In John’s testimony he tells how numerous men “filled the gap” that was left by an absent father. Our culture is full of fatherless boys, even the ones with dads who may be there but are silent about faith. Without a context like Brigade it is that much harder for the gap to be filled.
Christian Service Brigade
It’s probably one of my favorite family pictures of all time. Two little boys, ages 4 and 2, wearing bib overalls, old fashioned caps, and bare feet. One holding a baseball bat, the other holding a baseball. Where did the time go? They look so cute, so much alike, but they couldn’t be more different…
In this fallen world, “trouble” feels like an inadequate word to capture the real pain, sadness, or for many, even catastrophe so common in our life experience. But in John 16:33, Jesus says the bittersweet words, “In this world you will have trouble ... But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
As a young…
Now more than ever boys need heroes. Sometimes those heroes swoop in during a moment of crisis, but often heroes are the men who sacrifice everyday investing in the lives of boys. The month of June Christian Service Brigade, the parent ministry of Valor Parent Magazine will be celebrating these heroes through short videos as…
Mike stood in the kitchen doorway and held up the detention notice from school. I could tell from the set of his jaw that he expected the worst. I pushed down all the standard phrases that immediately came to mind: You know better! I can’t believe you did this! What were you thinking!
I…
Ending the responses that trigger the conflict between you and your children
When your children were young, you spoke words of life into their little beings. They cooed and you cooed back. You had no intention of ever berating your babies. Even if you yourself were raised in a home full of heated arguments,…
Minutes turned into hours. They’d been gone too long. I hesitated to verbalize my fear, as if doing so would somehow bring the fear to life. And then it happened.
December 7th 2016 was a routine day for our family serving as missionaries in rural Alaska. Home was a remote village off the road…
How a kid with buck teeth and a bad stutter experienced Jesus
I don't enjoy thinking of embarrassing experiences from my childhood, let alone writing about them. But dredging them up is good because I not only remember the pain but also the people God used to help me pass through that pain. It is…
When to Call it Quits.
I’m a dad who values sports. I played professional sports, coached over 20 of my four sons’ youth teams, and saw three of them play Division 3 college football and one make it to a Division 1 team. I wrote a previous article, Knowing the Goal, to encourage the right…
When I took the job I had no idea how badly I would mess things up.
The summer after I graduated high school, I took a temporary job working at a small radio station. Typically, I did simple tasks like answering phones and typing letters, but the most important job I had was in the…
“I buried my anger, and then it buried me.”
I want to tell you about my friend. He's still in jail; guilty of laundering money. He’s got another seven years left. Before it all crumbled this guy had more money than I will probably have in three lifetimes. He didn't launder money because he…
I have many fond memories of growing up in the Brigade ministry. A personal highlight for me was the annual StocKar derby at my church. My dad would work with me cutting, sanding and painting our masterpieces for the race. I learned a lot through the entire experience from preparation to race day. The process…