He didn’t spare my life because I was good, but because He is good! It seemed like I was in slow motion for days. The explosion, the bullets, everything flashed before me in my mind every time I became conscious. I observed constant activity around me. I didn’t know if it was day or night. I was at the 95th Field Evacuation Hospital in Da Nang, Vietnam. It seemed like a dream when I opened my eyes and saw Staff Sgt. Mike Smith standing by my...

“I have no clue what that means,” I thought to myself! I was in our weekly Sermon Club where all of our church staff listens to the theme of an upcoming message and collectively provides their input and perspective on the proposed message. One of our Elders, “Bear” (that is such a cool nickname), was giving us a general overview of his message. He started losing me when he mentioned “Charlotte’s Web,” but drew me back in when he said the words...

The 40 days of Lent are about preparation and repentance. Easter is about our salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This makes it a time of rejoicing. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now...

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:13, NIV The word translated “temptation” can also be translated as “trials” or “tests.” The consensus is that those things that challenge us toward positive growth are trials or tests, while those things that lead us toward sin are temptations. The request “lead us not into temptation” is not to suggest God causes...

From the book: “Resident Aliens – A Provocative Christian Assessment of Culture and Ministry for People Who Know That Something is Wrong.” By Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon. The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason (1685-1815), radically reoriented European and Western politics, philosophy, science, and religion. Thinkers of the time questioned traditional authority and embraced the notion that humanity could be improved...