharing too many of Tim Challies blogs, I am once again doing so. But I hope, if he notices, that he will forgive that, for firstly I think this article is eye-opening and a helpful read. But also because I'm continuing "themes" for November and this week is how theology shapes our world view in different areas. His article on what is really assisted suicide is a humbling look into what is sadly a very real and growing concern. While it hasn't taken hold in the

In looking for a share for this weeks theme, I came across this article by Tim Challies. I'll admit I found it a tad convicting as well. I can safely, and perhaps sadly say, that a large chunk of my theology has developed because of insights and resources that I found through other sites and sources more so than a lot of what I have learned in church. I am incredibly thankful that God in His providence led me to safe and sound websites and used these resources to develop my

It's funny, I realize that the way my day (and week) is going that it would probably be a good idea to use today as one of my 'share-a-post' days. This week I have been trying to stick to a theme of integrity and specifically in regards to technology, and in starting this post, I remembered that my website builder offers a lot of A.I. tools. One of them being that I can generate a post. It would be incredibly easy to just put in a few prompts and let A.I. do the work. But I t

For Wednesday's share I wanted to share this video , another from Answers in Genesis Canada. This time, the newest in their series "A Talk With Grok". It ties in with the theme this week dealing with the concepts of truth as well as how it ties with A.I. and technology. I personally shy away from using these A.I. chat bots, but understand they can have a place in our life. That said, it's a really interesting "conversation" showing the legitimacy of the creationist argument a

I've never tried my hand at road side photography before. At least, not quite to the degree that my friend and I did in Montana recently. But given our difficulties with the weather, we had tried a few different things, that being one of them. Of course when I say road side, the term "road" loosely. I'm not entirely sure some of the paths we drove on can legitimately be called roads, but I digress. The places we visited were actually quite beautiful, and not as photographed o

The early morning light begins to shine across the sky, as a new day begins in Shenandoah National Park. The breeze kept it quite chilly. But, it was a nice morning nonetheless. I can hardly believe that I've now written 50 blog posts. Really it's not a ton but 50 seems like a good memorial, a good number to recognize. But what to say about 50? I'm not sure to be honest. So I think what I will do is point out a few of my personal favorite posts up to this point. Maybe that's

Stony Man mountain stands majestically in the distance, second only to Hawksbill in height in Shenandoah National Park. The warm sunset light bathes the landscape with a reddish glow as clouds cross the sky. Moments like these last for such a short while. Before you know it, the light is gone and the land sits in silent darkness awaiting the coming dawn. As I sit here in the doctor's office it's hard not to have a mixture of emotions. This isn't the time or place to go into a

Montana feels like it was months ago and yet it was just a little over 2 weeks. It's weird how that works. Anticipate something for a long time, it comes, and it's gone before you know it, and then the memory of it so quickly goes. It's kind of like Christmas as a kid. But it's time to start going through some of the many photos and memories from Montana. One of the first evenings out there, we had driven around for quite a while looking for spots to photograph. But the fall

Notation after the fact: Below is a post that I intentionally wrote a little while back, but didn't share. The point was to bring an idea of looking ahead. I hope that comes through as you read this. Mostly that it points you ahead to the future hope we have in Christ. Will it be the final article in this series? I had one other idea that I have yet to write so we will see. I made a couple minor edits for posting now. Also, no photo for this one, though there is no real need

It's the final day, I'm packed and ready, and our flight leaves in under 5 hours (Lord willing). It's still not the time (nor do I have the time) to go into all the details and thoughts of the week, but I think that's ok. Mission trips are life-altering, and you don't write out a 3-5 paragraph blog to cover all of that without taking some time to dwell on it. But as for today, it started out bittersweet. Of course we're all ready to go home. Two of our team is able to do an e

One last night up on the roof in Peru. It's certainly been an interesting and eye opening experience this week, and it will be time til I am able to process it all. Photos as well. I've taken hundreds of photos this week, but the editing process will take some time. But the next step for me will most likely be to process the spiritual and emotional side of it. Coming on trips such as this, in my short experience, results in high emotions, and that takes some time to settle, a

Today's blog will be short-ish and not very deep, as I realize the last few have been as well. Our schedules have been so packed, the internet so spotty, and my brain so frazzled from the days, that it has been pretty hard to write. Today's challenges were just that, challenging. And I don't really feel it's the time to jump into the details of it. But I do want to mention a conversation I had with a young man on our way home. One of our translators was a young man who, I don

As you probably gathered from my previous posts, I have had some thoughts and normal issues that come with being in a new place, etc. Today though, was a really nice visit to one of the other care centers for the organization we're helping. There we got to help with a vacation Bible school event, visit a family and share the gospel with them; and probably the most special moment for me was getting to share the gospel with a little girl. I don't say that to brag or anything li