…Is pretty far from what we had in mind. In fact, it would be hard for me to imagine our plans and His align very often. We get what we need, not what we want. Think about that.

As a first time teacher in Church, I have met with some level of success. Why, you ask? I am motivated and seek to be prepared. As a first time teacher in Church, I have also met with some level of failure. Why, you ask? I wasn’t motivated enough and I hadn’t sought to be […]

I’ve made it to the end of my 40-day devotional and have learned a lot. I’ve refreshed my mind of many things I’d overlooked, marginalized, or otherwise forgotten. I’ve enjoyed a sense of gladness over my retrospect of marriage. I’ve also been deeply humbled and convicted in my realization of absence and ignorance in my […]

I’ll hit you straight up with it today. Some of this venture hasn’t gone as well as I’d hoped. There are also parts that have been truly rewarding. I should have embraced the idea early on that there would, as always, be surprises along the road to marital bliss. …And not always in the form […]

I’ve eclipsed the halfway point of this 40-day journey. I find myself with an odd dichotomy that seems to surround this devotional. On one hand, I’ve successfully managed to deploy this series of dares without my wife figuring out what I’m doing. It was meant to be done for our mutual benefit, rather than any […]

Well, here I am, with a pretty good start through this devotional and improvement series, when lo and behold, I have a conversation that I need to share with you. I was really enthused to do this with my church family, my brothers specifically because no matter what I tried I couldn’t get any takers […]

As you can imagine, I, as expected, have learned and relearned things in the process of applying The Dove Lair again. As I mentioned earlier, I have undergone this devotional and self-examination in years prior. I have retained some of that which I came to new light with this retrospective inspection. It also has become […]

I’m going to use some rudimentary code to avoid spilling all the beans. Heck, we might even use code names. That’d be fun. It isn’t considered lying when you admit upfront you’re using code names, right? “Y’all hear that? We’re using code names!” Let’s get this party started. The first Saturday of each month is […]

I can too, so I’m not telling. Besides, you’ll figure it out pretty soon anyway… Relax, there’s no reason blogging can’t be fun. Be salt and light my friends… I beg you.

Hashtag You Only Live Once How many of your friends say this? How popular has it become to utter this phrase? How frequently do you see this hashtag on social media? #yolo is quite prominent, isn’t it? I don’t have a fundamental problem with the energy behind those people we see using this hashtag. I […]

You should. My blog from the day before regarding a fantastic learning technique was a small part of a larger story. It might benefit others for me to share this with you all. I mentioned that I hadn’t taught anything Biblical in a formal setting prior to this year’s Adult Sunday School at Cornerstone Bible […]

I’ve been remiss on my blogging for the recent few months. I believe I have an excuse you’ll find acceptable, however… I’ve been offering the Adult Sunday School at our church. Late last summer our Pastor asked the congregation to remain behind after Service if we were interested in learning more about volunteering with Sunday […]

I was having a conversation with a longtime friend the day after the Trump protests in DC. He’s an atheist, very liberal, and isn’t high on pesky things like the 1st or 2nd amendment. I wouldn’t say he’s my antithesis, but close. He’s also been an extremely loving and kind friend to me for 25 […]

I’ve made it no secret that I have thoroughly enjoyed Ravi Zacharias over many years. I was introduced to him by my Pastor, Steve. Not in a literal sense of course. There was no handshake, but Steve told me one day that I might really like listening to his Apologetics works. I checked him out […]

I spent a few minutes tonight pouring over some numbers.  If you want to have some fun and read a few statistics, you need to carefully accept them in context…  But go take a look at the COVID numbers for places like the USA with a pop of 331M folks.  Then compare things like the pop […]

My little boy turned 7 this week. He’s such a fun-loving and cute kid that I can sometimes forget his ability to be a holy terror. Sometimes. HA! But, as you know, parents are among the few that see the best and worst their children have to offer. Still, my boy appears to have a […]

