A school, even a Christian school, has no real mechanism for dealing with sin, nor is it their role to do so. If they have a code of conduct with that includes both not having premarital sex and not plagiarizing, then they are in a bind. If a student plagiarizes or cheats, are they now... Continue Reading

While God makes it clear that we must preach the Word, he does not specify one method over the other. I wonder if we have veered too far in one direction. This, after all, is our tendency in nearly everything—to swing from wild extreme to wild extreme.   In many ways, the Reformed resurgence of... Continue Reading

Michelangelo’s poems are more transparent than his sculptures. Most of them are prayers to God (with echoes of Augustine’s Confessions, which he probably knew well). What he mourned mostly was his struggle with sin (“Fain would I wish what my heart cannot will”) and the time wasted in futile pursuits, including his art (“What’s the... Continue Reading

Downing has faithfully served the ministry for almost ten years.  In that time, he has facilitated over 40 national/international Embers to a Flame conferences, led numerous Spiritual Foundation Retreats for churches desiring spiritual growth, and shepherded dozens of  churches through our coaching ministry, Fanning the Flame.   The Embers To A Flame Ministry has announced... Continue Reading

“The pressure Farron felt rings familiar to American evangelicals, who are continually grappling with their place in public life and the future for their convictions. Earlier this month, a Trump administration appointee was challenged during his confirmation hearing over his belief in salvation through Christ alone.”   Amid mounting scrutiny over his evangelical faith, the... Continue Reading

“According to a Greenville News article about same-sex couples seeking the city’s first marriage licenses after a federal court order finding South Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional took effect on Nov. 20, 2014, Sarratt and Swearingen met six years earlier at Greenville First Baptist Church, when Swearingen served the church as an intern.”  ... Continue Reading

Dead are James W. Stockdale, 21, and Kathryn B. Stockdale, 54, his mother. Sheriff George T. Maier said Jacob T. Stockdale, 25, fired a shotgun at his mother and brother, killing them, then shot himself. He was taken by ambulance to Canton’s Aultman Hospital and then by helicopter to Cleveland Metro Hospital, where he was... Continue Reading

My father went through all he did on Okinawa, and throughout World War II, and never showed the slightest hint of it to his son or daughters. He dealt death to others not happily but because it was his duty. He watched his closest friends and comrades die beside him. He spared me all that... Continue Reading

These leaders listen to their team, trusting that they, too, bring much to the conversation. If the team’s recommendations differ from these leaders, the leaders are at least willing to continue the conversation. Accomplishing the vision is supreme, even if getting there requires the leaders to reconsider their own strategy.   I’ve had the privilege... Continue Reading

Sadie peacefully took her last breath in my arms. I’ve pictured her taking her last breath on earth in my arms and her first breath (w/ no oxygen tubes!) in Heaven in Jesus’s arms. So, of course, there’s sorrow for us left behind. I miss my beautiful, spunky, bright-eyed, curly hair girl. There will be... Continue Reading