Christian Living Magazine July August 2026

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July / August 2026

CELEBRATING OUR 13TH YEAR!

GUIDELIGHT Shining on disabilities

HAPPY 250TH

America!

Independence Day … & Christmas

‘THE APPLE

of God’s eye’ Perspectives on antisemitism

AI AND YOUR

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Contents July / August 2026

“Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead. Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.”

FEATURES

— Joel 2:13

COLUMNS

BRIEFS:

COVER STORY

Volume 15 | Number 4

Bash ‘26: music, art, skating & faith 7 Emergency training 7 available for churches

Encouraging Words: Ethics and sociology God’s Great Earth: The Bucket Ministry

6 10 12

History, Culture & Faith: Independence Day & Christmas

Calibration: God makes adjustments

25

Ken Lewis & FCA: Running for a prize

26 The Renegade Psychiatrist:

Heart2Heal Clinic: A different approach

28 Digging Deep:

A world of scams: Listen for the niggle

30 Real Man’s Toolbox:

“I Get To!”®: Control the controllables

18

Answered prayers

20

Countering antisemitism

24

No perfection necessary

27

IN EACH EDITION DEPARTMENTS Guidelight:

Shining on disabilities

Publisher’s Corner: Unite the body

4 Understanding Relationships:

A New Testament Priest

7

16 Bible Blanks:

PUBLISHER

Sandy Jones • 208-703-7860

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Gaye Bunderson

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COVER PHOTO Provided by Justin Reimer

CONTRIBUTORS Larry Banta, Steve Bertel, Daniel Bobinski, Rick Chromey, Tom Claycomb III, Roxanne Drury, Joan Endicott, Doug Hanson, Leo Hellyer, Doug McGarrah, Gary Moore, Mark Naito, and Bethany Riehl

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Christian Living is committed to encouraging and instructing individuals in their daily lives by presenting stories of people in the Treasure Valley who are living on a foundation of faith in Jesus Christ and who serve as uplifting examples to others. Views expressed in Christian Living do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Every effort has been made by Christian Living to insure accuracy of the publication contents. However, we do not guarantee the accuracy of all information nor the absence of errors and omissions; hence, no responsibility can be or is assumed.

All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2026 by Christian Living Ministries Inc.

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Christian Living | July / August 2026 3

PUBLISHER’S Corner

Unity an essential part of CLM’s ministry

I honestly had no clue what to expect as my sister As many of our regular readers are aware, I’ve and I drove into downtown Boise that evening; I been rather tied up with personal matters the past just knew we were both eagerly anticipating what2+ years. God has been so good to our ministry as ever it was Dean was going to say.

I had my hands full taking care of my hubby, and I won’t reiterate everything Dean said that honestly just maintaining in so many areas in our evening; you can see or hear many of his presentalives. I’m finding my stride, and life is feeling more tions by searching his name, Dean Braxton, on and more normal each day.

YouTube, but one thing he said struck me with As my routine has opened up, I’ve started attendsuch force I’m still hearing it loud and clear as I’m ing some meetings and functions again. Back to writing this in mid-June. So much so that I actually church, and able to put in more hours on my conwent back to the video from that evening so that I tinuing education materials for both our ministry as could quote it directly. well as for the chaplaincy school I attend.

He was talking about the number of his own In some ways it reminds me of the early days as family members he saw in heaven and stated that we started out in this ministry, when I did a study he’s often asked if he saw any family members on the Prayer of Jabez, where in 1 Chronicles 4:10 there he’d wondered about, and as he answered NIV it says: Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, that question he ended it with this: Sandy Jones “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my “It’s awful hard for someone you’re praying for to territory! Let your hand be with me...” And God go to hell. God wants them more than you do. He granted his request. will do everything He can to get them there.”

Once again I feel God leading me, and showing me where and What an epiphany moment that was for me!!! We all have friends, how He wants me to grow. family members, and loved ones we worry, stew about, and pray On March 27, a gentleman by the name of Dean Braxton was for, and then question God because we think our prayers aren’t speaking at the Biblical Studies Center down by Boise State Unibeing answered. versity. In 2006 Dean had no heartbeat, nor did he breathe for one “God wants them more than you do. He will do EVERYTHING hour and 45 minutes, after he developed sepsis following a kidney He can to get them there.” stone procedure. During that time There it is – “God wants them Dean says he went to heaven. When “Pursuing the unity of the church more than you do.” people question this he is quick to And then I heard one of my own does not mean that we should stop say: “It’s not about if I died, the docfavorite lines playing in the back of tors proved that. It’s about where I caring about theology. But it does mean my head: “In God’s perfect time.” went when I died.”

Just like sharing the gospel – that our love of theology should never I’ll be honest, having just lost my sometimes you sow; sometimes you Steve in January I was curious about exceed our love of real people, and reap; sometimes you harvest – it’s any insight Dean might have that would make me feel closer to knowtherefore we must learn to love people ALL up to God. So often I make it harder than it ing my Steve made it (before you amid our theological disagreements.” has to be, because I count on me think I’ve lost my faith, please underdoing something instead of relying stand there is another story here for —Gavin Ortlund on God. another time – my faith is rock solid).

By Sandy Jones

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This reminds me of a conversation I had with our pastor last winter where we were talking about ministry, and the many facets of being genuine and faithful to what God has called us to do. He recommended that I read the book, “Finding the Right Hills to Die On: The Case for Theological Triage” by Gavin Ortlund.

I did order the book, but I also downloaded the audio book. I like to listen to the audio book and follow up with the written words.

In the very first chapter Ortlund is talking about the unity of the church. Especially intriguing to me because from the very beginning of Christian Living Magazine I’ve known that part of our calling is to “unite the Body of Christ across denominational lines.”

Quickly Ortlund got my attention with these two quotes: “If we have peace with God, we have peace with each other. Our unity is so important that Jesus gave His blood for it.”

And later in that same chapter stating: “Pursuing the unity of the church does not mean that we should stop caring about theology. But it does mean that our love of theology should never exceed our love of real people, and therefore we must learn to love people amid our theological disagreements.”

One might take issue with the first quote – Christ gave His blood so that none should perish; however, we need to remember Christ also gave us two new commandments: Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

So perhaps in fulfilling His second command, Christ actually did give His blood, in part, for our unity.

The second quote, though, I really had to think about in today’s polarized atmosphere; all too often it’s not just theology that we let divide us, but politics, and other emotionally charged topics. Sometimes what comes out of my own mouth surprises and disappoints me. As a mother, grandmother, sister and friend, I know how my own heart feels when I see or hear division happening. I can’t even begin to imagine how God’s heart must break when His children are so divided. I keep trying to remind myself that I am commanded by Jesus to “love my neighbor,” ALL of my neighbors, as myself, not just the ones I like and agree with.

As we celebrate the United States of America’s 250th birthday this summer, I hope and pray that we will soon once again be a united nation under God. Until next time…

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Christian Living | July / August 2026 5

ENCOURAGING Words

Worldview clarity: ethics and sociology

By Daniel Bobinski

This is the third installment in my series on the biblical worldview. So far we’ve covered Theology (Who is your God?), Psychology (Who are you?), Biology (Where did you come from?), and Philosophy (What is real?). In this issue we tackle the next two worldview topics: Ethics and Sociology. In practical terms, we’re asking how we determine what is right and wrong, and how we should organize society.

The Ethics Question: How Do We Determine Right and Wrong?

The Sociology Question: How Should We Organize Society?

Once we know what is right and wrong, the next question is how we should structure society. The biblical answer is both elegant and countercultural.

By studying the Bible, we can find three God-ordained social institutions, each with its own role and its own limits: the family, the church, and the state.

The family is at the center of a biblical worldview. Genesis 2:24 establishes marriage between one man and one woman. In other words, long before governments existed, God created the family.

Deuteronomy is one of several books telling us that parents bear the primary responsibility for raising and educating their children.

When families are healthy, communities tend to be healthy. When families break down, communities

Think about a conversation between two people.

Someone proposes a policy to address an issue, but the second person calls it unjust. On the other hand, Daniel Bobinski let’s say a person behaves badly and everyone agrees that what he did was wrong.

Who sets the standards? After all, people in different parts of the follow suit. world will take differing views on many matters.

After the family comes the church. Churches are not to be soTo a Bible-believing person, the answer is clear: God sets the stancial clubs or political organizations. They are to be a community dard because God IS the standard. Right and wrong are not cultural of believers called to worship God, grow in faith together, bear preferences, evolutionary adaptations, or majority votes; they are one another’s burdens, and bear witness to the world. The second rooted in the unchanging character of God Himself. Therefore, chapter of the Book of Acts gives us a vivid picture of this, and the early church’s impact on the surrounding culture was nothing short because God does not change, morality does not change, either. of remarkable.

The term for this is ethical absolutism. It’s the belief that right Another way to view this is that the church is to provide for the and wrong are objectively real, unchanging, and not determined by family what it cannot provide for itself. an individual or a culture. In the Bible, ethics are revealed by God The third entity is the state, which God ordains to maintain order, through both general and special revelation. promote justice, and restrain evil (see Romans 13:1-7). The state’s General revelation means that God has written a basic moral law role, however, is supposed to be limited. It exists to serve its people, on every human heart. Romans 2:14-15 explains that even people not to replace the family, to absorb the church, or to become an end who have never read Scripture demonstrate a knowledge of right in itself. and wrong by nature, their consciences either accusing or excusing Contrast this view with secular humanism, which elevates the state them. This is why virtually every culture in history has recognized to the primary social institution. And Marxism goes a step further, that murder, theft, and lying are wrong. It’s a moral law that is seeking to eliminate the traditional family and religion altogether, universal. replacing both with the collective.

Special revelation is found in God’s written Word. Scripture gives us more complete and authoritative guidance than moral instinct Why Unified Thinking Matters alone can provide. Jesus summarized the whole of God’s ethics in Ethics and sociology are connected topics. One’s ethical frametwo commands: love God with everything you have, and love your work determines one’s sociological framework. If right and wrong neighbor as yourself. are relative, then family structure is relative. And if no God-ordained Unfortunately, people who don’t like ethical absolutism are dissocial order exists, any arrangement is valid. Without a biblical carding the biblical worldview. worldview, pull the ethical thread and the social fabric unravels with For example, people who hold that ethics should evolve with culit. ture are aligning with secular humanism. The term is moral relativChristians who absorb a relativistic ethic from their surroundism – the idea that right and wrong are determined by the individual ing culture while claiming a biblical worldview will find those two or the group. positions pulling in opposite directions. It’s an area for caution: the Moral relativism collapses under its own weight. If morality is reladivisions will show up in every area of life, and a house divided will tive, then no one can say the Holocaust was objectively evil. It was not stand. simply one culture’s preference colliding with another’s.