I, for one, am getting just about sick to my stomach over what I hear leaking from the mouths of my fellow Christians. If I didn’t relegate my umbrage to a singular focus, I’m not sure I could stop after having begun typing this morning. Thus, I’ll corral my ire to a specific and narrow […]

Most people don’t know what “antinomianism” means or how to define it. With no small irony, we appear to be eyeball deep within it at every directional glance. There are a few variations of the definition of antinomianism, but this is thorough and illustrates well what I would like for you to grasp: Antinomianism (Ancient Greek: […]

Honestly, I’d never heard of the term “derecho” in my life. Derecho /dāˈrāˌCHō/ is defined as a line of intense, widespread, and fast-moving windstorms and sometimes thunderstorms that moves across a great distance and is characterized by damaging winds. As a Midwesterner, I’ve never gotten too concerned about straight line winds. The winds that start […]

…And blurting out, “We didn’t know what we didn’t know,” is no longer an example of acceptable tautology. Propaganda works.  We typically don’t refer to indoctrination that way any longer.  Today the term “Virtue Signaling” is the path forward.  Window dressing aside, propaganda is as virtue signaling does.  Ask any former communist or student of […]

Every word you will ever utter in your time means something. Words, whether audibly spoken, chiseled on a rock, or gestured with sign language means something. All of them. So when we offer the mantra, “Black Lives Matter” there is meaning to those words. “Black Lives Matter” – I know what each individual word means, […]

Have you ever heard the term “Decoration Day” by someone in your family or among your friends?  We used to refer to Memorial Day as “Decoration Day” for specific reasons.  Sure, we decorate the graves of others over this weekend specifically, but the core of this federal holiday is slowly becoming lost I fear and […]

Fill in the blank. If you’ve heard this uttered once, you’ve heard it a million times. Yesterday was Mother’s Day, and I’m sure the internet was full of sentiment such as this. I’m not heartless. I too would love to visit with my grand folks again. Oh, the things we could talk about now that […]

Yes, I’m on a bit of a rant. No, I don’t make this is a habit. I’ve been silent in terms of my Christian blog throughout the COVID19 scare. I understand virology, herd immunization, and the topics that surround a virus outbreak such as this. I also understand just how damaging a poor grasp of […]

I got up yesterday, the same as any other day, and did the things I always do. I wake up extra early. I do this, not for pleasure or preference mind you, but because I simply don’t sleep much. Any sleep I grab past 4 is a gift. When you have a wife, especially one […]

I question how well I am able to convey the happy dance without really looking silly. But… I don’t care. I am over the moon with excitement! Our church lost a rock-solid pastor a year ago. Choosing a new leader for our church family wasn’t easy. Frankly, it put us all well outside our comfort […]

Yeah, I wrote that. I meant it too. I’m thinking through some serious considerations at the moment. I’ve also stumbled across a few elements other parents are facing that have me pontificating how I would handle those situations myself. Some are darned heavy lifts to boot. In my own case, I have a daughter that […]

Provocative title, right? You’d think a “Christian” blog wouldn’t contain such harsh ideas or thought, right? Wrong. Sometimes you need a smack in the face. I do. We have an entire culture swirling around the toilet bowl as if somebody hit the big “flush” handle. There are few limits for what a prog will say […]

I’d rather listen to classical music or something in the alternative/prog metal or art rock than most anything else. I have quite a bit of folk music edging into my daily listening, but I default pretty quickly to a handful of bands that I really love. They include in no particular order: Portal, Tool, Deftones, […]

Somewhere I read a line about “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the Earth.” You may have run across that in your travels. I can’t remember for sure where I read it. #rollingeyes 😉 When I read that in Matthew 5, and each time I remember hearing it, I found myself not quite […]

I’ve learned much more than I bargained for with you over these many years. People often linger and lament over the changes they’d make if they’d only known. I don’t think that describes me. Not in this circumstance. For if I made a change in the past, a different outcome would be my reality. And […]

