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Continue reading →: The Teacher
My son is a professional musician who also teaches guitar lessons. One of his older students was surprised to find out that my son also goes to guitar lessons. “Even teachers need to be taught”, was his response. Nicodemus was a teacher in Israel (John 3:10), and not just any…
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Continue reading →: Machine Head Album ReviewSome albums have a way of stamping their mark on music history. Machine Head by Deep Purple is one of them. Recording the AlbumThe Montreux Casino in Switzerland, where the band had planned to record this album, was destroyed by a fire on December 4, 1971 when a Frank Zappa…
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Continue reading →: Perfect Anger Perfect Love
Sunday School Jesus is often smiling and warm and mild. We imagine His voice being calm and quiet. It can be hard to fathom that Jesus, full of love and compassion, would ever have one angry bone in His body. But when He overturned the tables in the temple and…
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Continue reading →: The FriendThe second verse of the beloved Christian hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, says Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged—Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share? Jesus…
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Continue reading →: What A Friend We Have In JesusWas it an accident? Was it murder? Was it suicide? Joseph M. Scriven’s body was found in Rice Lake, Ontario in August 1886 after wrestling with depression. The author of the beloved hymn “What A Friend We Have In Jesus” had fallen ill and was staying with a friend during…
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Continue reading →: A Prayer of Confession – Ezra 9Confession of sin seasoned with genuine contrition are the ingredients of a fruitful prayer life that produces an aroma pleasing to God. We invite God’s favor and forgiveness upon us, standing in His amazing grace, when we are willing to get on our knees before Him in honest confession. Ezra…
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Continue reading →: The Lamb
John invokes Old Testament imagery when he sees Jesus coming from a distance and exclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). Lambs were used quite extensively in the Jewish culture as sacrifices. To avoid having their firstborn children slain in the last plague inflicted upon Egypt, the God instructed…
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Continue reading →: I Heard the Bells on Christmas DayDiscouragement and despair are part of the human condition. They may lie dormant in our hearts but are often awakened by difficult and unpleasant circumstances that interrupt our lives and overwhelm us. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the American writer famously known as the author of Paul Revere’s Ride, was no stranger…
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Continue reading →: The LightThere was the true Light which coming into the world enlightens every man (John 1:9). In a world that becomes darker with every passing day, what we need most is light. Light always expels darkness. Jesus is called the ‘light’ in this passage, and in John 8:12 He is called…
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Continue reading →: The CreatorThere are many references in the Bible of Jesus as the Creator. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being – John 1:3. It is unmistakable that Jesus was present during the act of creation. And not only…
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Continue reading →: The WordJesus is God in the flesh. He is eternally existing and completely equal with God the Father. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God (John 1:1-2). Jesus is referred to as “the Word”…
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Continue reading →: Kintersburg Covered BridgeThe Kintersburg Covered Bridge is one of only five truss bridges remaining in Pennsylvania. Located in Indiana County, it was built in 1877 and named by local merchant Isaac Kinter to honor his father John Kinter who was a Revolutionary War veteran. The bridge is 62 feet long, spanning Crooked…
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Continue reading →: When Good Men Do Nothing
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. This quote is widely attributed to the Irish philosopher Edmund Burke. The sentiment sounds pithy enough on the surface, however there is no evidence that Burke ever made such a statement. But that hasn’t…
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Continue reading →: Theology Lessons from the President
This morning, President Biden shared some disjointed remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC (and in many ways making a solid case for the separation of church and state). In his usual tired demeanor he mumbled the following statements: “I pray that we follow what Jesus taught us,…
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Continue reading →: Beaver Valley BowlThis building is located next to the Ohio River on New York Avenue in Rochester PA. It is a seven-story orange-ish brick structure that was used in the movie Kingpin (1996), starring Woody Harrelson and Bill Murray. It was also used in the Michael Douglas film, Wonderboys (2000). In Kingpin,…
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Continue reading →: Bethlehem Presbyterian Church and CemeteryThe cemetery and the church (built in 1832 and rebuilt in 1880), is surrounded by the Bruce Mansfield Power Plant. Necessary technology and energy advancement put the nail in the coffin of rural living in Shippingport PA when this plant started up in the 1970’s. But wise humans subjugate the…
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Continue reading →: What About Those Who Have Never Heard?
It is true that there are people in remote areas of the world who have never had access to a bible or will never come in contact with a Christian who would proclaim the gospel message of Jesus. In a world with over 7 billion people, it is estimated that…
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Continue reading →: Waiting for God’s ResponsePrayer is one of the easiest spiritual disciplines while at the same time one of the toughest. Easy because it is simply talking to God. But yet very difficult because we’re talking to a being who is not visible to our human eye or audible to our human eardrums. How…
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Continue reading →: The Strand TheaterThe Strand Theater is a beautiful architectural accent piece to the quaint town of Zelienople PA. According to the theater’s website, it was built in 1914 by Italian immigrants Gioachino and Rosalia Sapienza. At first, the building was partially a fruit market and partially a small stage that featured silent…
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Continue reading →: Brillo Parking BoothIn the 1960’s, American pop artist Andy Warhol created sculptures using the logos from consumer products like Kellogg’s and Heinz ketchup. In one such exhibit, he hired craftsmen to make Brillo boxes out of plywood that were indistinguishable from the ones you’d find in the cleaning aisle at the local…
This site is a collection of my commentary on theology, current events, and everyday blue collar life. My primary purpose is to share my own personal studies in the Scriptures and to show how the Bible has been changing my life. The content here is meant to be an encouragement to my brothers and sisters in Christ: to view everything through the lens of God’s Word, for the Scriptures are what shapes our thinking and governs our behavior.
Establish my footsteps in Your Word ~ Psalm 119:133 