It was a smoky afternoon in Montana. That was the story of the week, if I'm being honest. But challenging situations caused us to travel, to look, to try something different. Which I'm actually glad for. But on this particular day, we ended up driving all over. I can't recall the original plan, but it fell apart, and we drove northward to one mountain range in particular, if my memory serves me correctly. Montana is full of back roads, dirt roads, and roads that you can't rea

Cold water rushes through a narrow ravine. On either side of the stream, sections of rock are exposed, revealing ancient breccia, a mixture of sharp-edged rock fragments and finer grains, like a rough, natural concrete, formed by ancient volcanic activity and other dramatic forces. Vibrant green moss covers the landscape as the water rushes over ancient boulders. The stream flows through a canyon surrounded by peaks over nine thousand feet high. The American West and its geol

Do you remember back in the nineties when TV shows would have recap episodes? A couple of people would talk and remember something. Then the screen would get all fuzzy, chimes or some dreamy music would play, and then there would be a scene from an earlier episode. I suppose I do something like that on this website at times. But hey, I was a nineties kid. It is amazing to me, however, that here we are, around a year in. By God's grace and with His help, I've been able to writ

Four hundred and six miles. That's how far we drove, if memory serves, one day on my recent trip. Montana is a big state, and there is a lot to see. Smoke, however, kept us from some locations. Instead, we searched all around, and on this particular day, we ended up looking for a waterfall. It wasn't one that either of us knew much about; we weren't even really sure where it was. Well, other than which trailhead to go to. We arrived with a couple of hours of sunlight left, an

Today I want to share another video that I recently worked on. I know I had posted one earlier in the year, and it is still my official first video. As such, it will be posted to YouTube in the near future, Lord willing. But I also recently finished this one, and it will be titled "episode 1". This one summarizes much of what I discussed in the recent articles on the events surrounding Lazarus' death and resuscitation. I hope that you'll find it encouraging and consider likin

In the passage surrounding the raising of Lazarus, we can learn a lot of different things. But undergirding it all is the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, that He is God, and this story proves it. John sought to prove that Jesus was who He said He was by writing this gospel. Throughout this book, he shows much evidence that proves Jesus is the God-Man. As we wrap up this series on Lazarus, I want to hone in on the central element to this story: Jesus as Messiah, and briefly wh

Martha and Mary show incredible insight in this chapter of John, don't they? Despite whatever doubt they may have shown (vss. 33, 40), they still understood that Jesus could save from death. When first speaking to Jesus, both sisters exclaim, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died" (vss. 21, 32), showing their understanding of who He was and what He could do. As we continue to draw application from the story of Lazarus, I wanted to look at our future hope

In the account of Lazarus, we see many different stories come together. We see the disciples both questioning and coming alongside Jesus, both on His decision to wait and His journey to see Mary and Martha. We see the plight of Lazarus' sisters as they grieve the death of their brother. We even see the watching Jews and their leaders, some who would believe, and others who would never believe no matter what (John 11:45-46). In the midst of it all, however, we see Jesus, both

Over the past few months, our church's youth group has been studying the book of John. Recently, as we wrap up the school year, we have been going through the story of Lazarus. It's a fascinating story, showing us so much of the human condition; even more, it shows us the heart of Jesus. There are too many application points for just one blog post, or even several. But, there are a few I want to hone in on in this short series on Lazarus. And the first one is that Jesus loved

For this trip report, instead of re-write the events of the day, I realize I had actually written out a draft of a post the day of. So, what is written below (with some corrections, etc. ) is from September 27th 2025 while in Montana, a day of photography, challenges, and a lot of cows. As I've mentioned in recent posts, I am currently away from home. This has inherent challenges in and of itself, especially with blogging. But I'm determined to continue on writing. Maybe th

We each have a family history. Scripture shows us that from His human standpoint so did Jesus, yet He was without beginning (John 1:1). I'm reminded of a quote I've seen making the rounds lately, though I can't for the life of me remember who said it or the exact words. But it basically says that God uses sinners, but the reality is there are only sinners for Him to use. The idea being that we are all sinners, and yet God still graciously has chosen to redeem sinners and use

"Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah" - Matthew 1:16 Not much is known of Joseph. Well, I don't know much, maybe others know more. But Scripture does not mention him much. By my counts he is only mentioned some 15 or 16 times, and that's it. Of those less than 20 mentions, not once are any of his words recorded. And yet, for a man hardly mentioned in Scripture, whose words are not brought to our attention, we a

Hardly an original shot, but a stunning location to be sure. There are few places I can think of in the United States that offer more variety, ranging from wildlife to geology, scenic views to just out of this world features, than Yellowstone National Park. Within this amazing place, one could spend multiple lifetimes researching, exploring, and photographing, and still come up with new things. It is a testament to God's creative power. On the northeast corner of the park lie

Oftentimes, it can be easy to take things for granted. The things we've discussed this week are no exception. That said, relatively speaking, it's easy to be thankful for the good things. Relative to what? The difficult things in life. Even the secular world shows gratitude for the positive things, but Christian thankfulness extends to every area of life, even the difficult parts. "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials," - James 1:2 This is a dif

As we celebrate this Thanksgiving Day, amidst the feasting and the family, the football and fellowship, whatever it is you find on this day, may we remember Paul's words to the Corinthian church: "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" - 2 Corinthians 9:15 We have so many things to be thankful for but the greatest is the fact that God has and will continue to save sinners; and that if we are in Christ, it is by His grace, so let us be thankful for that. Because of Chri

For the final theme of November, we're going to look at... You guessed it, thankfulness. Some of this may be a slight departure from the intent of this site, but I hope you'll see that it fits in the greater context of life itself. I know it seems a bit cliche, but thankfulness is not a cliche idea. In fact, if we're honest, it's a very difficult thing, especially when it comes to the Christian idea of thankfulness which isn't just thankful for the good things, but also fo

As we continue our theme of Theology and its affect on our worldview, todays post share deals with using theology in the area of mental health, specifically dealing with 'triggers'. I know that mental health is a touchy issue; I myself admit my own struggles in this area. But Scripture is once again our guide, and may God help us to use it practically in how we approach issues, including tough ones like mental issues. So, I hope you will find this an interesting read , and wh

At the risk of sharing too many of Tim Challies blogs, I am once again doing so. But I hope, if he notices, that he will forgive that, for firstly I think this article is eye-opening and a helpful read. But also because I'm continuing "themes" for November and this week is how theology shapes our world view in different areas. His article on what is really assisted suicide is a humbling look into what is sadly a very real and growing concern. While it hasn't taken hold in the

In looking for a share for this weeks theme, I came across this article by Tim Challies. I'll admit I found it a tad convicting as well. I can safely, and perhaps sadly say, that a large chunk of my theology has developed because of insights and resources that I found through other sites and sources more so than a lot of what I have learned in church. I am incredibly thankful that God in His providence led me to safe and sound websites and used these resources to develop my

It's funny, I realize that the way my day (and week) is going that it would probably be a good idea to use today as one of my 'share-a-post' days. This week I have been trying to stick to a theme of integrity and specifically in regards to technology, and in starting this post, I remembered that my website builder offers a lot of A.I. tools. One of them being that I can generate a post. It would be incredibly easy to just put in a few prompts and let A.I. do the work. But I t