Raising Real Men

He disciplined himself to accept things as they were, to do his duty cheerfully because there was no sense in doing it any other way, and to do what he thought right without expectation of reward or recognition In his own words, it was enough to have “the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of…
Read More

Oddly enough, we were on the way to church when the subject of Halloween costumes came up. Our approach to the event has been contrarian from the start

Today is St. Crispin’s Day, my son informs me, the 596th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt.    King Henry V of England was hopelessly outnumbered by the approaching French Army, but

We love to see the manly virtues played out in real life! Yesterday, we wrote in a Facebook note and shared the story of our courageous friend, missionary Mike Richardson and his determination to overcome fear to bring the gospel to those living in one of the most dangerous places on our continent – the…
Read More

Is there a place for Christians to pursue honor, or is that something which is worldly, tainted, something to be put aside in favor of more spiritual pursuits? Recently I was invited to speak at the induction ceremony for a high school honor society, so I looked into the idea.  What I found might be…
Read More

John and Betty Stam were young American missionaries to China when Communist forces took over their town.  Tim Challies re-tells  the gripping story of what happened to John, Betty, and their infant daughter Helen, the testimony they bore, and the impact it had on the Chinese and Christians around the world.  The title above was…
Read More

John Newton, the converted former slave trader who became pastor to English abolitionist William Wilberforce, has a supporting role in the film Amazing Grace — besides, obviously, writing the theme song (in a sense).  His own story is just as fascinating, and even more dramatic, than Wilberforce’s. I just finished re-reading Newton’s autobiography, reprinted as Out…
Read More

We just love Thanksgiving! What a wonderful holiday! Leading up to the day, we teach our children great hymns of Thanksgiving, such as “We Gather Together,”  “Come Ye Thankful People, Come,”  “Count Your Blessings,” and “Now Thank We All Our God.” We particularly love “We Gather Together,” because it was a Dutch song of the proper…
Read More

We’ve got a lot of veterans in our family, myself included, so we like to recognize them on Veterans’ Day.  Someone asked a question recently about this particular veteran, so I thought I’d share the story today in honor of intrepid young men doing their duty all over the world! We talk about Admiral David Farragut…
Read More

Halloween is an English contraction of “All Hallow’s Eve”, or properly, the Eve of the Feast of All Saints … which is, after all, November 1.  In our house, it’s not a day of jack-o-lanterns and goblins, but a day to remember true heroism — a man who faced death and thereby opened the door…
Read More