God’s design for ethics and society is coherent, compassionate, and Marxist ethics are similarly unmoored. To Marxists (or neo-Marxproven. It was working in the first century, and it works today. ists), anything goes, so long as it advances their revolution. PostmodBy the way, if you missed earlier installments in this series, you can ernism has a similar disdain for standardized morals, seeing morality find them under the “columns” tab at the Christian Living Magaas a power structure imposed by those who dominate. zine website, https://www.christianlivingmag.com/columns. Just do a The thing for Christians to remember is that without God as an search for “worldview.” n unchanging reference point, no basis for moral judgment can exist. The strongest voice – or the strongest fist – wins. The biblical Daniel Bobinski, Th.D., serves as Education Director worldview is the only one that can say some things are genuinely, at the Biblical Studies Center in Boise, Idaho. Reach him at Daniel.Bobinski@BoiseBSC.org. objectively wrong.

6 July / August 2026 | Christian Living

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Bash ‘26: music, art, skating and faith

Bash 2026 is set for Labor Day, September 7, at Discovery Park, 2121 E. Lake Hazel Rd. in Meridian. The event is billed as a large-scale, youth, community outreach bringing together live music, skate culture, art, and faith. Last year, the event drew an estimated 500+ attendees, and organizers are expecting even more this year as the scope of the program continues to grow, according to Pastor Mario Guiza of Calvary Chapel Treasure Valley.

New elements for 2026 include live art installations, a skate competition, expanded youth activities, and a diverse music lineup featuring rap, hip-hop, indie, indie rock, and worship. One of the headline acts is Hopeful, an indie rock band from San Diego County known for pairing high-energy music with a message of hope for the next generation.

Beyond entertainment, the event centers on youth engagement and collaboration with local youth groups and organizations. A gospel message, youth-led mime skit, and personal testimonies will be shared throughout the day, offering a unique look at how faith-based outreach is intersecting with youth culture in the valley, Guiza said.

“With growing community partnerships, local businesses getting involved, and a strong volunteer base, Bash 2026 highlights a positive, grassroots effort focused on reaching The youth-centered event Bash 2026 will feature mimes, as young people where they are,” the pastor stated. “Also, we want to engage with and sup- well as bands, worship, and much more. (Photo provided by Bash 2026 organizers) port artists from the community by giving them a platform to share their music.”

For more information, contact mario@calvarytv.org. n

Emergency training available for churches Shamar Preparation and Training LLC, a company dedicated to supporting church safety and preparedness, has announced the launch of a free, interactive tool that enables pastors and church leaders to create a fully customized Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) for their congregations.

The online video-based tool guides church leaders through the process of developing a professional, actionable EOP, ensuring they are prepared for emergencies of any kind. The video features scenario-driven video, equipping churches with a practical framework for keeping their members safe, according to Ian McNett, CEO of Shamar Preparation and Training

BIBLE BLANKS by Steve Bertel Fill in each answer, one letter per square.

Then arrange the letters in the highlighted squares to reveal the name of …

A NEW TESTAMENT PRIEST

Shamar Preparation and Training also provides a video course designed to help churches train their security teams, combining expert guidance with real-world strategies. This more in-depth training is offered as a paid program.

McNett, founder of Shamar Preparation and Training, explained, “Shamar is a Hebrew verb meaning ‘to keep, guard, protect, or watch over.’ It’s a call to take action. We are called today to protect and serve those in our congregations. This tool equips church leaders to do exactly that.”

The tool is available at www.shamartraining.com. Church leaders can access it online and download their free custom EOP directly upon completion, according to McNett.n

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And the name of A NEW TESTAMENT PRIEST is…

CAIAPHAS (Matthew 26:57)

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Christian Living | July / August 2026 7

UNDERSTANDING Relationships

Grasping another’s perspective isn’t easy

one to the other two for perceiving life, storing our In our marriage relationships, one of the most experiences, making decisions, and connecting with difficult things we all deal with is understanding our others. How do we discover which sense we prefer? spouse’s perspective and how complex it is. They Dr. Wright says it’s our choice of words that gives it are so different – and that’s by design. I want to away. share some insights from H. Norman Wright that You may be an auditory oriented husband or wife. may help us as we grapple with our unique version You tend to depend upon spoken words for inforof this issue. mation and you use auditory words: That sounds Stop for a minute and look at your spouse. There’s good to me. Let’s talk about this again. I hear you something about them that you may not have come clear as a bell. Tell me a little more about it. As an to terms with. Something that you might have auditory man or woman, you want to hear about sensed, but not identified. You married someone from a different country. life. This is how you learn best. If you want to share “What are you talking about, ‘different country’? feelings, the auditory spouse will best understand if What do you mean? We were both born and raised you verbalize how you feel. in the United States. And so were our parents.”

If you’re visually oriented, you use your eyes to It’s true, you are similar. But you were raised in perceive the world. You relate to the world around Gary Moore different homes with different parents, siblings, and you in terms of how things look rather than how you experiences and, in effect, different cultures. You feel. This is how you learn best. When you imagine, you visualize, may eat the same type of foods, but they were prepared differently. and when you remember, you recall a picture. You experience life Your families have different customs, different rituals, different beliefs and values, and you each learned a different language. You even through your eyes. You use visual words such as: I see what you’re saying. That looks good to me. I’m not too clear on this right now. have a different dictionary. To have a successful marriage you’re That sheds a new light on the problem. Do you pick up my perspecgoing to have to learn about the other person’s culture. You’re going tive? And often you tend to withdraw and brood when upset rather to have to develop the flexibility to be comfortable with either set of customs, and above all, to learn your partner’s language so you can than talking through the problem. speak it.

If you’re a kinesthetically oriented individual, you tend to feel your It’s important that you learn not only to speak the same language way through your experiences. Your feelings sort both what you but also to make sure you mean the same thing with your words. experience inside as well as what comes at you from the outside, and Your experiences in life, your mindset, what you intend can give these feelings determine your decisions. A kinesthetic spouse uses meaning to your words. phrases such as these: I can’t get a handle on this. I’ve got a good Adding to that, Dr. Wright says that when a husband and wife are feeling about this project. Can you get in touch with what I’m saycommunicating there is more than one message. He says there are ing?

I don’t grasp what you’re trying to do. actually six messages, and this is where many of our problems arise.

As a feeling or kinesthetically oriented individual you are more First, you have something you want to get across to the other likely to be spontaneous than auditory or visual people. This trait person – what you mean. Perhaps you’ve thought about it, or you can be both positive and negative. On one hand, you’re free to crejust formulate it as you open your mouth. But it may not come out ate spur-of-the-moment fun activities. On the other hand, you may, the way you intended. So, the second message is what you actually say. Now, let’s turn to your spouse. The third message is what your for no apparent logical reason, change their minds and upset the spouse actually hears while filtering and processing the information schedule of a plan-in-advance spouse. through their perspective, which leads to the fourth message – what Mutually understanding and appreciating each other’s perspectives your spouse thinks he or she hears! is not automatic, and it’s real work. It has more facets than we realIf the communication stopped here, it wouldn’t be so complicated. ize. It’s a process – but stay with it. The rewards are unbelievable. n But the fifth message is what your spouse says about what you said.

Now it’s back in your lap, because the sixth message is what you Gary Moore served as associate pastor at Cloverdale Church of think your spouse said about what you said.

Discouraging? It can be. But it illustrates why so often communica- God for 15 years. He does couples’ coaching and leads couples’ tion is hard work and perspective is so important. We want the other workshops and retreats called MUM’s the Word. He has a weekly radio program – Life Point Plus – on KSPD 94.5FM at person not only to listen but also to understand what we mean.

Now let me compound the problem. Consider this... We have three 8:45 a.m. on Fridays. His website at www.mutualunderstanding. net has video teachings and other resources for couples. He may main senses: hearing, seeing, and feeling. According to Dr. Wright, these are part of our learning and communication styles. We prefer be contacted at glmoore113@gmail.com.

By Gary Moore

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GOD’S Great Earth

The Bucket Ministry: a clean water crusade

A native African holds a bucket from the U.S.-based Bucket Ministry. The bucket will provide filtrated water for drinking. The Bucket Ministry has provided clean, contaminant-free water for many, including residents of Kibera, an overpopulated slum in Nairobi, Kenya. (Photo by Jim Gentle)

By Tom Claycomb III

Editor’s note: In the Christian Living Magazine May/June issue, Tom Claycomb’s column was designated Part 1 due to a misunderstanding. It was actually the article in its entirety, so a Part 2 is not necessary. Below is a new column from him. Also, the column has undergone a name change from Exploring God’s Great Outdoors to God’s Great Earth to allow the author to explore a broader range of topics.

I was conducting some outdoor seminars at the GATCO (Great American Tool Co.) outdoor show in Texas in 2024. The promoter is a Christian so he allowed some Christian ministries to attend and have booths. Between seminars, I was walking the floor and saw a booth with members of The Bucket Ministry. They were a super group of individuals and told me their story.

CLM Publisher Sandy Jones did an article on The Bucket Ministry in the 2019 September/October issue and wrote an excellent article on its history and what it does. Since she covered the history, I’m going to talk about TBM from a different angle, but I will briefly cover its history for you new readers.

Savannah, the teenage daughter of TBM founder Chris Beth, signed up for a mission trip to Brazil. Chris went along to protect his daughter. Little did he know that decision would change his life.

Soon after hitting Brazil, they jumped on a riverboat for an 18hour ride to a village deep in the Amazon. One day his pastor told Chris that they needed to visit a family across the river and that Chris would be leading the visit. At the time, Chris was a new and inexperienced Christian.

Due to the heat and humidity, the woman they visited asked Chris if he’d like a drink of water. “Yes,” he answered, thinking that she’d grab a bottle out of the fridge (which she didn’t have). Instead, she grabbed a broken cup out of the kitchen, walked over and dipped some muddy, polluted water out of the Amazon River and handed it to him.

