I lead worship from time to time, especially within my family’s church. It’s a lot of fun – I get to play piano, sing, and worship Jesus, which are three of my favorite things to do (along with seeing beautiful…
Exploring Sandstone Falls in New River Gorge
Sandstone Falls is one of the premier attractions in New River Gorge National Park. However, it’s not near most of the rest of the main attractions in the park: I drove a good hour (it felt like more) from the…
Masks & Lies vs. Multi-Dimensional
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about how being ingenuine – creating a false mask for yourself, for example – is just a culturally-acceptable lie. You’re lying to yourself that you can be a specific kind of person who…
The Best Hikes for Kids in Death Valley National Park!
Death Valley is a very kid-friendly national park. Maybe I think that because I have such fond memories of visiting the park in my tweens and teens, exploring slot canyons, old mining areas, and sand dunes with my little siblings. …
Why You Should Take a Compliment
Genuine compliments are nice things. They help you know how people are receiving the love or service you’re giving, what speaks to them or is meaningful to them, and even if you have a gift in one area or another…
NP-633: Hans Flat to the Flint Trail
The dirt road between the Hans Flat Ranger Station and the top of the Flint Trail is unique in the Maze District in that it’s on top of the Orange Cliffs. Most of the area commonly called the Maze District…
Be Genuine; Don’t Lie
In the book of Revelation, John writes that everyone who “loves and practices falsehood” (or lies) is not in the city of God (22:15). This has been compared to a similar list in Revelation 21:8, which mentions liars (or deceivers),…
Paddling Lake Ontario: Sandbar Park to Webster Park
You might remember that last year I wrote about kayaking Irondequoit Creek from Ellison Park to Irondequoit Bay, and then about kayaking Irondequoit Bay from La Salle Landing (the mouth of Irondequoit Creek) to the mouth of Irondequoit Bay. Our…
Shame Doesn’t Lead to Repentance
It’s an interesting thing to be a leader in a sinful society. Paul the Apostle was growing baby Christians in a culture so sinful it might possibly make the Western world look pure. I won’t go into the details of…
Viewpoints in Island in the Sky
There are quite a number of viewpoints in the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park. Most are right along the road (or nearly so!) and take you to sweeping vistas of the canyons below. In this post,…