Happy Memorial Day Weekend! While many people look at this holiday weekend as family barbecues, the beginning of summer, great shopping deals, and the like, we must remember what it really represents: the commemoration of all those who have died defending our freedom in this country. Since these men and women are not here to thank directly, I would like to say “Thank you, and I appreciate your sacrifice” to them by thanking and recognizing their families who survive them. **

Guest Post by Powell Smith As you read this, I want you to think of the latest “buzz word”. What do you mean “buzz word”? There is a word or phrase that seems to fly out of everybody’s mouth within seconds of speaking with them. If you need some inspiration, turn the news on for 10 minutes. Keep a tally of the most commonly used words. Are you serious? Yeah, try it. Pause reading this and turn the news on for 10 minutes. Did you do it? What does your list look like? I will go

About a week and a half ago, we celebrated Easter. Many people celebrated it by decorating Easter Eggs and looking forward to the gift of Easter Baskets filled with toys and candy. Christians, while maybe doing the same thing, celebrated the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus is simply amazing. From all standpoints, especially the idea that He would die for me and then come back to life. However, there is another amazing point. He is absolutely the most important figure in all o

Guest Post by Paula Morgan If you told me five years ago that I would be a pre-med student in college who loved science and planned to study health and medicine for the rest of her life, I would have looked at you doubtfully and told you that you must be mistaken. Too often in public school, I was taught the sciences not only in a secular manner, but sometimes in an atheistic manner that was hostile toward God… and I hated it. I avoided science when I could because I was afr

This week I was having a conversation with a couple of classmates in a coaching class I am taking. It was a demo where I was being coached while one of my classmates was the coach. The intention is to help us get more comfortable coaching and to apply what we have learned. When we had finished our trial run, the three of us were debriefing how it went. One big realization was that giving voice to an idea to someone outside your spouse gives it more validity. When it is just s

During this pandemic season , I have watched my share of movies and television shows. Last week, I pulled out a movie I had not watched in a long time, Facing the Giants. The second movie made by Alex and Stephen Kendrick, tells the tale of a young, high school football coach, Grant Taylor, who faces all kinds of adversity at home, at school, and on the football field. One such challenge was when some of the boosters were working to get him fired after six losing seasons. Man

Recently, I have found myself thinking a lot about all the different causes there are to get involved with these days. There are probably millions of causes out there. Causes to help with medical research. Causes that help poor people. Causes that speak to affinities . Causes that advance political and ideological positions. And these causes ask us for our time, our money, and our devotion. They ask us to volunteer our time to knock on doors, talk to our friends, make phone c

Guest Post by Gabe Jones One of my favorite parts of being a parent is having an excuse to watch some of the older shows (cartoons) I used to watch as a kid, but now with my son. As kids grow older their interest in shows/movies change. Right now, my son’s favorite movie franchise is Pixar’s Toy Story. Admittedly, I had previously never seen any of the Toy Story movies until my son chose to watch the first one. The movies follow Woody, a Sheriff, and a rag tag group of toys

Tomorrow would have been my dad’s 64th birthday. However, in 2015 he went home to be with the Lord. In honor of his would-be birthday, this week’s article will be an “I Was Just Thinking…” Throwback. Titled “Visually Changed”, this article describes what our lives should be like as Christ-followers. This article originally appeared in “I Was Just Thinking… 2007 edition” – a book of my dad’s original articles from 2007. Note : I have made formatting and spelling edits as well

There are many different ways to study a passage of Scripture, none being more “correct” than another. However, I recommend the Summary, Meaning, Application method. My mother taught me this model many years ago. I am sure she got it from one of her many Bible Study groups she participated in and led over the years. It is pretty simple to understand, but lengthy to explain in written form. Check out this podcast (starting at 2:30 mark) where I explain it for our high school

This is part eight, the final blog post, of my Panama reflection series . A little over five months ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. This COVID-19 outbreak has appeared to wreak havoc on our lives as we knew it. Every parent is now a home-school teacher. Working from home is no longer a rarity. Many restaurants have adde

This is part seven of my Panama reflection series . A little over five months ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. Crazy times we live in. We will not forget this – the COVID-19 pandemic. We have been warned to stay at home, social distance, and wash our hands all the time. Sports seasons have been cancelled or postponed. Air

This is part six of my Panama reflection series . A little over three months ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. These days, my church could better be described as the arm sling capital of Virginia. We have so many members who have had shoulder surgery and are in the big, immobilizing arm slings. Those injured cross many dif

This is part five of my Panama reflection series . A little over two months ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. At my church right now, we are winding down the Upward Basketball and Cheer season, and I am having a better season than I had last year as a coach. Recently though, one of my better players, arguably my best play

This is part four of my Panama reflection series . Two months ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. This past Saturday was a rough day for me at our church’s Upward Sports Basketball games. On three different occasions, I was upset by the lack of respect of some of the kids participating in our program. These children were ta

This is part three of my Panama reflection series . This time a month ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. One of the things that is NOT on my bucket list is to drive around in another country besides the United States. I have enough issues navigating other states here in the United States (just ask students who have gone on

This is part two of my Panama reflection series . A few weeks ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. In preparation for my mission trip to Panama last month, my group and I were told we were going to preach revival services in various churches throughout the week. We would each be assigned to work with a particular church for

The next eight posts are going to be a series of reflections based on my recent mission trip to Panama . The first one is titled “Love of Country”. Enjoy. I have been back in the United States for about five days, and I have been thinking a lot about my recent mission trip to Panama. This is the second time I have been to this country, and this trip was very different than my last one. I have been asked by everyone “how did your trip go?” My response has been simply, “It was

Have you ever spent time working on a plan for anything and then when it is time to execute that plan it does not work like you planned it? Many people know exactly what I am talking about. We all spend a considerable amount of time crafting up the perfect schedule just to get the random person interrupting it or constructing the perfect grocery list full of health and thrift just to smell the fresh baked doughnuts when you walk in the store or maybe organizing every detail

People love to celebrate for all kinds of occasions: weddings, birthdays , anniversaries, graduations, and more. We even love to practice celebrating. We want to make sure every detail is perfect and goes just the way we have envisioned it. A couple of weeks ago, we completed our Upward Flag Football and Cheer season at our church. There was one boy in our youngest division who was very tiny and very fast. He would run all over the field and no one could catch him and even if