When I was 16 years old, I spent many nights in my dad’s old metal shed, banging away on a guitar that had been passed down to me. Just about every night, my friend, Jason, and I would meet there and practice chords and pieces of songs that had been taught to us, through others, who played the guitar.

One night, as we were working on a song, Jason noticed that my spirit was not well at all. “What’s wrong,” he said. “I know something is bothering you.”

He was right, I had a confrontation with someone that day at school and I couldn’t get it off my mind; my esteem was low and I was heavily burdened.

Jason is a friend that I could always tell my problems to. He is a good listener, wise and gave the type of advice that would build you up and not tear you down - he is an encourager. And, as I told him my problem, we talked about different ways to handle the situation. That is when he asked me to do something bold. “I think you should ...

[Read More]

There is no doubt that Jesus Christ was the most important person in the life of Mary Magdalene. When visiting his tomb, she was in shock to find that her savior’s body was missing, so much, that she began to cry. That’s when a voice from behind rang out to her and said: “Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?”

Right away, Mary thought it to be the gardener and told him that she was looking for Jesus’ body and didn’t know where it was… With a single word, Jesus brought everything into focus for her when he said: “Mary.” In which she replied “Master!”

Many others that knew Jesus were also devastated by his death but also overjoyed by the news of his resurrection. Many believed, but one had his doubts and would not accept the news of the resurrection unless he saw Jesus for himself - Thomas.

Jesus must have loved Thomas very much and cared about his frame of mind, to have appeared to him. Seeming to come from out of nowhere, he stood in the presence of Tho...

[Read More]

“Hello, 911, how can we be of assistance?,” a voice rings over the telephone. Suddenly a very frantic boater, who has taken his family out to enjoy the day on the lake, responds. “It’s my son! He was skiing and was struck by a large fish that jumped up from the water! Please hurry! He’s unconscious and I think he may have a broken nose!”

Several years ago, this would have been a rare occurrence, but recently, these types of calls have become all to common. The cause - the menacing Asian Carp.

What started as a control method to clean up fish ponds, has quickly become a problem in the United States’ lakes, rivers and streams. During flooding, the carp escaped their ponds and spilled over into our waterways.

An Asian Carp eats up to 40% of its body weight daily (primarily of plankton), reaching weights of over 100 pounds and uses enormous amounts of oxygen. (The first year of its life, it grows up to nine pounds). The fish ha...

[Read More]

I did something that I haven’t done in the past three years- I walked by a building, saw my reflection in the window and smiled. I will have to admit, it has been a while since I have done that. Usually, I grimace at the sight of my growing waste line and say, “What happened to you, Kip? You are really letting yourself go.”

To me, it was a blow when I first realized I was gaining weight. I had to face the fact that my jeans just wouldn’t fit anymore; I was going to have to go shopping for larger sizes. I had my share of weight loss spurts too. I would work out for a few weeks, then lose interest and fall back into my old ways. I even tried the weight loss shakes but developed a love for them and soon began drinking them WITH my meals, gaining even more weight. And, all the diets I tried basically starved me to death. I hated the thought of even attempting to go on another one. What was there to do but just give in??

Well, when I basically got disg...

[Read More]

When Frankie Fidilio was a little boy, he somehow knew that he was destined for great things. His grandfather, Frank, was someone he always looked up to and when he spoke, young Frankie took his words to heart.

“When I was four years old,” comments Fidilio, “my grandfather would come home every evening. He would always go down to the basement for a shave. I wanted to be like him and I had my little fake razor and would lather up my face with the shaving cream too and pretend to shave. One day, I remember my grandfather looking in the mirror and saying, ‘You know, Frankie, I could have been in Hollywood… but I was just too short.’ I looked up at my grandfather and asked him, ‘What about me grandpa, do you think I’ll be tall enough to be in Hollywood?’ He looked down at me and said,
I think so.’ I’ll never forget that.”

Many years later, Frankie would fulfill his grandfather’s revelation and star on his own television reality show about the scrap metal industry, breaki...

[Read More]

Although you may see Israel in the headlines everyday, there is much more taking place there than just what we are reading. God is bringing his people back to the land of Israel as he fulfills his promise: For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. Jeremiah 30:3

Many Jews have and are making their way back into Israel; they are making their “aliyah” (immigration to Israel). God is bringing them back from many different countries, like the United States, Russia and even Ethiopia.

All are excited about the return and describe it as a spiritual fulfillment. Many fall to their knees as they step foot in Israel for the first time, kiss the ground and cry out: “Thank you God for sustaining me, giving me life, and enabling me to reach this milestone.”

T...

[Read More]

Recently, I was watching a film about a pride of lions, who were living in Africa. It was amazing to see how the pride went about their day to day lives and struggles in the wild. There was, however, one lion who stood out among the rest - a mother lioness. She did everything she could for her children. When they were hungry, she, being the most experienced hunter, would take them out and hunt, teaching them and providing for them at the same time.

Once, while nursing an injury, the lioness was kicked in the chest by a zebra during a hunt. She still took down the zebra; this left her very weak and unable to walk but she knew for the sake of her child, she must travel on, so she found the strength to join the pride. This was not her only obstacle.

While trying to regain her strength, three male lions from another pride invaded and threatened her pride’s children. They were so ferocious, they even scared off the pride’s only defending male. Ou...

[Read More]

On December 8, 2006, a Georgia man was trimming back some limbs and brush around some recently acquired coastal property when he spotted what he thought was an old automobile gas tank. The tank had fallen from a hole in the side of the river bank, where there was heavy erosion. Upon further inspection, the man realized it wasn’t a gas tank at all, it was a cast iron casket that had the appearance of an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus. Several bricks had also fallen from the area and seemed to have encased the casket for many years.


Another one of these iron mummies was also discovered in Shelby County, Tennessee, many years ago, when a farmer was plowing a field. His disc blade struck something hard and suddenly the ground caved in, revealing a hidden secret. Within the ground was a large tomb built of over 2,000 bricks, containing one of the strange caskets. The casket looked as though it was draped with a great iron cloth and was constructed with several ornamental details. T...

[Read More]

If you are like me, then you are probably a germaphobe and are very careful about the environments you find yourselves in. Maybe you go about doing your daily disinfecting of the house, going through a few bottles of Lysol a week? Maybe you even have your own rituals you go through while visiting a public place? Do you have that little travel bottle of hand sanitizer on you right now?

I’ve always heard, and I believe it to be true, that one of the main reasons people get sick is because they do not wash their hands. I’d even go so far as to say that they do not wash their hands good enough, either. That’s one reason I favor a debit card over actually cash money. Do you know that I have actually witnessed kids walking around with pennies in their mouths?? To me that would be like going into a public restroom and licking the sink. Blech!!

And, speaking of public restrooms, I am such a germaphobe that I have actually conducted surveys while in the re...

[Read More]

One of the many things my dad taught me as a kid was to make a good breakfast. He would show me how to make the white gravy with sausage, fry the bacon and of course, scramble the eggs. Making breakfast was something I truly enjoyed and still do, however, there is one thought that always clouds my mind every time I go to scramble the eggs. I never fail to think of a day that I made a terrible comment that really hurt a good friend.

When I was in the fifth grade, a new student came into my classroom. He was a little taller and broader shouldered than the other kids; he stood out because of his size. I could tell the other kids were interested to learn more about him; in a small town, it was always exciting to have a new student come into your class. We soon found out his name was Jimmy and he was living with his mother and sister. Right away, Jimmy and I had a good connection with each other. We had many of the same interests and we both loved to hunt and f...

[Read More]