That started a long journey for Chris in discovering all of the diseases that the people suffered from due to drinking unclean water.

Upon returning home, he started studying what kind of filtration systems he could come up with. After much work, he met with representatives from Sawyer Products, which makes water filters.

They came up with a bucket filtration system. The natives can dip a bucketful of contaminated water out of the river, set it on their counter, and due to the filter attached to the bucket, they have clean water for their family.

While talking to the group in Texas, members of The Bucket Ministry invited me to go to Africa on a trip to see it all in person. When they found out that I lived in the Boise area, they said, “Great. We have a chapter up there. Jim Gentle leads it. We’ll have him meet you for lunch when you get back home.”

I soon was meeting Jim (who is a great guy) for lunch. He too tried to sign me up for a trip. Then later, while attending the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Convention, I got to meet Chris Beth at The Bucket Ministry booth and he told me his story. Then I received an invitation to attend a Bucket Ministry fundraising dinner in Meridian which my wife and I attended.

I knew they were a super cool group of people, but after hearing an update of where they’re now at and what they are doing, I was blown away. Here are some facts from 2024, realizing that they have grown even more since 2024: • TBM is in 15 countries • It has served 41,270 families • More than 151,000 people have gotten clean drinking water

No one walks alone . w w w. p a t h p re g . o rg

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I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface when After the dinner I met Cory Akin, who is a self-described numbers geek. He’s developed an unbelievit comes to The Bucket Ministry. Suffice it to say, able tracking system showing all the families The they’re an awesome group of people doing amazBucket Ministry is ministering to in the world. He ing work – saving souls and affecting thousands of tracks visits, salvations, and discipleship classes. people. And all because one man did what God told Let’s use the slums in Kibera, Kenya as an exhim to do. ample. There are more people in that 3- by 3-mile Facts to consider: slum than in Boise/Meridian combined. The Bucket • In the U.S. 340 million of us have access to Ministry members canvased Kibera to map out clean drinking water. Worldwide, 740 million houses and how many people lived in each house. people don’t.

They then held seminars demonstrating the filters Tom Claycomb III • Kibera only has 78 latrines for over 400,000 and how to clean them. Like any filtration system, people. the dirtier the water, the shorter the shelf life, but • The water the people of Kibera drink carries all manner of they have a method to clean the filter and estimate that a system will bacteria and parasites, so much so that everyone is perpetually sick. last for 20 years.

In the past they were lucky if a doctor visited and gave them some They give the filters out for free, but the recipients have to allow three follow-up visits in the next six weeks. TBM teams up with local medicine to help them temporarily, only to be re-contaminated churches and missionaries to make the visits. This allows for entering again shortly thereafter. The woman who dipped the muddy water out of the Amazon and handed it to Chris, thinking that was norevery house three times, with the end goal of being able to share the mal, is the norm in a large part of the world. gospel during the course of the visits. This allows them to even be TBM is doing an amazing work. They’re not a group of flamboyable to enter Muslim homes. ant promoters. They’re a group of nose-to-the-grindstone men and TBM also offers discipleship classes and kids clubs. women trying to fulfill God’s call on their lives. Check them out at: They first entered Kibera in 2017. For four months, 60 people • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18iIzd1t3iQ canvassed the area before they even started handing out filters.

There were 81,777 homes with a population of 408,978 people. And • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JLAxaMSIbE • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGoRjph2zz8 n don’t envision quaint little cottages with a white picket fence. Nope.

The houses are 8 foot by 8 foot mud shacks with a tin roof. The living conditions are deplorable by any standards.

For more information, go to www.thebucketministry.org.

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Christian Living | July / August 2026 11

HISTORY, Culture and Faith

The Christmas and Independence Day link

By Dr. Rick Chromey

The Israelites gathered twelve stones from the Jordan, then Joshua said...

“When your children ask their fathers and grandfathers in the future, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them the story of God’s deliverance…”

– Joshua 4:20-22 America has reached a milestone in world history.

On July 4, 2026, the nation will celebrate its 250th birthday with fireworks, parades, speeches, and patriotic exhibitions. Politicians will glorify our past. Historians will recite the story. And journalists will document the memorials.

However, anniversaries are more than celebration. They’re also for reflection.

In Joshua 4, God commanded Israel to build a twelve-stone monument. These rocks weren’t for the current generation but for future ones, as a reminder to recount God’s miracles of deliverance, provision, and protection. Ready for the moment a child asked, “What do these stones mean?”

America’s 250th anniversary should provoke the same question.

But not about stones in a stream. Rather, about our “holy days” (or holidays). Why do we celebrate? What do they mean? And we better get the story right.

Especially Independence Day and Christmas.

We need to know why a former founding generation of Americans – who experienced their own miraculous deliverance from British tyranny – believed America’s liberty was “indissolubly linked” to the Christian foundations that produced it.

It’s an urgent question for modern America.

In a study of historic world empires, historian Samuel Arbesman discovered the average empire survives about 220 years.1 The United States surpassed that mark in 1996, the same year Americans embraced satellite television, email, Fox News, and the internet.

By 2000, cultural research revealed “social anxiety” as Americans’ greatest concern due to the nation’s moral/ethical/religious decline, 24/7 news/internet, violent media, mistrust of institutions, hyperconsumerism, and sexualization of kids.

Arbesman noted that empires didn’t collapse from a loss of military strength, but rather their inability to remember. They forgot who they were, what they believed, and why they existed. And eventually they forgot what made them free.

That’s why this conversation matters. The issue isn’t whether America will celebrate its 250th birthday.

The real concern is whether America will exist on July 4, 2076.

Christmas in July

Today “Christmas in July” is a marketing gimmick disconnected from the real Christmas. Yet for early American generations, there was a profound relationship between Christmas and Independence Day. Not because of Christmas trees and fireworks, Santa Claus and Uncle Sam, or festive foods unique to their celebrations.

Nineteenth-century generations saw a connection because they believed the liberty of Independence Day ultimately rested upon truths proclaimed on Christmas.

Few Americans expressed that conviction more clearly than John Quincy Adams. On July 4, 1837, speaking in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Adams reflected on Independence Day with a question to his audience: “Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day?” 2 That sentence is shocking.

Today, Americans consider Christmas and Independence Day entirely unrelated holidays. Yet Adams’s audience understood his meaning exactly. Then he asked a second question: “Is it not that, in

12 July / August 2026 | Christian Living

the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior?” 3 Not loosely connected. Not vaguely associated.

Indissolubly linked.

Adams believed America’s experiment in liberty was not born in a philosophical vacuum. The Declaration’s affirmation that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights rested upon a worldview shaped by Christianity.

To Adams and early America, Christmas announced a revolutionary message for mankind. Christmas is when Jesus entered history on a mission to liberate humanity. God wasn’t distant, as the deists of their day believed. He was actively involved. Why? To show our value and to reveal the “right to life, liberty, and happiness” was from God, and not kings, governments, or democratic majorities.

Independence Day then celebrated the political application of this theological truth.

Whether one agrees with Adams is beside the point. This belief was common among the early American generations. The Lewis and Clark Expedition, for example, celebrated only two holidays religiously: Christmas and Independence Day.

Religion, virtue, liberty

In fact, modern readers might be surprised by how frequently our Founders linked Christianity’s themes of virtue and liberty.

John Adams wrote, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.” 4 A few years later he was blunter: “Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company: I mean hell.” 5 Benjamin Rush, one of the most influential and under-appreciated Founding Fathers, argued constitutional (republican) government could only survive if Americans possessed moral character, through biblical education: “The only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government is the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible.” 6 Patrick Henry preached a similar theme, describing “virtue, morality, and religion” as “the great pillars of all government and of social life...[and] the armor...that renders us invincible.” 7 Noah Webster – the schoolmaster, lexicographer, and author whose textbooks educated generations of Americans – penned: “The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles. This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our free constitutions of government.” 8 Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story echoed: “I verily believe that Christianity is necessary to support a civil society.” 9 Notice the pattern.

These Founders differed in theology, temperament, politics, and personality. Yet they repeatedly returned to the same essential idea.

Liberty requires virtue.

Virtue requires moral formation.

Moral formation depends upon religious truth (namely Christianity).

Again, whether modern Americans agree with their linking moral virtue with Christianity doesn’t matter. The historical question is whether THEY BELIEVED IT. And that answer is overwhelmingly YES.

The spirit of religion and freedom

Perhaps the strongest witness to this linkage of liberty and virtue wasn’t even an American.

When Alexis de Tocqueville arrived in the United States in 1831, he came to study prisons. What this Frenchman discovered instead was America. More specifically, he discovered the remarkable “indissoluble link” between Independence Day (liberty) and Christmas (religion).

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This is why John Quincy Adams could speak of In France, religion and freedom often appeared as enemies. The French Revolution had produced Christmas and Independence Day as being “indisfierce conflict between church and state. Tocqueville solubly linked.” The connection was not primarily expected to find similar battles in America, and had theological. It was civilizational. he arrived in 2026, he would have.

Christmas represented the source.

But he found the opposite: “Upon my arrival in Independence Day represented the fruit. the United States, the religious aspect of the country Christmas proclaimed eternal truths about God, was the first thing that struck my attention.” The human dignity, morality, accountability, and longer Tocqueville stayed, the more convinced he purpose. Independence Day celebrated a society became that Christianity exercised enormous influattempting to build political institutions upon those ence upon American society. He noted in his hometruths. land “the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom” The real question facing America today is not Dr. Rick Chromey whether were oppositional and combative, but in America every Founder was an orthodox Christian, 10 “were intimately united.” Tocqueville concluded nor if America has perfectly applied these professed that, “Religion in America must be regarded as the foremost of the ideals. Clearly we have not. The same Daniel Webster who praised political institutions of that country.” the Pilgrims in an 1820 speech also condemned the slave trade as Notice what Tocqueville did not say. “odious and abominable.” 13 He didn’t say America had a national church. He didn’t suggest Lady Liberty has often failed to reach her highest virtues. clergy controlled government. He didn’t claim every American was But does modern, secular America even care to participate in that a sincere Christian. vision?

Instead, he observed how religious belief helped cultivate the moral Joshua’s memorial stones existed because memory is fragile. habits necessary for self-government.

