My Dad passed away two months ago, just shy of his 95th birthday. He was an amazing man who lived a remarkable life. He served in the army in World War II and in the air force in the Korean war. Among all of his achievements, the most significant to me was showing me how to be a Christian man.

My goal, historically, has been to make enough money doing intellectual work that I don’t need to work with my hands. That way I can pay someone else to clean the house and mow the lawn so I can do things like go to the gym… for exercise. Except for the almost painful irony, there’s nothing…

There’s a whole world out there where our Christian brothers and sisters are living lives closer to the first century church than to ours. They need our help and prayers, but we need their witness and example. One such family wrote to me recently. I’ve changed names and references, but the stories that illustrate the challenges…

I’ve been re-reading Wendell Berry, a long-time writer, teacher, and local farmer in Henry County, Kentucky, who passionately believes in the importance of sustainable agriculture and healthy rural communities as an appropriate expression of a genuine Christian life. In his view…

If I am honest, I rarely, if ever, think of myself as being near to God when I see my fellow solitary people. Rather, I’m far more likely to try and find a place even more isolated, such as the patio tables furthest from the coffee shop, where I can read my Bible and pray… undisturbed. How ironic that if I actually want to be near to God, it might be time to go and learn a few solitary people’s names.

While they were working I had time to look over the garage and watch the men at work, all the while thinking about the highly networked, state of the art, computerized high school in New Jersey, with its out-of-date and unused industrial arts building. The garage was at least 40 years old, built of steel with a large, high, half-round tin roof…