Pity… I can’t seem to make a scratch in the armor of bad things that surround us. I can’t stop the pain, hurt, and sorrow we all experience. I’m unable to curb the behaviors too many of us have that lead to the harm of others. Yet, within us all are responses to each thing […]

As I type this, I’m dizzy with thought. Whirling through my mind are many questions, and few answers. “Have I not been this selfish? When have I done this to others? Why can’t I recall my own debased patheticism?” I wonder if the human psyche manages to cloud our worst behavior in an effort to […]

A number of years ago, I had a gentleman do the proverbial “pop in” to my shop. I own my business and work strictly by appointment. Typically I approach the “pop in” with disdain, as I’m interrupted from things that require concentration and focus. For some reason I wasn’t too upset when Bob showed up. […]

Can you be easily identified as a Christian by your fellow congregational members in the pew on Sunday morning? Most would answer yes to that question. The idea that there are some who might respond with a “no” is a topic for another day. But yeah, your fellow parishioners look on you most likely as […]

You ever said that out loud? What about under your breath? Better yet, have you ever thought it about a friend? I have been uttering things like that, both silently and audibly quite often lately. It seems like I’ve got a gaggle of pals that can’t enjoy anything but strife, chaos, and general discord. It’s […]

I heard that phrase uttered the other day and scoffed at it under my breath. I neither took it to heart nor did I truly think about the implications of what a short proclamation such as that actually meant. The person saying it wouldn’t be on my short-list to hand out sage advice to the […]

Typically I view myself as a ‘decent’ dad. I’m no fool. I’m also not ignorant. When I hear people give me accolades as a ‘good dad’ I enjoy hearing it – that’s the self-absorbed ego-driven portion of me. …But I only bask in the faux glow of envy for a second or two. It isn’t […]

When the day is gone, and you sit listening to the world surrounding you, do you realize your flaws? I have been experiencing a recurring thought that urges me to simplify the life I lead. While no perfect life is capable for me or available to me, a better one exists in the here and […]

Algorithms today, especially those on social media, tend to be helpful, hurtful, and terrifying all in one tremendous vein. An algorithm is defined as a process or set of rules to be followed by calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer. If we apply this definition to the old pamphlet sized calculators we […]

Our pastor recently announced that he was leaving ministry. He gave us all an explanation we could grasp and embrace along with a few weeks of sermons we could look forward to prior to his last on Easter. Building up and through those few weeks he asked himself what he should do with his few […]

I had deliberated a bit on how best to approach my friend yesterday. I am cautious not to perpetuate an ‘anniversary’ of death, as I believe there is a risk, many times significant, that placing an emphasis on the date our loved ones left us behind may turn septic. I don’t want to disrespect anyone […]

3 all day long tournaments filled with 4th grade girls from all over a 100 mile area. 17 regular season games with 34 sets therein. Admittedly I lost count, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 550 points scored. 10 happy, healthy, and eager kids wanting to play and realize the true meaning of ‘team’ in […]

But don’t get too heady just yet. As we drift from biblical literacy we relate less and less to the origins of the daily nomenclature we toss around. I’ll give you some examples. A drop in the bucket…  Isaiah 40:15 – Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, And are regarded as a speck […]

According to Hoyle. Have you ever considered the context of what it really means to experience or learn of a “Miracle according to Hoyle” in true application? We must first ask, “Who is Hoyle” do we not? Some would say that phrase originates from Sir Fred Hoyle, a rarely outspoken Yorkshireman who rejected Darwinism and […]

Isn’t that what they claim? Well… There’s a few problems with that. First, I’m not sure I’m cultured enough to know whether that holds a shred of truth or not. Second, who is “they” anyway? That can’t be skipped. Not by thinkers anyway… IF good art follows you around the room, then is it a […]

How can I be dismal at Christmas time?  We celebrate the birth of the child of God who walked the Earth and became our savior this time of year.  We sing a little louder.  We hug a bit more often.  We greet and leave with a “Merry Christmas” salutation, do we not? And yet…  I […]