A generation that forgets its story eventually forgets itself. And with Americans governed themselves (through republican-democracy) a half century of secular revisionism contributing to the amnesia, because they FIRST governed themselves. 12 America stands at the crossroads.

That distinction matters.

Can Americans celebrate Christmas without Christ and IndepenThe Founders feared concentrated power. They believed freedom dence Day without the moral foundations of independence? Can we could survive only if citizens possessed enough virtue to restrain enjoy the fruits while neglecting the roots? Can we inherit blessings themselves without constant governmental coercion. Religion without remembering their origins? supplied that restraint. Christianity served that virtue. And virtue sustained liberty.

Continued on page 15

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Christian Living | July / August 2026 13

BIBLICALLY Responsible Investing

Financial advising lessons and … a yellow bird

describes something that is very easy to see. Argh!

You think it would be simple, easy to do. I mean As a financial advisor, and new birder, I see really, how hard could it be? All you have to do is similarities between investing and birding. The most look in the trees, look in the water, or look in the obvious is why. Why are you investing? What are sky. You’ll see one, and then you won’t. You’ll hear you hoping to accomplish? What are you investing one, and then you won’t. You’ll see one a long way in? Finding Target Species and building a Life List off but it is difficult to identify. requires a goal and a strategy, and you should apWhat am I talking about? Birding! It is the chalproach investing the same way. lenge of finding and identifying birds, whether they One consideration is your goals. Are you saving are in the trees, in the water, or in the sky. Starting for retirement? If so, are you using a traditional the hobby of birding is easy. Get a pair of binocuIRA or a Roth? What’s the difference, and what is lars, walk outside, and look and listen. Soon enough the best strategy? A second consideration is your you see one bird, then another. Then the fun starts. values. Are you happy to invest in any company that What kind of bird was it? Snapping a picture with makes money? Do you want to profit from pornogyour cell phone and searching on the internet is raphy, abortion, or gambling? Biblically Responsihelpful for identifying. ble Investing is the term used to screen investments But as you look for more birds, you want to start before investing, to make sure you are investing Doug Hanson keeping a list. In birding terminology, it’s called a according to your values.

Life List. Smartphone apps like Merlin Bird ID and Hopefully, by the time you read this I will have seen eBird simplify keeping a Life List, but then the real a Northern Yellow Warbler. But if not, my search will continue. It is my fun starts. There are birds you regularly see, then current Target Species and I’m refining my strategy to find one. you learn about other birds that you’d like to Finding a little yellow bird is one level of importance, but see, but they aren’t easy to find. You then go investing for your future is a much higher level. birding specifically to find a particular bird.

Make sure you know your goals for investIn birding terminology, it is called Target Species. ing. Make sure you follow a strategy – espeTo shorten the search, you look online for where and cially one that matches your values – to reach your goals. when you might see the bird, or you connect with an exExcuse me now, I need to go find that little yellow bird! n perienced birder who may give you some hints or personally lead you to the most likely places. Then, success! You see the Doug Hanson is a financial advisor with Christian bird and you add a new bird to your Life List. Then it’s time Wealth Management in Boise, Idaho, providing biblically to find the next bird! responsible investment advice to Christians. For more informaI went looking for a Northern Yellow Warbler recently. I tion, visit investforthegloryofgod.com or contact him at doug@ know they are in Idaho now, as I hear them but have yet to see one. christianwm.com or (208) 697-3699.

What is frustrating is they are a ubiquitous bird in the spring and summer in Idaho, so why haven’t I seen one? Part of the challenge is Investment advisory services provided by Creative Financial Designs, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Securities are ofthey favor brush habitats near water, often foraging in shrubs low to fered through CFD Investments, Inc., Member FINRA & SIPC. the ground. And that is when I hear them, when there is a forest of 2704 South Goyer Road, Kokomo, IN 46902, (795) 453-9600. bushes in front of me. You would think that a yellow bird would be Christian Wealth Management LLC is not affiliated with CFD easy to find in the greenery of bushes, but alas, the Northern Yellow Investments, Inc. or Creative Financial Designs, Inc. Warbler is small. To add salt to the wound, the internet says the Image: Northern Yellow Warbler, Mikeschafer.wildlife; Wikimedia Commons Northern Yellow Warbler is conspicuous, which is an adjective that

By Doug Hanson

14 July / August 2026 | Christian Living

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Independence Day Link

Fellowship of Christian Businessmen

Continued from page 13

The last American generation?

It’s why the Jordan stones still ask the question: What do these stones mean?

The generation that crossed the Jordan knew exactly what God had done. Their children did not. Their grandchildren knew even less.

Without intentional remembrance, the story eventually disappears.

America faces a similar challenge on its 250th birthday.

The question is not whether we still possess the symbols of our national story. We do. The flags still wave. The fireworks still explode.

The patriotic songs still play. The holidays remain on the calendar.

But do we understand what they mean?

That is why I write this column. We must tell the truth about our past, interpret history honestly, and navigate culture wisely.

Can America remain free while abandoning the Christian virtues that helped create and sustain its liberty? The secularist says yes.

Founder Jedidiah Morse answered no: “To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys… Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government—and all the blessings which flow from them—must fall with them.” 14 As America celebrates 250 years in 2026, our children are asking what Independence Day means. How will we answer? With fireworks, barbecues, and flag-waving? Or with an understanding of the ideas, beliefs, sacrifices, and virtues that produced this nation?

Has our founding story become little more than a fable? Are the Declaration of Independence and Constitution becoming as neglected as the Bible itself? Can we still explain why generations of Americans believed liberty and virtue were inseparable?

The answers to those questions will determine whether future generations inherit merely the memory of America – or the reality of it.

America is divided, confused, and increasingly ignorant of its founding story.

Yet we cannot allow our generation to become the last American generation.

No empire lasts forever. America will fall someday. The question is whether it happens because we surrendered the very principles that made us free.

Like Paul Revere’s ride, it may feel like midnight.

Or perhaps, like the birth of Christ, a new dawn is just beginning. n Dr. Rick Chromey is a historian and theologian who speaks and writes on matters of religion, culture, and history. He’s also a Lewis and Clark historian for American Cruise Lines (Columbia and Snake Rivers). Rick and his wife Linda live in Star, ID. www.rickchromey.com.

SOURCES: 1. Samuel Arbesman (2011): The Life-Spans of Empires, Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, 44:3, 127-129 2. John Quincy Adams, An Oration Delivered Before the Inhabitants of the Town of Newburyport, at Their Request, on the Sixty-First Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1837 (Newburyport, MA: Charles Whipple, 1837), 48.

3. Adams, An Oration Delivered Before the Inhabitants of the Town of Newburyport, 48.

4. John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, June 28, 1813, in The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Andrew A. Lipscomb (Washington, DC: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1904), 13:292-294.

5. John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, April 19, 1817, in The Works of John Adams, ed. Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1856), 10:254.

6. Benjamin Rush, “A Defence of the Use of the Bible as a School Book,” in Essays, Literary, Moral & Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas & Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), 112.

7. Patrick Henry to Archibald Blair, January 8, 1799, in William Wirt Henry, ed., Patrick Henry: Life, Correspondence and Speeches (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1891), 2:592.

8. Noah Webster, History of the United States (New Haven, CT: Durrie and Peck, 1832), 300.

9. Joseph Story, March 24, 1801, in Life and Letters of Joseph Story, vol. 1 (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851), 92.

10 Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, vol. 1 (New York: George Adlard, 1839), 307.

11 Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 307.

12 Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 304.

13 Daniel Webster, A Discourse Delivered at Plymouth, December 22, 1820 (Boston: Wells and Lilly, 1821), 39-40.

14 Jedidiah Morse, A Sermon, Exhibiting the Present Dangers and Consequent Duties of the Citizens of the United States of America, Delivered at Charlestown, April 25, 1799, The Day of the National Fast (MA: Printed by Samuel Etheridge, 1799), 9.

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A church-based partnership

Guidelight a North Star fo

Eli Reimer speaks with an African child in Moshi, Tanzania. The Reimer family hiked a trail in the country to raise awareness for the cause of people with disabilities.

(Photo by Benjamin Edwards Photography)

By Gaye Bunderson “My wife Tamara and I were pursuing being missionaries in the

A young man named Eli Reimer made his mark on the world in 2013 when he climbed to Mount Everest Base Camp. Far from the first person to do so, his success nonetheless made him the first American with Down syndrome to achieve the goal.

“Eli is an impactful young man,” said Dan Waldeck, Director of Development for Guidelight, a non-profit that helps churches serve people with disabilities. Eli, now 29, is the son of Justin Reimer, who launched the organization in 2005 in Bend, Ore. under the name The Elisha Foundation in honor of Eli. A name change came about when the group was mistaken for a grant-giving organization. Still, Reimer wanted his son’s name included and, looking closely at the word Guidelight, one sees ELI in the middle of the alphabet mix.

Also, Guidelight denotes the group’s desire to be a guiding light for those with disabilities and their families.

Reimer said his launch of Guidelight was significantly affected by Eli’s birth.

16 July / August 2026 | Christian Living

former Soviet Union. Then, when Eli was 45 minutes old, the nurse told us he had Down syndrome and needed to be in the ICU.” After his birth and throughout the subsequent weeks, the couple thought, “We now have to focus on raising a child with a disability.”

So much for their missionary plans, they thought. But it was Reimer’s mom who put the best spin on the situation by saying, “Rather than going on a mission, God brought the mission to you.”

Around this time, Reimer said, two themes emerged.

“When we attended meetings of the National Down Syndrome Society, one thing that stood out was that there was no gospel message there; and many families with disabled children who did go to church were not feeling welcomed.”

Reimer stressed that the latter was not an intentional response on the part of any church, but it reinforced for him the need to open doors to churches where the disabled and their caretakers were given help and a hearty welcome.

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COVER STORY

or those with disabilities “We had to let go of the path we thought God had intended, and we were just discovering the path He was putting us on.”

One thing led to another, and in 2011-2012, the couple launched an outreach ministry for parents with children with disabilities in Ukraine. Stated Reimer: “God was redirecting our thinking. That missionary desire was always with us, and it never left us. God took us to Ukraine, and in 2016, we moved there full-time.”

They lived there until 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Reimer himself still visits the country and said he remains very involved there. He explained that he largely feels safe in the war-torn nation because, “I’m not in the trenches.”

