As ham sandwiches go, it was perfection. A thick cut of ham, a toasted bun, crispy lettuce, a juicy slice of tomato, and plenty of expensive gourmet mustard. The corners of his mouth were aching with anticipation to sink his teeth into the tasty slice of bliss. It was a beautiful day outside, with the sun shining and the birds singing, so he picked up his six-week-old son in one hand, the sandwich in the other, and headed to the picnic table in the backyard. As he reached for his ham sandwich, he noticed a streak of mustard on his fingers. He had no napkin, so he licked the mustard off… only it wasn’t mustard. Throughout the ages, no man has put a baby down faster than him, as he sprinted toward the sink with his tongue protruding. With a washcloth in both hands, he did the routine of the shoeshine guys… only he cleaned his tongue so strenuously that it sparkled after he was done. Later, his wife said to him, “Now, you know why they call that mustard “Poupon.”  That poor father had a bad taste in his mouth. The type of taste that one, simply, must spit out! I remember a story about some brethren who once put a bad taste in the mouth of Jesus, the church at Laodicea, (Revelation 3:14-22). They were had become rich, but had forgotten that, without God, they were pitiable, poor, blind, and naked, (v. 17). They had clothed themselves in …

To our seniors,  Someone once said, “You can’t move forward without saying goodbye to the past.” It was once observed that we spend 18,720 hours of our life in school, that is, from kindergarten until our last day of our senior year in high school. In those hours, you have become accustomed to a set schedule in your life, which has been cultivated within you as a byproduct of school. Please excuse the oversimplification when I make this statement: You are about to experience the largest seismic change in your life to-date. This does not mean you should not look forward to this change, as it comes with freedom and a newly acquired happiness found in experiencing the unknown. However, you are responsible emotionally, physically, and spiritually for how you respond to this change. You are also responsible for where you are spiritually when the next stage of life comes! I want to provide you with four truths, learned through experience, which I wish someone had relayed to me when I underwent the same seismic change in my life.   You will be forced to make new friends. That is not to say that you will no longer speak to your friends from high school, but with a change in your stage of life comes a change in your social circle. You will experience many people, from all walks of life. Some will build you up, while some will attempt to influence your walks of life. When choosing new friends, …

By: Zach Collins On the night of December 9th, 1914, Edison Industries was destroyed by a fire. In the flames, Edison lost two million dollars over night and much of his life’s work. Unfortunately, he was only insured for about $238,000 because the buildings were made of concrete, which at the time was thought to be fireproof. At the time, Thomas Edison was 67 years old – no longer a young man – and everything he had worked for had been destroyed in the flames. At least, that’s how we would view such a loss. However, Edison did not share that same perspective. The story goes, as Edison walked amongst the charred embers of his hopes and dreams, he beheld his life’s work and said, “There is great value in disaster. All of our mistakes are burned up and, thank God, we can begin anew.” Sure, all his accomplishments and inventions were destroyed in the fire, but so were his mistakes. He was never too old to begin anew, and he found that refreshing.  Moses was also afforded the chance, by God, to begin anew. It has been said, “Moses lived 40 years as a son of Pharoah, 40 years as a son of Jethro, and then 40 years as a son of God.” Though his upbringing was royal, Moses never forgot his roots and always seemed to possess a heart of gold. However, Moses still committed many mistakes. After he saw the burdens of the Jewish people, he attempted …

By: Zach Collins According to the New American Oxford Dictionary, the term amazed can be defined as, “surprise (someone) greatly; fill with astonishment.” In fact, this term is used heavily within our culture. If you were to casually scroll through any TV guide or streaming platform, you would find many TV shows and movies that are prefaced with the word amazing. For example, The Amazing Race, or The Amazing Spiderman, or Amazing Grace. We, as Americans, love to be amazed and astonished. However, this term is also found in the scriptures. In fact, there is one situation that stands out within the holy scriptures, where our Savior was amazed.   Let us allow this question to guide the remainder of this article: What amazes Jesus?  In Luke the seventh chapter, at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus comes into Capernaum where a life-or-death situation is presented before Him. Here’s the situation: The servant of a Roman centurion was sick and ready to die, so the elders of the Jews come before Jesus and plead with Him to heal this servant. Jesus proceeds to come into this man’s home, where we see one of the strongest attitudes of humility in all the Bible. In this account, the centurion demonstrates great humility, (v. 6), and recognized the authority of the Christ, (v. 8). In fact, because of this marvelous attitude, we find the answer to our question, in v. 9, when the Bible records, “When Jesus heard these things, …