That’s right.  I’ve fallen behind.  I have several blog posts started that are in various states of finish, but I don’t have any at the moment that I want to publish.  Most require more research or some shoring up to be worthy of public consumption. It did occur to me however, that I’ve been remiss […]

It doesn’t matter what the tragedy is, we often pause to pray.  Do we not?  Do you ever wonder why that is? I don’t mean to be snarky, but why do we stop after we screw something up and then ask an all powerful Lord to straighten it out?  I’m not suggesting we discount prayer.  […]

In the context of an average Christian, what does the word “walk” mean to you?  It ought to be your practices, your application, the means in which you carry yourself as you glorify Him. How is your walk?  Have you ever run across something that inspired you to question your walk.  Better yet, have you […]

Would you take that as a compliment in today’s culture?  Probably not.  Remove the idea that the assertion of negativity stemming from today’s culture and ask the question again.  While it might be the same for some of you, it really shouldn’t be. To be critical is to be smart.  I can prove that statement […]

I was hoping this nonsense would end, but no such luck. In fact, in full disclosure, the only way this stops is when we either tire of it due to shear volume or we become far more discerning as a culture and as Christians. I’m in questioning how likely either appear to be… By now […]

And I’ve never been more ashamed in my life. It had been a long day.  I’d been waging a war with a monster bureaucracy a good portion of the day.  It would take an entire day just to explain it all.  I hadn’t been allowed to take any sort of nourishment because I needed to […]

Yup.  I’m circling back on some things from nearly a year ago.  …Which is good.  We need to reflect.  If I were truly Godly, when compelled to make a statement to what I experience, a true Christian response would be to bite my tongue, say a prayer, and ask the Lord to make it into […]

I have friends getting married today.  Dear friends.  They stem from different back grounds with different environments in which they were raised.  One a long time believer, another born again more recently.  The way they found one another and the content of their caring is pretty inspiring. As much as I would love to write […]

THE GOOD I would like for you to watch this video.  Listen to the lyrics and pay close attention to the little bits of strain on each band member. What did you think?  Kind of nice isn’t it?  It’s a welcome message he offers.  There’s some solace in this kind of song for most.  I […]

We all know the Apostle Paul wrote the letters to the Corinthians.  I was reading through 1st Corinthians and noticed Paul was correcting the church on many things.  MANY things.  In chapter 10, Paul was reminding the church in Corinth about the punishment, and harsh it was, the early Jews suffered for not obeying God.  There […]

I’ve been a reading a lot of C.S. Lewis in recent months.  I was drawn initially for the combination of literary complexity and the Christian apologetics.  I found myself staying mostly for the pain.  At least that seems to be the case now that I’ve read “A Grief Observed” several times back to back. Empathy […]

I had a person extol the virtues of abortion to me a short time ago while showing tremendous aberration towards the holocaust. I’ll admit freely I tricked them deliberately by asking them their opinion on the holocaust, since our initial discussion surrounded that of abortion.   When you think about it, they’re quite the same. […]

I experienced something that I never assumed possible.  Troubles with a trusted brother.  You know.  The kind you read about or hear about, but also the kind you never expect to actually happen to you or around you.  That kind of trouble. Oh how wrong the person that mutters, “I never thought something like that […]

I was dealt a considerable blow today. Have you ever had something happen to you that was really hard to wrap your mind around?  As if each time the fog lifted on the matter, you could only catch a glimpse at something.  Upon each attempt your mind filed a snapshot of what you thought the […]

“Oh man…  It was only a matter of time after he said he was studying Latin.  I suppose I can look forward to all kinds of that jazz for the next six months in his blog posts…  Ugh.” If that’s what you’re thinking, well…  You might onto something.  🙂 Seriously though, as I mine for […]