It was from Ukraine that the couple launched their global ministry, as God opened doors into other countries. From that vantage point, they were more equipped, Reimer contended, to reach out beyond the borders of the U.S. When asked about why they wanted a specifically church-based ministry for helping the disabled and their families, Reimer replied: “It is our conviction that the Church is the greatest institution in the world to help foster potential for the best outcomes for transformative good.”

Waldeck got involved in Idaho in Guidelight in January of 2024.

Justin is a friend of his, and Waldeck’s motivation also includes the fact he and his wife had a daughter who died at 6 years 9 months of aplastic anemia, a condition in which bone marrow fails to produce enough new blood cells.

“When you go through something like that,” Waldeck said, “life looks a little different than you planned. Your expectations are upended; your hoped-for family life is challenged, turned inside out.”

Waldeck previously served as a Special Olympics coach, and his wife currently serves as Chair of the Special Education Department at Meridian High School. Of his present position as Director of Development for Guidelight, he said: “I’m the relationship guy, and I do whatever’s needed.”

Guidelight specializes in two areas: • Getting the local church involved in helping disabled people and their families, as stated, and: • Sponsoring free retreats that unite families and volunteers from churches for fun and relaxation, as well as informative seminars “A disability can be at the center of the home,” Waldeck said. In other words, everyone is absorbed by the disability and must devote time to the individual who is experiencing it.

“We want the gospel to be the center of the home,” he stated.

One in five families in the U.S. can be affected by caring for a member with a disability, according to Waldeck, who also explained that surveys indicate that in 95% of churches, people with disabilities and their families are welcome, but only 25% of the churches have ministries directed to help them. He said, “We want to engage the church to walk alongside the family. It’s not Plan B for their lives; it’s Plan A.” Guidelight holds to the unique, faithful point of view that nothing happens by accident. In defending that position, Waldeck cited John 9: And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

And his disciples asked him, saying, “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

“I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Said Waldeck, “God has designed us – He’s intentional. The weak are indispensable in Scripture.” He explained that in the Bible weak-

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ness is portrayed not as a failure but as a position that allows God’s strength to be perfected in a person. Scripture teaches that when humans are weak, frail, or weary, God provides strength, making believers actually strong through reliance on Him. Examples include 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, which reads in part, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong”; and Isaiah 40:28-31, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”

Another Scripture that could also be included is: God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. – 2 Corinthians 1:27 Of Guidelight’s efforts on behalf of the people with disabilities, Waldeck stated, “We want to give them biblical hope and practical help.” The group wants to aid their daily needs for respite, friends, and to be known and loved.

“We’re ALL made in the image of God, and people with disabilities have a place and they have something to give to the body. Most churches don’t think they have the bandwidth [to help the disabled]; for us, it’s about changing the disability mindset. It doesn’t have to be a separate ministry – it can be, but it doesn’t have to be.”

Waldeck talked about the agelessness of disabilities, and as an example used “the aging population with its memory issues.”

Disabilities that Guidelight has engaged with have included autism, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy. Guidelight does not limit the scope of its ministry: “We are ready and willing to engage all of them. It is God’s design that makes these people unique. God is doing something with all of us, if we let Him. His plans are perfect, and we can be a good vessel of His work.”

It is a global ministry and utilizes eight different languages in its work. “We want to introduce Jesus to as many as we can,” Waldeck said, then listing countries and areas such as Madagascar, Slovenia, northern Africa, Columbia, and more.

An estimated 1.3 billion people – or about 16% of the global population – are affected by a serious disability, according to a 2023 study by the World Health Organization. “It is the biggest unreached population in the world,” Waldeck said, “and too many of them are unchurched.”

While he admitted that no one is promised an earthly healing, he used Eli as an example of what people with a disability can do. “He has impacted tens of thousands [with his climbing achievement],” Waldeck stated.

He said that, too frequently, when it comes to interactions with the disabled, people look the other way rather than saying and asking, “We care. Where can we help?”

As for himself, he said the coach in him wants to empower them.

His work with Guidelight is a major channel to that empowerment, and the organization hopes to utilize more and more churches to reach its goals. “Churches are a means of reaching out and teaching about care for the disabled and their families.”

Both the disabled and the churches may present a challenge to overcome in that effort. For the disabled, though it is rare, some reject Guidelight’s ideas, opting for a sense of independence and an “I can do this” attitude. Waldeck said that’s fine, but he wants them to know, “Jesus is walking with you, and you can let people walk with you too.”

Guidelight calls and emails churches to tell them, “This is what we do.” But some are not ready yet.

Now is a good time to get ready. n For more information, go to www.theguidelight.org or contact Dan Waldeck at dan@theguidelight.org.

Christian Living | July / August 2026 17

“I Get To!”® Control my controllables This special series is for all of you young at heart to enjoy and share with the young ones in your life. ~ Joan

By Joan Endicott

Looking out at the far-off mountain, Joy let out a slow sigh, almost whispering to GiGi. “Do you ever get tired of things changing?”

Princess, the little pup lying at their feet, let out her own sleepy sigh— content to simply be.

“Change is hard,” said GiGi softly, “and it can make things feel shaky.”

“I hate when things feel shaky. Why can’t things just stop…changing?”

Joy asked quietly.

GiGi leaned her cheek against Joy’s soft hair.

“Change makes me sad too sometimes,” GiGi said. “When it’s a hard change, it’s completely normal for your heart to AI generated art submitted by Joan Endicott feel heavy. It’s normal to miss the way things used to be. When we love things deeply, it hurts when they change or go away. Feeling sad simply shows you care. That’s when you get to give yourself extra kindness.”

Joy twirled a piece of lavender between her fingers, enjoying its fresh fragrance. “It’s so hard when people change,” she whispered.

GiGi rubbed Joy’s back gently. “Oh yes, my love. It sure can be.”

Joy looked up. “Why do they do it?”

“Well, life changes us all,” said GiGi. “It shapes us the way the wind shapes the trees. But sometimes, it’s also that we didn’t really know someone very well in the first place... and it just seems like they changed.”

Joy rested her head against GiGi’s arm, watching a butterfly flutter toward the lavender.

“And sometimes,” GiGi continued, her voice very gentle, “people act differently because they are carrying something heavy. I know there are times I have seemed distant and quiet to others—even those I loved deeply.”

“You?” asked Joy in surprise.

“Oh, yes,” GiGi nodded. “When I was going through hard things.

Like if I haven’t felt well, or when I felt lonely for someone special, or when a loved one passed away. A hurting heart makes us act differently.”

Joy looked down at the little dog sleeping happily by their feet.

“Like Princess,” she said softly.

“Exactly like Princess,” GiGi smiled. “Remember when she first came to live with me?”

“She was a growly-scowly-grouch!” Joy said in a funny voice which tickled them both.

“Yes, she pulled away and sometimes growled when I tried to touch her. Because the people she used to live with were unkind, she learned to try and protect herself. Her little heart was wounded.”

“I remember you told me, ‘Hurt people hurt people.’ Sooo, it’s the same for puppies?” Joy whispered.

“It certainly is,” GiGi agreed. “Before Princess could be her happy, healthy self, she needed to know she was safe and loved.”

Joy let her hand rest softly on the little sleeping pup.

“But what if everything around us is changing so much—so shaky—that it feels like a big ol’ storm?” Joy asked. “How do we feel safe then?”

18 July / August 2026 | Christian Living

“That’s a great question,” GiGi said. She laid back on the grass, staring up at the blue sky and puffy clouds. “Do you remember the story of Peter and Jesus on the water?”

Joy nodded and snuggled down next to her. “Peter stepped out of his boat right into the big waves.”

“He did,” GiGi grinned. “It was very brave. And as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, he walked right on top of that stormy water.”

GiGi gently stroked Joy’s hair as she continued. “Do you remember what happened when he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the storm instead?”

“He got really scared,” Joy whispered. “And he started to sink.”

“Yes, and I can relate to Peter all too well,” GiGi said with a wink.

“Peter couldn’t change or control the storm. The one thing he could control was what he focused on.”

Joy thought for a while and then asked, “So...when things get stormy, how do I keep from looking at those scary waves?”

“Well, we will see and feel the waves—that’s natural. But like Peter showed us, with God’s help, we can do what is super-natural, by choosing to look past the waves and the storm to The One who controls them. The best news of all is that God, the One who controls all of life’s storms, never changes. His Word and His promises never change. He always loves you, He is always with you—those things are always true!”

Joy stroked Princess’s warm, soft fur. The pup rested her chin on Joy’s lap and let out a soft sigh.

“But GiGi,” Joy whispered, “if God controls the waves...why does He let scary storms come at all? Why can’t we just have the sunny days?”

“Oh, sweetheart,” GiGi sighed gently, her hand joining Joy’s to pet the sleeping dog. “That is one of those huge, God-sized questions— the kind we simply can’t answer.”

Joy looked up as a wind gust rustled the branches in the big juniper tree.

“When there is a storm outside, the most important thing is to stay focused on the One who controls it,” GiGi explained softly. “And then, we simply do our part to control what we can.”

“The things I can control,” Joy remembered.

“Exactly,” GiGi smiled. “We stop trying to control the things in the big world around us, and we focus on what we can control in the little world inside us.”

GiGi traced the top of Princess’s little head. “When we are right in the middle of the wind, it is so easy to only look at the scary things.

That is when we get to train our hearts and our brains to look for the beauty.”

“How do I train my brain?” Joy asked.

“By choosing what you notice,” GiGi smiled. “Gratitude is the best way to reset a sad, shaky heart. When things are hard, it is important to give ourselves space to feel those big feelings and be kind to ourselves.”

GiGi rested her hand over Joy’s.

“And then, even though it is natural to keep looking at what we have lost, there comes a time when we get to focus on what we have left,” GiGi whispered. “We get to tuck all those beautiful memories safely inside us and then open our hearts to add new memories of the beautiful blessings still to come.”

Joy sat quietly, listening to the steady breathing of the little pup resting safe across her lap.

“Sooo…it seems like everything is always changing,” Joy said thoughtfully.

“Yes, life is all about change,” Gigi paused. “Like the weather.

We enjoy the sunshine and blue skies while they’re here, while also knowing the rain and storms will someday come. Even though we can’t stop the storm from coming, we always get to choose how we respond when it does. That is what we can control.”

Joy sat up a little. “What do you mean?”

