Prodigal Magazine
MIKESCHAIR Interview
As the world looks in on Christianity today, they are looking for honesty and for sincerity. Too often, what they have found is hypocrisy in those who profess to be followers of Christ. As a new generation of bands hits the forefront in Christianity today, we are seeing a transparency that has never been seen before. MIKESCHAIR is one band who is definitely not afraid to openly discuss who they are, hoping that in their journey with the Lord, others may relate and come to know Him as well. MIKESCHAIR formed while they were students at Belmont University. The Lord has ...
Father of the Decade
As I began to consider this concept, I thought it would be fairly easy. After all, how many fathers are there in the world? There must be many that stand out. How much news has been reported in the last ten years? There must be great fathers among the reports. Soon after beginning my research, I realized this was going to be a difficult, if not impossible, task. There are fathers in the news alright. Recently there was Dr. Umaru Abdulmutallab, the father of Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, otherwise known as the "underpants bomber", or the "undergarments bomber", or something like that. He is ...
Interview – Phil Wickham
A few weeks ago, I took a silent retreat into the North Carolina wilderness to get alone with God and to allow him to speak to my heart. I took a copy of 1 cd on my ipod, Heaven and Earth which is Phil Wickham’s latest album that releases on November 17. God spoke to me in many ways through scripture but He allowed Phil’s music to bring me to a point of true worship. I sat down with Phil this morning to talk a little bit about who he is, his career and what inspires his songwriting abilities. History Q- Give ...
Jonny Diaz – Men of God Spotlight
Our God is a God of redirection. The Bible says in Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.” Many of us have planned out our lives, striving to be one thing, only to learn later that God wanted us somewhere else. When we make that commitment to the Lord, we see how God redirects the paths of our lives, leading us to where He always intended for us to be. Jonny Diaz learned this lesson from the Lord and learned that sometimes, that redirection isn’t the easiest thing to accept, but once you ...
Men of God Spotlight: Scott Brosius
At the end of the 1997 season, Scott Brosius wondered where his career was going. He had just completed his worst season in Oakland and now, he was hearing the trade rumors and contemplating where he would be next. God opened a door, one that Scott could not have imagined being opened before that time, reviving his career and providing Scott with a new platform and a new audience. His faith would grow as the Lord moved in so many ways. Scott Brosius is now the head baseball coach at his alma mater. He is in our Men of God spotlight ...
Reign O’er a Kingdom in Ruin
One nugget of Christian rhetoric I have always had the toughest time understanding is “giving everything to God.” What was so frustrating about this is that “giving everything to God” sounds like the right thing to do, and here I don’t even know the implications of the statement! My visceral response is to pack up all my belongings and give them to the church. Or perhaps to quit my job and say I had given it to God. The Peace Corps seems to fit the bill for that too, I should enlist (or whatever it is they call it). No. That isn’t all there is to it. Luckily, Jesus shed some light on what it is to “give everything to God.” In the gospel of Luke, Jesus shared his perspective on giving God complete ownership of one’s self...
Continue reading...Parasitic Water and Toothless Smiles
12. December 2009
Last night I got back from Mexico. I went with a bud of mine named Josh. Josh is on staff at the same church I work at and oversees the middle school ministry. Josh will be bringing a group of soon-to-be-ninth-graders there this summer. Yikes. Please pray for him. We went there and scoped things out. Since [...]
Continue reading...Complaining
10. December 2009
Recently I had surgery on my tongue to remove a fibrous growth and the pain and slowness of recovery has reminded me again of the importance of being grateful. I think we all complain too much and this I know about complaining: it’s a killjoy. It makes you and everybody around you unhappy. The big problem with complaining is [...]
Continue reading...Thanksgiving versus Thanks-Living
9. December 2009
Every year around thanksgiving tables across the country, the children of the family get the chance to tell everyone what their thankful for. Most will mention the toys they have accrued over the years, the upcoming Christmas season, or how the weather is generally pleasant. Don’t get me wrong; it’s cute. However, [...]
Continue reading...As I turn 33
28. November 2009
Today is a special day for me. My birthday has arrived and as I have reflected on all that has happened throughout the years, my mind became fixated upon the number of this birthday. I am thirty-three years old today, the same age that Christ was when He went to the cross. [...]
Continue reading...Forgot your password?
25. November 2009
“The username and password entered do not match. Please enter correct username and password before proceeding”. How many times have you seen that message, or one like it, splashed across your computer screen?
Continue reading...Itsy Bitsy Spider – A life lesson
11. November 2009
When my daughter was very small, she had a favorite song she would sing, very loudly, often for hours at a time. This song is one most, if not all, of us know very well. “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”. Just mentioning the song has many of you singing it right now. Like many children, my daughter, when she was first learning the song, replaced some of the correct words she could not remember, with something else so she could continue the song. In her case she added the words “whumpa whumpa”. Here is how it went...
Continue reading...The Extraordinary Man
15. October 2009
I was thinking about some things I learned a few years ago, back to February of 2005 to be exact. It was then I had the opportunity to hear a particular message from Rick Godwin. Rick's message was about taking risks and how important it is to be willing to take risks in your life. There was one statement he made that hit me so hard, it still impacts me today. He said, "you can change the world...start with yourself, by becoming extraordinary". One thing I have learned over the years is it is very difficult to become something unless you understand what it is.
Continue reading...Simple Love
8. October 2009
Sometimes we get caught up in what serving and loving others actually means. The messages we get from books, media, Christian thought leaders and conferences tell us that to love others we need to have some exotic adventure to a third world country to feed children or sacrifice the American life to live amongst the poor in Eastern Europe or make it our life mission to rescue women in the sex trade industry. Although all of these things are wonderful examples of loving people in Jesus' name, sometimes we get overwhelmed and just do nothing. Apathy is the real thing that gets in the way of loving others. There are opportunities everyday in our mundane lives that we can cease and surprise people with love and kindness. It is up to you to decide what to do in that moment. I decided to just sit still. Which is why I wrote this article.
Continue reading...When Love Means War
20. September 2009
Eight years ago, September 11, 2001, America was attacked by Islamic terrorists. Shortly after, our nation went to war against those who perpetrated this evil. It has been a long and costly struggle. And today, as then, those of us who follow Jesus continually weigh that cost and wonder, “What is the Godly response to [...]
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2. March 2010
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