Yup…  You guessed it.  Here I was all high and mighty about my hard work on the Love Dare…  Yuppers, I’d undertaken and completed the whole ditty on time in 40 days, and the residual bliss stemming from the self-examination coupled with proper application had me chest bumping and high fiving myself.  Tons of faux […]

How often do you hear that phrase or something similar?  I can’t walk ten feet without hearing somebody say it.  Let’s take this in context too by the way.  When a phrase like “God never gives you more than you can handle,” is uttered, it is almost always in the tone of consolement.  Consolation and […]

“It’s not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world.  It’s our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.”  I ran across this in picture form the other day and it struck a chord with me.  I was tempted as many […]

Do you ever get like that?  You and I know…  WE KNOW, God loves us and we don’t have any reason to get bummed.  But, life gets in the way.  Life grinds us down to powder if we don’t pause, open up the Book, read it, and apply it. When I say I believe I’ve […]

If you think about this there are some pretty serious ramifications at play here and we’re gingerly skipping past too many of them without a care in the world.  I’ve been studying Hippocrates diligently for a little over a year.  The man was just about as ethical as I can imagine.  He knew the rule […]

Where have I heard that before?  It became popular on a book cover and then used widely on a campaign trail not so long ago.  It’s a catchy little phrase and when used in the context our political class prefers, it simply means, “We all take part shaping youth.”  There are many other similar ways […]

Are they?  I had a really great discussion the other day with a delivery driver that came to my shop.  He noticed I was listening to some Christian Apologetic lectures in the back ground and apparently the FedEx guys aren’t busy like the UPS drivers I watch that literally run packages to the door.  My […]

  SPOILER…  I survived the Love Dare.  So did my wife.  So did our marriage.  At this time, we must pause our program for station identification and thank our show’s sponsors, The Love Dare, Kirk Cameron, Fireproof Movie, etc., etc., etc. Did I leave anyone out?  YES.  The Lord.  Man, what a great day it is […]

HALF WAY THERE, he said with a resounding sense of pride.  If the Love Dare was a week, this would be hump day…  😉  You know all about Kirk Cameron, the movie “Fireproof” and my Lent challenge by now so let’s jump right in for the second half of the marriage devotional. Day 21 – […]

As I laid out in the first portion of this four part blog series, I had enjoyed watching the movie “Fireproof” with Kirk Cameron a few years back, bought the DVD, but hadn’t watched it in a while.  I was contemplating a Lent plan, and watching the Olympics.  During a commercial I was thumbing through […]

I’m not Catholic, but I’ve always enjoyed the idea of Lent.  If for nothing else I like the idea of giving something up in sacrifice or to simply pay daily devotional in a focused method.  I wrestled, as silly as that might sound, with what careful pledge and examination I could address over the course […]

Haven’t they?  Seriously.  What tops your list of gripes about today’s youth?  They want it all given to them.  They don’t want to work.  They don’t respect people.  They’re addicted to their phones and social media.  They don’t hold conversations with people and have meaningful two way dialogue.  They’re not interested in church.  They don’t […]

I’ve been fortunate to have a handful by the way, and they’ve forever altered the quality and content of my life. What is a mentor you ask?  Dictionary.com explains this in noun form as “an experienced and trusted adviser.”  The Merriam-Webster dictionary is similar, “a trusted counselor or guide” and subsequent examples are that of […]

Do you?  I doubt it.  I know I don’t nearly as often as I should.  In order for me to put this in perspective for you, let me lead you through this a bit. I recently was able to view the long anticipated Star Wars: The Last Jedi film with my daughter.  She likes that […]

And more importantly what to do when you stumble across it?  Well, the fact is, and I don’t mean to start this blog entry by punching you in the face, but if you are wondering to yourself right now when the last time it was you were in proximity to postmodernism, then you’re already at […]

Awakening from the Big Sleep I write this blog as a confession to you today.  If you read this blog at all you can see the swing in my emotion and the method in which my mind works.  I get down, I get up, I look forward, and I reflect back.  I try to honor […]