“Well, when a sudden rainstorm comes, we have a few choices,”

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GiGi smiled. “We can choose to be upset by it and that’s when ‘I Get To!’® choose—even more—to let it steal our joy, we can grab an umbrella and just focus on what I can control…and if I will dance in keep going...” the rain!” GiGi smiled, her eyes shining.

Suddenly, GiGi jumped to her feet. Her eyes “I can choose to focus on what I’ve lost or focus sparkled as she reached down and grabbed Joy’s on all I have left. I choose to think about all the hand, pulling her up. beautiful ways these hands have served me. I “…Or,” GiGi laughed, raising one hand high in remember all the things I’ve been able to do: plant the air as if holding an invisible umbrella, “we can flowers, cook meals, drive a car, take care of myself run right into it and dance in the rain!” and those I love. Some of my favorites are holding GiGi picked up Joy and twirled her around over and rocking babies…and the thousands of times the grass. Princess joined them with a happy little they’ve helped me give the hugest hugs! We always bark, wagging her tail and prancing in circles right get to choose what we look for: the crinkles and along with them. The quiet afternoon burst with Joan Endicott wrinkles,” GiGi winked, “or the beautiful life that even more giggles and laughter. made them.”

When they finally flopped back down onto the warm grass, catching their breath, GiGi gently took Joy’s hands.

“Kinda keeps coming back to choosing that gratitude lens, doesn’t “Choosing to dance? Choosing your umbrella?” GiGi smiled it, GiGi?” Joy smiled softly. softly. “That is you getting to simply control your…controllables.”

“Yes, my love. That’s what it always comes back to,” GiGi whis“…Controllables!” Joy finished with her, still catching her breath pered. And with her beautiful, weathered hands, she pulled Joy in from the giggles. for one of her longest, hugest hugs.

“Change happens to everything and everyone, sweetheart. Look at my hands.”

“In everything give thanks!” —1 Thessalonians 5:18a n Joy leaned over and placed her hand on one of GiGi’s weathered hands. “They hurt, don’t they?” she asked.

Joan Endicott is a keynote speaker, coach and author. Her “I Get “Yes, they ache, and they don’t work like they used to—and they To!”® message has encouraged people in over 30 countries to certainly don’t look like they did when I was younger.” make a simple shift in perspective and discover the miraculous “I’m sorry, GiGi. That must be hard.” Joy patted her hands tenlife they already have. To receive your FREE copy of her book derly. and ongoing encouragement, visit www.JoanEndicott.com and “Oh, thank you, sweetie. It is. Some days are harder than others.”

GiGi hugged Joy extra tight. “And when it feels hard and stormy, follow @JoanEndicott.

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Christian Living | July / August 2026 19

THE RENEGADE Psychiatrist

Be an answer to someone else’s prayers on her.” Having walked the several miles to get Have you ever thought you could be the answer there, they hopped in the van and directed our to someone’s prayer? path back to their home.

Soon after I completed my psychiatric training, After the usual greetings on our arrival, they I moved to Idaho to work for the state and to start carried the sister out to the main room of the a Christian counseling center with a close friend. small house. She explained, “I fell from a horse We were open only a few days when a call came and was hurt but not too bad. A few days later I in after our receptionist had left for the day. After awakened to find I could not walk.” greeting the caller, she said, “I have been praying I started with a neurologic exam of the extremifor help. I did not know where to turn; God told ties and found profound weakness in the legs. me to call you guys.” I put her on hold and said, As I examined the muscles of the legs, I found “Hey Kevin, you better take this; it is a referral tumors all through the legs and upper back, as from God!” It was the first time I really thought well as the abdomen. I told the woman, “This about that. Am I the answer to someone’s prayer? is a very serious type of cancer. I do not have My work was different after that call. I strove to medicine for it.” I paused for a moment. “We can be a good servant and enjoy the privilege of being Dr. Larry E. Banta pray for her,” I said. “Would that be okay?” The trusted to be that answer someone was seeking. family unanimously responded in the affirmative, God gives each of us certain abilities and but then the mother said, “Please wait for one minute.” She ran resources. We can bury them in the ground (use them for only from the house and soon the entire village was surrounding the earthly purposes) or invest in the Kingdom. In Matthew 25 we read of the parable of talents, or bags of gold as translated in house, awaiting my prayer. I prayed as loud as I could and they NIV. The master entrusted the “gold” to his servants. Two used all prayed out loud with me. Obviously, this young lady was very the gold well and had good return on their investment. They dear to the entire community. were the trustworthy servants. The reward was God trusting We left with plans to return next time and see if we could get them for more duties and a share in the Master’s happiness. some help for her. During the return trip to our home, my coMatthew 25: 19-23 – “After a long time the master of those worker and I were led to provide the money for her to go to the servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man cancer hospital a good distance from her village. We both “hapwho had received five bags of gold brought the other five. pened” to have some extra funds that could be used to pay for ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. her treatment. It was several hundred dollars to start the treatSee, I have gained five more.’ ment, way beyond her means.

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!

On our next visit she was responding to the treatment, was You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in walking, and already feeling better. She fully recovered and was charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiseen by us several times over the next few years. Our prayers for ness!’ her involved us being a part of the answer, as well as for the doc“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he tors in the cancer hospital. said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have As we brought medical help to these villages so long ago, we gained two more.’ prayed that God would draw these people to Him. It took a “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! while, but now three churches serve the area, with many who You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in have given their lives to Him. Those prayers were answered by charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happithe next people who came to serve after we left to return to the ness!’”

What really are the bags of gold? It could be money invested in U.S. the Kingdom. Also, it might be considered time, energy, comOur love for God involves obedience. As we draw closer to mitment to God and Kingdom work on earth. Accepting Christ Him, the Holy Spirit can make changes in us, and lead us to as our Savior, we become servants of Almighty God. He is our where we are needed. We are the hands and feet of Jesus so when Master. We call him King. If we are servants of the King and He there are needs, God often uses people to answer those requests. asks us to do something, we should be honored to do it. It may be We must be open, listening, ready, and able. As His servant, can the answer to someone’s prayer.

He trust you to be that answer?

During the late 1990s, I lived in Mexico as a medical missionRomans 12:6-8 tells us, We have different gifts, according to ary. While managing the medical and psychiatric care of an the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then orphanage, we also started a rural medical outreach. We would prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then travel the four hours to the villages on a weekend to provide serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then medical clinics for two days, with some preaching and teaching give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is involved. One time we were returning for the second day from our hotel a few miles from the entrance to the villages. I suddenly to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

May we be trustworthy servants, ready to be used as the answer remembered we had to stop to restock some items I had run out of the previous day. The pharmacy was along the highway so eas- to prayer! n ily done. We pulled off the road and I ran in to get a few things.

Dr. Larry Banta is an author of several books, a retired Returning to the van there were several young men gathered psychiatrist, and a former missionary. He served in India, around it, awaiting my return. I inquired as to their concerns.

Mexico and Kenya. He and his wife, Evelyn, a counselor, One man spoke up: “Some months ago my sister fell from a travel together to provide consultation and training in various horse. Since then, she has not been able to walk. Would you international locations. please come to see her?” I replied, “Sure, we can stop and check

By Larry Banta

20 July / August 2026 | Christian Living

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TECH & Faith

Artificial intelligence and your family

By Mark Naito

(Author’s note: This article is 100% not written by any screengenerated tech, like AI, but inspired by God-given creativity.)

When was the last time you left your smartphone at home for one or more days?

Do you attend church without your phone? If there were no internet or electrical power, what would you do?

These are questions that help you realize how AI might affect your faith. These simple situations may not seem like a big deal today, but wait for the day when screens go away and YOU become the screen.

Here are some key facts to think about from the Center for Humane Technology: • Our relationships, community, values, and social norms are being re-shaped by AI. This is happening by integrating our personal lives [with the technogology] and mediating our communities.

• Centralization of power and decentralization of tools centralizes economic and political influence in the hands of a select few.

• A breakdown of shared understanding fractures a shared sense of reality, fueling distrust, polarization, and a loss of confidence in what’s true.

• The tools of technology have become active participants in our relationships, subtly mediating how we communicate, connect, and feel about one another, using things like generative AI to craft written communication and a reliance on chatbots to substitute human intimacy.

• Technology is eroding trust and authenticity in relationships, such as when a friend uses generative AI to draft messages or a stranger relies on an AI agent to fulfill their responsibilities versus authentic relationships that are built on mutual understanding and transparency around who we’re engaging with.

• This expert’s goal has been to educate, legislate, and bring awareness of what really goes on with screens. I have been called upon many times by the courts and federal government hearings seeking to understand what is going on and how to mitigate the challenges with screens.

So what?

How does this affect my faith?

To start... As a culture we have widely accepted the addition of another “person,” per say, in our life that does not have the Holy Spirit and was not created by God. It would be okay if this so-called person did not heavily influence our day-to-day lives. But it does – anything from business insights to how to handle a relationship and even putting together a sermon for church.

Our screens... They’ve slowly crept into our daily lives and then moved into hyperspeed during COVID-19 because of a huge push to put everything – including our worship and sermons – online and without a physical representative from any business or organization.

Why could this be bad? Here are four reasons: • Lose in-person relationships we naturally crave • Lost in endless menus or screens • Having to “guess” how to communicate to an AI or search bar • Human element is gone

Do these screens make our lives easier? YES! Do they automate things we couldn’t do before? Yes. Do they provide us access to tools helpful in day-to-day life like language interpretation? Yes. BUT… think of this one scenario that had a huge impact on my latest workshop in Montana. Let’s say you need to fix something, so you go to YouTube to find the answers. But what if you asked around on how to fix that ‘something’? And what if that person offered to help fix it for free? Not only that, but in the process you formed a new, fruitful relationship or had an opportunity to witness to someone in need.

Is that better? What eternal impact could you have?

One consistent thing I’ve been amazed at is the quality of time I have now. It reminds me of growing up on the farm when I was young. We mainly had ourselves and what was around us. We had to get creative – and during this time my family saw what potential I had.

Examples include: making a complete card catalogued library in my family’s living room, leading my younger brother to build a tree house, creating an enterprising vegetable stand on Highway 45, or M & P’s Candy Store. The entrepreneurialism and leadership oozed out of me. Mainly because I was bored and used what I had access to around me. I was creating (which is a skill God gave each of us) and using my own ideas, not just using what was shown to me on a screen.

