A note from the host: The following is a first-person account of masculine initiation, written by my son, Samuel. I’m proud and honored to welcome him as the author of this site’s first guest post. Here’s Sam: The summer before my tenth birthday, my Dad took me on a four-day backpacking trip. This was the start of […]
It was the first night of my son’s initiation into manhood. We had hiked to the top of Pinnacle Mountain and beyond the boundaries of Table Rock State Park and made camp for the night. After dinner, we sat by our campfire, and I began to explain to my son the purpose and the content […]
“…but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” – Jesus (John 4:14) Several years ago I served as a volunteer worship leader for our church. Since then I’ve had the opportunity to be […]
Note: While I’m working on creating some new posts, I’m re-posting some of my favorites, such as this one. When my older son was about to turn ten, I began a three-year process of initiating him into manhood. (How I came to this decision is the subject of an upcoming post.) The first part of this […]
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” -Proverbs 14:12 (ESV) What we wish we had and what the world actually contains are often two different things. As I have written previously here, ambition and restlessness — what some have called divine discontent — can […]
“When we are out of sympathy with the young then I think our work in this world is over.” – George McDonald Recently, I ran into a former colleague and her high school aged son. As we caught up, I asked the young man about his plans following high school. He replied: “College, of course!” […]
“Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to […]
“Well begun is half done.” – Aristotle Throughout my life, I’ve found that I begin new tasks with great gusto. This is a good thing, and I have learned to take advantage of my enthusiasm to create momentum that will help carry me through the eventual letdown. The particulars vary from project to project, but […]
Today is Good Friday, the day Christians commemorate Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on behalf of sinful humanity. As he hung on the cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These words are the first verse of Psalm 22 — a psalm written by King David of Israel over 500 years […]
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in […]
