SEEK THE KINGDOM

Upon my arrival in Germany, I was eager to learn my way around. Being from America, I had no idea how to read the German signs or speak the language. I was forced to rely on landmarks to assure myself and my friends that we were on the right path back home. One day, my friend Jack took me on a path that led through a forest. As we were walking along the hidden path, I spotted several landmarks that I could use to navigate this path the next time I attempted to walk it alone.

In the midst of nuclear war threats made by ruling authorities ranging from kingdoms ran by dictators all the way to governments ran by presidents, we are seeing men in power determine their own country's conditions for peace in order to to maintain the sovereignty of these countries and kingdoms. As kingdoms threaten to take over other sovereign kingdoms, the world is watching to see who will choose war and who will cower to accept the requirements for peace.  At first thoug

Seit meiner Kindheit spiele ich American Football und habe, solange ich mich erinnern kann, gehört, dass es bei diesem Sport auf jeden Zentimeter ankommt. Allerdings habe ich die Bedeutung dieser Aussage erst wirklich verstanden, als ich auf die High School und später aufs College kam. Oftmals werden großartige Trainer aufgrund ihrer hohen Ansprüche und ihrer geringen Fehlertoleranz als Tyrannen angesehen. Der einfache Grund für ihr Verhalten ist jedoch, dass sie das Endergeb

Growing up playing American Football, as young as I can remember I have heard that the sport was a game of inches. However, I never truly realized the importance of this statement until I got to high school and college.  Oftentimes, great coaches can be viewed as tyrants because of their high standards and little tolerance for error. However, the simple reason for their behavior is that they see the end result and how slight deviations may put that end result at risk. A matte

As a child during the holiday season, I would stay up all night wondering what I would be getting for Christmas. As I got older and began to have kids of my own, my thoughts transitioned a bit deeper into what gifts would be the most meaningful and not thrown to the side the week after. Statistics show that most Americans venture beyond their financial capabilities in order to purchase the perfect gift for their children or spouses. In fact, almost 50% percent of all America

A few weeks ago, for the first time in my young adult life I had the opportunity to go camping. It never dawned on me that people actually choose to sleep outside for fun. I've always had a great time staying in the house watching Netflix. Nevertheless, my brother-in-law invited me to his church to attend a weekend of camping and worship. I must be honest, I was a little reluctant at first considering my introduction into the Slavic community wasn't the best. However, after a

A few years ago, God told me to part ways with the areas in my life where I was compromising in my relationship with Him. One of these areas was my relationships with others, including with some of the people I called friends and even some of the people I considered to be my family. The truth is that if we are complacent with relationships or positions that devalue our intimacy with God, we are simply not in love with Him as much as we think. 4 You [are like] unfaithful wives

Several years ago before I became a teenager, I was talking to a man after a Wednesday evening service. He was telling me about his former professional football and boxing career. I was amazed. He knew so much about football and boxing that I was convinced that he had actually participated in the two sports himself. Overwhelmed with the excitement of meeting a now retired athlete, I rushed to share the news with my sister. Fortunately, she slapped me back into reality very qu

Growing up, success was something that I'd always strived for. After years of listening to podcasts and interviews of some of the most accomplished people of society, there was one philosophy they seemed to all share. A majority of society's most accomplished individuals believe that the chances of your success increase or decrease significantly based on the individuals you surrounded yourself with. I believed this with all of my heart and started to reconstruct my life accor

In the year 2020, a majority of the people on the planet were forced to shelter in place. I had no idea what this meant. It seemed as though some government had created a virus and now all of us were being punished because of it. In many countries and states, residents were forced inside of their homes and under a strict curfew. The only people who could leave their homes without being interrogated in most cases were essential workers. At the time, I was in Florida training h

After the death of Billy Graham several years ago, I was left asking myself this question. I remember looking at his life and dedication to God and questioning what my faith actually meant to me. I knew that Jesus died on the Cross for our sins, but what actual change in my life had I experienced? I was convicted seeing how much Billy Graham loved God and devoted himself to Him and I knew that I had not truly given my entire life to God but rather simply set aside an hour for

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a high school football game with my brother. It was the first time my brother and I sat in the stands to watch a team we had both played for. The game in itself was not very entertaining, considering that the only time the score was even close was before the game actually started. However, it was a great experience to see our old team take the field and to exaggerate with each other on how much better we were when we once played. N

I don't have a ton of memories from high school. I've moved on for the most part so any success or failures don't consume any real-estate in my mind. However, the first day of practice as a freshman going for the starting quarterback position on the Varsity team I'll never forget. I remember showing up and being surrounded by college coaches from almost every major university I could think of. As you can assume, they were not there for me but rather for our superstar defensiv

Growing up, I don't recall experiencing many fights with my siblings. There was such an age gap between us that they normally treated me...

When I was in high school, my family and I made the decision to transfer me to another school for a better chance of achieving athletic...

Years of prison passed. We were very hungry for food, for love. Nobody ever smiled, helped us or spoke nice words. We were hungry for the...

Over the last handful of years, I’ve found myself learning a lot about the incarceration system. From prison ministry and also working at...

Growing up, I knew I was destined for great success. Even before I could properly hold a football, I knew that this was my destiny. It...

A few weeks ago, I made a late night trip to Walmart. I typically steer clear of Walmart because they're always packed and a simple...

Growing up, I had very serious aspirations of playing professional football. It was something I had dreamed of doing since I was a kid. I...