On the days of July 1st to July 3rd 1863, the Union and Confederate armies clashed in the largest battle of the American Civil War at a little village named Gettysburg. More than 160,000 soldiers dressed in blue or gray entered those Pennsylvania fields, and a staggering 51,000 became casualties in the fighting. Some of the fiercest combat occurred on the last day of the battle with what historians call “Pickett’s Charge.” General Robert E. Lee ordered an advance of some 14,000 Confederate troops led by George Pickett, across an …

From time to time in Christian history there have been those who claim to have come into possession of relics associated with Jesus. Pilgrims and collectors have gathered together items like the Shroud of Turin, the alleged crown of thorns worn at Christ’s crucifixion, or the Veil of Veronica, used to wipe our Lord’s sweaty, bloody brow. And since Helena, the Emperor Constantine’s mother, first claimed to have found the true Cross of Jesus more than 1700 years ago, pieces of it have shown up every where. Tongue in check, …

When my wife and I bought our first house together, it was a cute little ranch-style home sitting high up on a ridge. We loved everything about it except the master bathroom. It was a hideous, dark, Barney-the-Dinosaur purple. We talked almost every day about how we needed to paint it, but just kept putting it off. One Saturday my wife was gone to work so I decided I would surprise her by painting the bathroom. To get started, I sat a chair in the middle of the bathroom floor, …

Do you remember the day you earned your driver’s license? Was it not one of the greatest moments of personal freedom you ever experienced? It definitively felt that way to me. Finally, after those months and years of wishing and preparing, that piece of plastic with the goofy photo set me loose in the world.
Of course, having a license doesn’t mean one is a very good driver. But at least the license testifies to some basic knowledge, at least some basic skills behind the wheel. And you probably acquired those …