“The sinfulness of sin” sounds like a vacuous redundancy that adds no information to the subject under discussion. However, the necessity of speaking of the sinfulness of sin has been thrust upon us by a culture and even a church that has diminished the significance of sin itself. Sin is communicated in our day in... Continue Reading

Though it may sound like too much of a generalization, it seems that older generations need to rediscover grace while younger generations need to rediscover holiness. I started working with younger men and women (campus ministry) when I was turning fifty. A decade later, I see how this work has transformed my perspective on the... Continue Reading

Gratitude is spiritual warfare. I’m convinced my turn of imagination that day was conviction of sin, a personal uprooting of my own idolatry by the Spirit of Christ. What I need to fear most is what seems normal to me. “If I hear the word ‘Daddy’ again, I’m going to scream!” I heard myself saying... Continue Reading

What I didn’t know was that as Brian Kelso felt the dark night of the soul in a way that surpasses our common usage of that phrase, where he knew “the valley of the shadow of death,” as he preaches now, his body also battled the necessarily dangerous drugs that were being given to him... Continue Reading

My husband and I both found that we have many forefathers and foremothers who started out in Virginia, even some at Jamestown. As we celebrate the Thanksgiving Day, the Great Falls Connection has asked area residents to respond to the following three questions: 1) What will you give thanks for this Thanksgiving? 2) What are... Continue Reading

I think that times like these, time of economic and political upheaval, pricking our consciences, calls us to hear, or at least to listen. And Thanksgiving is that annual time when we as Americans seek out each other, and if we don’t know why, that is why. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ... Continue Reading

Forget what you learned about the first Thanksgiving being a celebration of a bountiful harvest, or an expression of gratitude to the Indians who helped the Pilgrims through those harsh first months in an unfamiliar land. In the Tea Party view of the holiday, the first settlers were actually early socialists. They realized the error... Continue Reading

In fact, the Puritans were not teetotalers. Scholars estimate the Puritans had a rum-consumption rate that surpasses the alcohol-consumption rate in the twentieth century. Who were the real Puritans? And why did Puritan become a derogatory label? In what ways have the Puritans shaped what we believe and how we live today? To answer these... Continue Reading

Every fall in my Econ 101 course, during the last class period before we part for Thanksgiving, I share a lesson from early American history. It is particularly timely, because it deals with those we credit with the first American Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony. Upon arriving in New England, the Pilgrims shared “their... Continue Reading

The Japanese sometimes accept gifts by saying, “I’m sorry.” The subtext, Visser explains, is, “I am fully aware of my debt to you. I can never repay it.” Appearing on Conan O’Brien’s show last year, comedian Louis C. K. lamented how frustrated people get when cell phones and cross-country flights are slow or faulty. “Everything... Continue Reading