Yeah, I love a provocative title.  You know this by now.  Over half the time I contradict in the first paragraph that which I have titled the blog entry, so this should come as no shock to you.  But what about the title bothers you, if anything?  It should bother you by the way, but […]

A Tale of Two Cities and One Sweet Little Girl… Today’s entry will be a bit different and also very personal to me… My dad approached me to take a few moments and write a bit of a story, or more so, an explanation about my daughter’s recent fundraising project.  I asked myself, “how do […]

“I need to be alone. I need to ponder my shame and my despair in seclusion; I need the sunshine and the paving stones of the streets without companions, without conversation, face to face with myself, with only the music of my heart for company.” ― Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer “The prince is never going to […]

Do you? Some time ago I was visiting with a friend of mine and he kept telling me how much alike I was to a friend of his on facebook.  He kept referring to both of us as ‘foundational thinkers’ like Jefferson and Adams, etc.  I’m not sure I agree with him.  I rarely have […]

Wrestle tuna nearly half my size, and fend off hungry sharks with a knife just barely big enough to spread butter on a bagel.  That’s right.  I want to risk plenty, and for what?  The sport of it?  Check this video out.  You’ll benefit from the largest screen available to view it.  This video is […]

I’m a football fan.  I played football when I was little and started JV the first two years in high school and started Varsity as a junior and senior.  I was what I’d describe as an average player.  I was surrounded by guys that were extremely talented though, many of which were truly great.  Playing […]

Yes, as a matter of fact I believe it can be used as an example of what we seem to miss all too often when hoping, praying, and working to fill the pews…  Now, before we go any further, it should be stated in plain English, right up front, “Moneyball” is a baseball movie.  What […]

Do you remember the blog entry prior when I mentioned how I’d driven past THAT bag of trash a half dozen times and never bothered to pick it up.  Remember how the trash bag eventually burst or was torn open and the mess was everywhere?  Do you recall the analogy I made with knowing I […]

I saw that bag of trash along the road near the same intersection I turn at every morning.  …And I drove right by it.  It might not seem like much, and maybe you think I’m placing too much emphasis on THAT bag of trash, but here’s the rub.  There’s no way for me to avoid […]

Everybody who has a heartbeat wants to make an impact on this.  Don’t we?  We hurt and we’re sorrowful.  We want to move forward, but more apropos, we want to have done something to stop things like this on some level.  Is there anyone you know that doesn’t?  We’re compelled to ban something or pass some […]

How often do you hear that in a day’s time?  I notice it often. “Hey, kudos on your spelling test son.  Awesome!” “Did you see the new Batman movie?  It was awesome.” “Wow, I love those earrings, they’re awesome.” Awesome, awesome, awesome…  Ugh…  Awesome is defined as extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or […]

I didn’t.  Rest assured I do now.  It’s a great story too, so buckle in for a quick ride. Some of you are movie buffs.  Me too.  I love film.  I especially respond to dramas, and I will make special time to see a really cerebral drama in the theater if the claim looks valid. […]

Credo ut intelligam – Latin for “I believe so that I may understand” can be considered a mouthful.  If you do some searching around you’ll end up settling on Augustine of Hippo.  Another, albeit longer, Latin ditty you’ll find is nearly the same – Neque enim quaero intelligere ut credam, sed credo ut intelligam.  Augustine was […]

Nobody mentioned that one to me before I entered into it. OK, that’s not true, and while wifey and I were the beneficiaries of some really great pastoral guidance, I’m not sure a person can truly know without experiencing marriage just how tough it can be on occasion. The funny thing about marriage is you […]

Conflict…  I experienced that yesterday.  I suppose you’d define conflict for my purposes as a clash between two things.  I was at odds within a situation our family has experienced.  I’m at odds no longer. There’s no secret that my son, Hollis, doesn’t hear well.  He’s fought hearing problems since the day we brought him […]