The Story of Silent Night The story of the famous Christmas song Silent Night begins in the beautiful city of Salzburg, Austria in the 1790s. A simple weaver named Anna lived alone in this world, was of very modest means with little hope of raising her lifestyle or even marrying. One day she fell in […]
Tag: Family
Jesus: The Perfect Hero
In my last newsletter, we explored the five qualities of a Hero. A theme in my novel, Kingdom in the Redwoods, that was released on July 1: Discover the Hero Inside You. Heroes live in Community, have Compassion for those around them, exhibit Character in their everyday lives, show Courage in adversity, and willingly sacrifice […]
Discover the Hero Inside You
Here’s a preview of one of the themes in my novel, Kingdom in the Redwoods, set to release on July 1st. Discovering the Hero Inside You. 12-year old Aaron is the main character in the story. He’s the oldest child in the Parsons family, charged with looking after his 10-year-old brother, Benji, and 8-year-old sister, […]
Honor Our Heroes
Memorial Day honors the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military, those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our nation. Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day and was instituted to honor all those who died in the Civil War, regardless of which side they fought, as part of […]
The Stone That Changed the World
He Is Risen! The Stone Is Rolled Back to Reveal the Good News. Early Sunday morning over two thousand years ago, on the day we mark as Easter, a stone was rolled back from the opening of a tomb, and the world was changed forever. The rolling back of this stone would bring to light […]
Jesus Before the Cross
Jesus in the Garden For me, one of the most impactful periods of Jesus’ life on earth was his time in the Garden of Gethsemane at the end of his earthly ministry. We see Jesus seeking seclusion with his father in heaven, being strengthened for what is about to happen. This scene reveals the gravity […]
How Can We Tell Good From Bad?
In a morally relativist age, it’s fair to ask: What is good? What is bad? C.S. Lewis provides a helpful contrast: “Goodness is, so to speak, itself; badness is only spoiled goodness.” This points us back to Genesis; God’s original creation was ‘very good,’ so there was a spoiling of God’s goodness in the world. […]
What Went Wrong?
If God is perfectly good, and His creation is very good, why is there badness in the world? This “problem of evil” inquiry has taken many forms. One common expression is: Why would a loving, all powerful, God allow evil in the world? The implication is that God is either not loving or not all […]
God’s Creation is Very Good
God’s Creation is Very Good The first chapter of the Bible makes clear that God’s goodness saturates creation at its original formation. God’s account emphasizes the goodness of his creation six times, punctuating each day of his creative work. At the end of His creative account, He looks upon his creation and declares ‘it is […]
God is Good
What is the ultimate source of goodness in the universe? “In the beginning God…” According to Scripture, God predates the universe. In fact, He predates all space, matter, and even time itself. So, before we examine goodness in our world, let’s explore the goodness of God. What does God’s own letter to us say about […]