Editor’s Note: When actor Gary Sinise took on the role of Lieutenant Dan Taylor for the 1994 film Forrest Gump, he had no idea just how it would change his life forever. Not only did his performance garner an Oscar nomination, but it set Sinise on a new path — one of service on…
Writing a Better Story
Nearly every day in the summer, I take my dog to Westmoreland Park, where she plays in the creek. She runs up and down through the creek bed, diving headlong into the water, chasing ducks. Sometimes when I watch her I think about how good life can be, if we only lose ourselves in our…
A Man’s Deepest Question
The story of Adam’s fall is every man’s story. It is simple and straightforward, almost mythic in its brevity and depth. And so every man comes into the world set up for a loss of heart. Then comes the story we are much more aware of — our own story. Where Adam’s story seems…
Blessed are the Peacemakers
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” —Matthew 5:9 White attending Sunday School as a child, my classmates and I were asked to memorize Bible verses. We began with single verses, and over time worked up to memorizing several verses and entire passages. Among them were Psalm 23, Psalm…
Spend Your Life
On Saturday nights, our family gathers at my parents’ house to eat and laugh and drink to grace. My sisters and their husbands come with their tribes and I with mine. My grandmother, mother to my father, went into the ground on top of a hill two years ago. James Irwin Wilson comes to these…
Becoming a King
It is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the lasting influence. — Oswald Chambers Travel with me for a moment back to the narrow dirt roads of a first-century Roman…
What is a Man?
All too often, some of the most critical aspects of our lives require absolutely no formal training — marriage and parenting, for example. You do not have to take a class to become a parent or even to marry someone, even though these are both lifelong commitments. No formal training is required for these…
In Love with Distraction
Editor’s note: Even though we are all relying heavily on our phones and computers to stay connected during these times, it is vital that we remember our devices are our tools, not our masters. In today’s excerpt from Get Your Life Back: Everyday Practices for a World Gone Mad, author John Eldredge offers practical tips…
The Gift of Friendship
Editor’s note: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were two of the most prolific writers of faith and fiction in the 20th century. They were also great friends, and Tolkien was a guiding force in Lewis coming to faith in Christ. Both men also served as soldiers in the First World War, survived the trenches,…
Thanksgiving and the Path to Peace
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. James 1:2 NIV God promises no easy life or days without troubles, trials, difficulties, and temptations. He never promises that life will be perfect. He does not call His children to a playground, but to a battleground. Some people have a…