In the Experiencing God Bible, 2022 CSB version, there are sections labeled, “Did you notice?” In Genesis 11-12, one of them was “Good communication is more important for societal advancement than is technology.” This was in reference to the Tower of Babylon.

What are we pursuing to help us in our relationships with the Lord: the Holy Spirit or technology?

In Psalms 49:16-17 it reads, “Do not be afraid when a person gets rich, when the wealth of his house increases. For when he dies, he will take nothing at all; his wealth will not follow him down.”

This is something no screen will ever get you to pause and reflect on, to remind you what’s most important to meditate on every day, to make the biggest investment in, and to prioritize over anything else.

Relationships... God is the ultimate relational entity around. He is jealous of His time with you – in the best way. He wants nothing more than you. And what is ironic is that our screens demand more time with us than God – even the good content that is Christian.

Lately I’ve even been challenged by one more non-screen thing that eats at my time with the Lord: the radio – whether it’s Chuck Swindoll or Christian music. Again, not in itself bad, but when I do have it off, I end up spending more time praying or reflecting on things God is doing. I also found a feature on our car where you can “shut off” the entertainment screen so it’s black and only has a clock on it.

To clarify, this is not a minimalist movement. It’s simply dialing things back some so the Lord can remain number one in our households.

I remember a season with my old service technician/manager at a dealership in Portland, Ore. I was a sales representative and got to

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know him as we collaborated on different projects. of Idaho and Montana. We then decided to let her He started inviting me over to his house. His wife know what city we were approaching and ask her if Janice would always cook homemade meals, and we it was in Idaho or Montana. sat around a small, modest kitchen table and broke She loved it! And the best part was, there was no bread together with no screens. Then we proceeded more, “Are we there yet, Dad?” to move into their living room. The main thing I Things we also talked about, because we had no could hear was the grandfather clock ticking in the screens, were the farms – what they planted, what background. But everything else was quiet. kind of tractors they were using, was there a dairy That one season in my life has had an eternal and what happens there, how irrigation works, and impact on me. The couple had limited funds, their different types of power lines, water towers, road house was very dated, and had many inconveconstruction, etc. All were great learning opportuniences most of us would not like. Yet, they were nities, and as a family we worked together to walk Mark Naito very content people. As a result, I did anything for through different scenarios. them, including house sitting on occasion, or if they Life can be rich if we get rid of the distractions needed help with any projects around the house, I made myself pushed on us and use the boredom for good! available.

How does this all apply to AI and our faith?

When I got a major promotion in the company to go into product Do not let screens or technology ever get in the middle of your marketing and move to the Bay Area in California, Janice presented time with our Heavenly Father, your marriage, or relationships with me with a knitted blanket she made and was holding onto for my your kids and others. It may not impact you today or bear much wedding day. I still have it to this day. Such gifts are tangible things fruit, but either at the end of your life or in heaven it will. that lead to lasting memories and are altars of remembrance to what Don’t wait for later; start today. Our prayer is that you continue to God has done and is doing. appreciate what Jesus did on the cross (and God’s sacrifice) and let Lately, we spoke at our latest conference in Helena, Mont. Our God use everything else to help you in your faith walk. n workshop was standing room only, as participants showed a hunger to understand how they can teach their kids balance with screens.

Mark Naito is passionate about helping people by seeking ‘root As we prepared for the trip, we were challenged again with how to cause’, providing result-oriented solutions and good outcomes. be more intentional with navigation without screens, and how to His passion has always been to empower others to be educated get to the conference without using technology. We decided to go to to make their own informed decisions on what makes sense for AAA and get some maps. During the trip, our daughter kept asking themselves or their families. He started Navigating Tech Family if we were still in Idaho or in Montana. We gave her a map that was toward that goal. He may be reached at mark@navtechfam.com.

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Christian Living | July / August 2026 23

DIGGING Deep

An important call to combat antisemitism

While we can have nuanced views on geopoliI remember sitting with my friend and radio tics, we must have zero tolerance for rhetoric that co-host on the steps of a quiet synagogue in Idaho dehumanizes Jewish people or denies their right to a few years ago. We were talking about the beauty exist. Whether it’s a school board candidate in our of the Torah and the shared roots of our faith. But backyard or a viral social media post, we must be the first to say, “Not on our watch.” lately, those conversations have taken on a somber 3. Engagement: Becoming a “Wall of Protectone. As we look at the headlines across the United tion” States in 2026, we are witnessing something that True compassion is not a feeling; it is an action. many of us hoped was a ghost of the past: a virulent, In 1940s Europe, it was the “Righteous Among unapologetic rise in antisemitism. the Nations” – many of them motivated by their From college campuses in the Ivy League to the Christian faith – who risked everything to hide their rural streets of Idaho, the “oldest hatred” has found Jewish neighbors. Today, we may not be hiding new life. According to recent data from early 2026, people in attics, but we are called to be a different antisemitic propaganda distribution has spiked by kind of refuge. over 360%, and nearly three-fourths of American • Show Up: Visit a local synagogue. Reach out Jews report experiencing or witnessing antisemitism Pastor Dave McGarrah to Jewish neighbors and simply ask, “How are you online. doing? I want you to know I am standing with you.”

As Christians, we cannot afford the luxury of silence. We are not • Speak Up: In a world where 90% of American Jews feel less safe called to be bystanders in history; we are called to be salt and light. than they did two years ago, our vocal support is a lifeline.

But to respond effectively, we must first understand the root of this • Pray Unceasingly: Psalm 122:6 commands us to “Pray for the hatred and our biblical mandate to stand against it. peace of Jerusalem.” This is not a suggestion; it is a biblical imperative.

By Dave McGarrah

The Root of the Rot

Antisemitism is not merely a social or political phenomenon; it is a spiritual pathology. In the Book of Revelation, we see the dragon’s relentless pursuit of “the woman who gave birth to the male child” (Revelation 12:13). Throughout history, the enemy has sought to destroy the Jewish people because they are the vessel through which the Word of God and the Messiah entered the world.

When we see the rise of anti-Jewish bigotry, we are seeing the “antichrist spirit” at work. It seeks to steal, kill, and destroy the people who remain, as Zechariah 2:8 describes, the “apple of God’s eye.”

We must also be honest about our own history. For centuries, a “Replacement Theology” – the idea that the Church has replaced Israel in God’s plan – was used to justify horrific persecution. But the Apostle Paul is clear in Romans 11:1: “I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means!” If we claim to love the God of Israel, we cannot hate the people of Israel.

A Biblical Framework for Our Response

How should the follower of Christ respond to this rising tide? I believe our mandate is three-fold: Education, Exposure, and Engagement.

1. Education: Reclaiming Our Jewish Roots At Master Minded Ministries, our mission has always been to help Christians understand that our faith didn’t start in a vacuum. We are “wild olive shoots” grafted into the rich root of the Jewish olive tree (Romans 11:17).

• Study the Scriptures: When we realize that Jesus was a Torahobservant Jew, that the Apostles were Jewish, and that our Bible was written almost entirely by Jewish hands, antisemitism becomes an assault on our own heritage.

• Reject Replacement Theology: We must teach our congregations that God’s covenants are “irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). The Church is the “Body of Christ,” but Israel remains God’s “Firstborn Son.” 2. Exposure: Calling Out the Darkness Ephesians 5:11 commands us to “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”Antisemitism often hides behind the veil of “political critique” or “social justice.”

24 July / August 2026 | Christian Living

The Stakes of Our Silence

I’ve traveled to Israel over 50 times. I’ve stood at the Western Wall and walked the hills of Judea. Every time I go, I am reminded that the Jewish people are not just a historical curiosity – they are a living testimony to God’s faithfulness.

If we remain silent as our Jewish brothers and sisters are targeted, we are not just failing a community; we are failing our Lord. Jesus told us that whatever we do for the “least of these brothers and sisters of mine,” we do for Him (Matthew 25:40).

A Final Word of Hope

The rise of antisemitism is a dark cloud, but the Light of the World is greater. This is our moment to be a “Ruth” to the Jewish “Naomi,” saying, “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16).

Let us be a generation of Christians who do not look away. Let us be the ones who love so loudly that the whispers of hatred are drowned out. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is watching – and He is calling us to stand.

Master Minded Ministries is dedicated to teaching the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. For more resources on how to support Israel and combat antisemitism, visit us at mastermindedministries.org. n Pastor Dave McGarrah is founder, with his wife, of Master Minded Ministries. Master Minded Ministries exists to help people see the world through the lens of Scripture, encouraging them to stay vigilant, be prayerful, and If you have found this or keep their eyes on the another article valuable, King of Kings. An please consider helping us MMM event is held bring stories like this to our at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday community by supporting nights at Nampa Christian Living Magazine, Christian High School. For more a 501(c)3 ministry, at information, email pastordave@deerflat.org. ChristianLivingmag.com

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GOD’S calibration

The Lord sees, hears, makes adjustments

I know this. We all know this, don’t we? When we first turned to Christ it was obvious; some things in life had to My favorite job that I ever had was at a coffee shop. change to be more suited to the growth we wanted. For me, I loved the rhythm, the customers, and that my clothes since I was in junior high, that required a change in friendalways smelled like coffee. Because the day was repetiships and the way I spent my time. tive – greet customer, take order, pump the syrup, pull Now I see that I’ve let my mind coast through the familiar the shots, steam the milk, mix, repeat – it was easy to feel landscape, not focusing on the details. If I want to calibrate accomplished in a few short hours. I worked the morning my heart, I need to make sacrifices. shift, and my morning-person, sunny personality wasn’t For me the list goes: be intentional about what I put in for everyone. I’m honestly a little surprised I made it out my mind. Instead of a true crime podcast while I clean or alive. work out, I ought to listen to worship or an edifying book or There was one task we were supposed to do frequently sermon instead. What I allow myself to think about matters, that I could never get right, and that was to calibrate the and the passive intake of stories that make it easy to dwell on thermometers. After a quick search this morning, I now the evils in our world isn’t doing me any favors. see that it is truly simple, but my brain just could not grasp I also must change my thought patterns. When I feel ofit back then. All I had to do was stick the thermometer in fended, I can’t grumble, even to myself. I must take it to the either boiling or iced water, check to see if the thermomLord and hold up my offended heart for Him to remind me eter displayed the correct temperature, and, if not, turn of my own offenses against Him. Then I can dwell on His Bethany Riehl a little knob right or left until it did. Why did I think that mercy and offer mercy in return. It’s imperative that I watch was complicated? and pray because my spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak Let’s not explore that too deeply, okay?

