In 1803 Jefferson wrote to Dr. Benjamin Rush concerning Jesus: “…a system of morals is presented to us, which, if filled up in the true style and spirit of the rich fragments he left us, would be the most perfect and sublime that has ever been taught by man… “His moral doctrines, relating to kindred […]
Archive by Author: Michael
Spike the Scorpion
While Life FOCUS XVI green team was in Oklahoma we really enjoyed the wildlife. One evening, when a small scorpion crawled over Logistics Chief M. Wilkes’ hand, he decided to capture it and take it back to Indiana with us where we would reunite with Assistant Director J. Wilkes and blue team. But while he […]
Chocolate is a Fruit…
A friend of mine recently gave me the wonderful news that chocolate is a fruit! Why? Because anything that goes with chocolate is a fruit, and since chocolate goes so well with chocolate, chocolate must be a fruit. That’s good news because I like chocolate, especially dark chocolate, and always need an excuse to eat […]
First Deer of the Year!
On Opening Day, no Staddon hunters saw any deer at all and had to end the hunt early due to a drizzly rain that wouldn’t stop. This was unusual and a bit disheartening. That evening, I didn’t know if I wanted to hunt the next day or not—I needed my rest before Thanksgiving and I […]
Focusing on the One Needful Thing
The fourth week of the Fall 2008 Life FOCUS program was spent in the Northwoods of upper Michigan on a “Journey to the Heart.” The time to set aside everything I was trying to finish and just focus on the one thing that is needful was precious. My heart was revived and I saw afresh […]
Don’t Eat Honey?
We have been blessed with another successful beekeeping year so far. I was delighted to see our ten productive hives bring in a surplus of over 600 pounds more than they needed this spring. It was more than they had ever brought in before. Recently I read an opinion stating that people should not eat […]
Rocks that Teach – Canada Adventure Day 4
On Tuesday of our trip, we took a morning outing to see the local Petroglyphs near Peterborough, Ontario. What I had expected to be only interesting turned out to be downright inspiring! The petroglyphs are ancient carvings in rock, estimated to be between 500 and 1100 years old. Their origin is debated, but generally accepted […]
Who Wrote this Letter? Part 2
The letter was written by Lady Jane Grey, the “9-days Queen”, just before she was put to death at about 17 years of age. One of the most well educated people of her time and a devout Protestant, she took no interest in the common pursuits of the young people of her day. She had […]
Who Wrote this Letter? Part 1
Here is a letter I recently read and was very impressed with, but was quite surprised to find out who wrote it. It opened my eyes afresh to the seriousness of forsaking Christ! See if you can guess out who wrote it with such authority. I can provide a couple hints if needed. By the […]
Our Help is in the Name of the LORD
On Independence Day, our family happened to read Psalm 124 in our morning devotions. We could hardly believe how perfectly it fit the occasion! As you read the chapter, relate it to these historical facts: 1. God protected the armies under George Washington by sending a heavy fog to allow them to escape from Long […]