West of Jay there grows a sturdy oak; Tall, mature, distinguished even- Yet full of plight and sorrow.   "My neighbors have been coveted" it groaned- swayed by the autumn breeze "What beauty had they that I have not? I the queen of trees!"   Seasons past, as each season came, And this oak, whom even carpenters call majestic Stood dismaying her lonely fate.   "Birch, you...

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Written in Uganda:   These are the days when my "no" has been given away. Every pattern in my veins is "yes" and "amen." Somewhere beneath copper-colored strands of His earth, lies a past I used to define myself by. As I cast my open-hands to the breeze, I felt a stronger Tenderness pulsating through my palms. I was swallowed up by a measure of beauty, that you'll never find unless you p...

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Yesterday I found out that a student at my school committed suicide. He jumped off the 8th story of his apartment complex to his death.

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Being in Christ, My perception is resurrected, Raised from the death             of dim, dreary cynicism. I look at the world through new eyes.   Where once I saw despair And sunk to the depths, Losing my humanity, Trading it in, Now I see hope             Upon hope  ...

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Hollywood finally does a decent job of representing a faith-based worldview without resorting to downright blasphemy or relativism. The wanton violence and desperation of the land is juxtaposed with the hope of one book carried by a man named Eli (Denzel Washington).

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Someone once said, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Gehenna (the Aramaic word used in the New Testament used for "hell") was this trash heap outside of Jerusalem where dead bodies were tossed amongst all of the trash. Emanating from the depths of this place were atrocious smells and maybe even half-hearted screams of those who might be hanging on to all of their broken limbs if the fire didn't get to them first. Hell was rhetoric for a way of life. And if you turn on your television or walk down the street, you might agree with me that the man living in his cardboard hotel is living in hell.
 
And we can do something about it.

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It was your average small-town bar. Inviting and friendly atmosphere. The evening was welcoming - its usual crowd and the stage was set to rock... A couple years ago I had met two of Avienne's band members at a church in central Michigan. They seemed like average high school guys at the time. Mike Tooman and Chris Fader helped start the praise band for that small church. I would see them play t...

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Up in the Air bills itself as "the story of a man ready to make a connection," and the plot is straightforward and unsophisticated. If you're not familiar, I'll prime you:

Ryan Bingham (played by George Clooney) is a professional terminator. He lays off employees for bosses who don't have the guts to do the deed themselves. After nearly a million miles of travel, technological advances leave him grounded. It's much cheaper to fire people via a teleconference from a remote location, and Ryan must come to terms with a life lived apart from airports and hotels.

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