Africa’s Need: Electricity

In the Summer of 2013 I traveled to Uganda on a mission trip with Adventures in Missions. My team volunteered at a clinic and led devotionals at an all boys high school in the small town of Rukungiri. While in Uganda I met many great boys who, like me, are now becoming men. As I…

Risk and Refugees

I recently visited Paris on a two day layover to West Africa. Before going there I must admit I had some bias against the French. Lazy, cowardly, rude, American haters (or so I thought). But when I arrived I found the French to be quite pleasant and friendly, and though I did not witness them…

Saints on a Plane

“Alright everyone, I want you to get into groups and practice your ‘elevator testimony’.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard these words. Every mission trip, every church camp, every small group (and being from the South I’ve been to a lot of all of them). My two minute testimony normally goes something…

Africa’s Need: Investment and Opportunity

In the Summer of 2013 I met a boy named Lawrence (pictured below) in Rukungiri, Uganda. Lawrence was studying in Rukungiri at a boarding high school, and I was in Rukungiri as a missionary. My missionary team awoke early every morning and walked a mile or two to Lawrence’s high school to give a morning…

Have We Lost Our Way?

When the Israelites fled Egypt into the desert Moses demanded that God accompany them. So He did, leading them by day with a pillar of cloud and by night with a pillar of fire. God led them to the edge of the desert, to the promised land, and the Israelites sent spies to check it…

Smokescreens

I was tempted, at first, to write a blog about the confederate flag and racism in the south. Then I was tempted to write a blog about how Christians can avoid ending up on the wrong side of history with the national legalization of gay marriage. But today I will write about neither of these….

love the sinner HATE THE SIN

It’s very interesting to me that many Christians are unable to separate love and hate. I am a firm believer in balance (both in the Force and life in general). In order to fully experience happiness, one also has to experience sadness. For comfort to be appreciated one has to have also been uncomfortable. However,…

No Salvation Without Condemnation

I had to calm down a little bit to write this blog, it’s hard to type when your hands are shaking in anger. I can no longer stay silent. I can no longer stand by while my friends (both Christian and non-Christian) are persecuted by the Christian church. What am I talking about? I am…

Sixty Days of Sorry

While the concept of humility is fairly simple to grasp, in reality it is like holding a cactus. This summer I went on a mission trip to Nicaragua. There I worked at an orphanage on the heavenly island of Ometepe. I was there with my team for 60 days, and each and every day, I…

CommUNITY: A short guide to building community.

Yes I know it’s cheesy, but you can’t have community without unity. I have been a part of many communities throughout my life, as I think most of us have been. I have experienced the angst, anger, and bitterness of toxic communities, and I have experienced the joy, piece, and love of good communities. This…

Real People

Maybe it’s a little late for a “year in review” post, but here it is. This year was an amazing year, let me tell you why. This year was amazing because I had a terrible depressive episode for the first time in 2 years that involved me planning a detailed suicide attempt. This year was…

The Death of America’s Culture

America’s culture is dying. It’s beginning to breath it’s ragged, final breaths even as I type these words. Our culture’s death has many tell tale signs; our voracious appetite for cultural appropriation, our high valuation of randomness and spontaneity, our return to simple lives, and our general dissatisfaction with life. This cultural lust comes from…