(Mark 14:38).

Recently, a friend that is going through the same Bible reading plan sent None of this will be done by my own might. He must hold me fast; He WILL me a text, in awe over the magnificence of God displayed in our portion of hold me fast. He promises in Philippians 1 that He who began this work in us will Scripture that day. I could have “loved” the message or replied with somebring it to completion. It’s tempting after walking with the Lord for nearly three thing similar. Instead, I confessed. “I know I should be in awe. But pray for decades to check out and coast. But that’s not the picture given to us in Scripture. me? Right now, it’s all too familiar and I’m just not amazed like I should be.”

Scripture compares the Christian life to a race (1 Corinthians 9:24, Hebrews Ever been there? I really didn’t want to share that with her. But when we’re 12:1), a journey through foreign land (Hebrews 11:16), the life of a soldier (2 in a place like that, we need to reach out to other believers and ask them for Timothy 2:3) in which we must daily put on our armor (Ephesians 6), and a help. building under construction (1 Peter 2:5). These imply the active working of God She promised to pray and that was that. in our lives and as such we are to be active participants until the end.

I went on a walk that day and listened to some worship music, and God I’m so thankful for a God that sees, hears, answers prayer, and calibrates when began to move in my heart, as He does. He reminded me of Scripture, some we need it. It’s uncomfortable to be called out, to see how passivity has led to sin hard to swallow, some comforting. I realized then that my heart needed (bitterness, pride, and indifference to the Lord and His people). But what great some calibrating. and wonderful mercy that the Lord in His kindness plunges us into the deep I recently began a course I’m taking that has the potential to be intense. ocean of His Word to show us where we’re really at. Then He makes the adjustments needed and holds us fast while we obey.

The first session, the instructor told us that to be successful at this course, What a wonderful, marvelous Savior. n we’re going to need to sacrifice something to make time for it. He encouraged us to write that down somewhere prominent.

Bethany Riehl lives in the Treasure Valley with three amazing teenagers It occurred to me on my walk that the same is true for all other goals: if I want to be in better shape, that requires a commitment to exercise and nutri- and her incredible husband. She aims to write books and articles that show God’s grace in all circumstances and to point readers to His great tious foods. If I want to be more diligent as a writer, I have to get up earlier love through story. You can subscribe to her newsletter – and for a free (since that’s my most creative time). And if I want to grow in holiness that short story! – and learn more about her works at authorbethanyriehl.com. will take some changes as well.

By Bethany Riehl

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Christian Living | July / August 2026 25

KEN LEWIS & FCA

Running for the (ultimate) prize

Ken Lewis is State Director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Idaho. Here, he stands by boxes of Bibles that were given out at the 2026 NW FCA Sports Camp held in June on the NNU campus in Nampa. (Photo by Gaye Bunderson)

By Steve Bertel

“There’s the Creator – and everything else is the creation. The Creator has the capacity to be worshipped; the creation does not,” Ken Lewis explained. “But, all too often, we invert it. We get it wrong. We worship money, our homes, our vehicles, our jobs, movies, the media. We worship movie stars, rock stars. We even elevate professional athletes and coaches. In fact, there are athletes who put playing their sport, or coaches who put coaching sports, above their family. And above God. But Matthew 6:33 says ‘Seek the Kingdom of God above all else … and he will give you everything you need.’”

In 1997, as a Kuna High School teacher and wrestling coach, Ken Lewis knew he was making an impact on his students’ lives. But he wanted to take it one step further, especially when he felt called by the Lord to use – or “leverage,” as he put it – his love of sports to help students and coaches have a closer relationship with God. So he started the first FCA – the Fellowship of Christian Athletes – “huddle” on campus. A “huddle” is the FCA’s sports-related term for essentially a Bible study group led by students.

“I wanted to see them make their faith real, not just on the coattails of their parents, their youth groups, or through their churches.

I wanted to help them find their identity in Christ,” he explained.

“And what better environment to do that in sports?” So, following the national FCA process and working with school administrators, he started the FCA Kuna High “huddle.” “It was an opportunity to show young people that ‘Your identity is not found on the scoreboard. Or in record books. Or in win/lost columns. Your identity is finding your faith in Christ, your purpose in Him,” said Ken. “So, being able to provide a way for kids to get to know God and dive into His Word was really exciting for me!”

In March, 1954, Eastern Oklahoma A&M basketball coach Don McClanen sent a letter to 19 prominent athletes, outlining his desire to form an organization that would eventually become known as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. His letter read, in part, “For some time, I have had the idea of forming an organization of athletes and coaches in this hero-worshiping nation of ours. If athletes can endorse shaving cream, razor blades and cigarettes, surely they can endorse the Lord, too. So my idea is to form an organization that would project you as Christian men before the youth and athletes of our nation.”

Later that year, his idea came to fruition – and the FCA officially incorporated as a nationwide non-profit organization.

Today, more than 70 years later, it still adheres to the strategy of “engaging, equipping and empowering coaches and athletes to know and grow in Christ – and [to] lead others to do the same”: engaging,

26 July / August 2026 | Christian Living

from 1 Thessalonians 2:8 … equipping, from Ephesians 4:12 … and empowering, from 2 Timothy 2:2.

Here in Idaho, Ken Lewis is the FCA’s State Director, a position he’s held for 20 years. He had served eight years before that as Kuna High’s FCA “huddle coach” (advisor).

And, like other FCA groups across the nation, “We don’t run each [campus] ministry; we train volunteers – coaches and student athletes – to run them,” he stated. “Each coach or student leader in the ‘huddles’ may represent a different sphere of influence, or a different sport – one may be on the baseball team, one may be on the volleyball team. They’re of different ages and from different grade levels. Some ‘huddles’ meet once a week; others meet every other week. And then, as student leaders approach graduation, they ‘hand off the baton’ to other students to step in. It’s nice to have that ‘FCA DNA.’” He added, “These FCA leaders get to participate and receive training in the discipleship process that’s very important to the FCA. Plus, the FCA works with local churches in many communities, encouraging coaches and athletes to get involved in good, Bible-believing churches near their homes.”

Most of the “huddles” are held on campus, before school or during lunch. Which begs the question: Has the FCA ever received any pushback regarding holding Bible studies on taxpayer-supported school grounds? “Not really,” Ken replied. “If a junior high, a high school, or a college allows non-curricular clubs on campus – say, a Chess Club – then they have to allow faith-based clubs like the FCA to meet there. Plus, each ‘huddle’ has an advisor, who works closely with school administrators. Of course, there are some schools which do not allow any groups on campus, whereupon we’ll meet, say, at a church near the school.”

“But overall, administrators have seen the positive environment the FCA provides, and how it helps their school’s culture,” he added.

While some may feel that when 1 Corinthians 9:24 says, in part, “ … Run in such a way as to get the prize,” it means to totally rely on your own strength to win a trophy, but the FCA stresses the true meaning of the metaphor: urging coaches and students that, by living with self-discipline, purpose, and dedication, you will receive the prize of God’s approval – obviously much greater than any trophy – and ultimately, His gift of eternal life.

FCA Idaho also holds a number of off-campus events each year: golf scrambles, sports-related summer camps, “Coaches and Couples’” marriage retreats, and even the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl FCA Breakfast, which the organization has been sponsoring for the past 23 years.

And it’s expanding.

Sean Rooney is the FCA Idaho Sports Director. After six years on the FCA staff in southern California, he and his family moved to Nampa – where, since 2018, he’s been spearheading efforts to form non-school-related/but-FCA-affiliated sports clubs for 8- to 16-year-olds in Idaho. These teams currently compete in baseball, softball, archery, and wrestling. “In fact, there are over 290 FCA athletes here in the Treasure Valley alone, where they get a chance to compete against other teams – and even travel to tournaments – all while growing in their relationship with Jesus,” Sean said. FCA Club Sports is funded by sponsors, community fundraising efforts, and private donations.

In recent years, the national FCA has gained the support of many well-known professional athletes, including Major League Baseball stars Adam Wainwright and Brian Roberts, NFL great Tim Tebow, New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh, female athletes like WNBA star Tamika Catchings and track and field Olympic champ Allyson Felix – and even support from entertainers like stand-up comic Jeff Foxworthy of “You might be a redneck …” fame and Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson. n You can learn more about the work of FCA Idaho on its website www.fcaidaho.org.

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REAL MAN’S Toolbox

God doesn’t expect your perfection

hard we try, we still sin and fall short of God’s stanAs we live our lives out as Christian men, we dard. If this weren’t true, why would Jesus tell us to face numerous challenges from many directions. It pray, ‘Forgive us our sins’ (Luke 11:4)?” doesn’t take very long until we become battered, Perfection is not something that comes to us as wounded, and downtrodden because we didn’t do soon as we become a Christian – or even because of everything completely right. We try to love everyone living life as a Christian for many years. Christian with a pure Christian heart, but sometimes hurts perfection is a journey, a metamorphosis of sorts we cloud our well-meaning actions and reactions. go through. In our lives as Christians we continue If we try to be victors in spiritual warfare around to grow in our faith, love, and obedience to God. us and only use our own strength, we find really We cannot achieve this change in our own strength quickly how many devious tricks the enemy has to but only through the strength of Christ and His make us stumble. As we become more seasoned in life – okay, as we become older – we may have difgrace. ficulties accepting our age and all that infers physiAs we live our lives, we are constantly battling becally, emotionally, and spiritually. We are flawed tween right and wrong, good and evil, heaven and human beings and have fallen short. To be able to hell. We must always have the full armor of God be as successful as we can in meeting the challenges with us as we go to battle. We cannot get complaLeo Hellyer we face, we must seek the power, truth, grace, and cent and let our guard down. We must be vigilant, purity of God Almighty and His Word. prepared to stand up and face the enemy straight on. It’s not just When we do this, we will discover that the church is not a country our lives that depend on it, but also the lives of the people that God club for saints but a hospital for sinners. Jesus came to earth to save brings across our path. n the lost. As Christian men we should be striving to be more Christlike every day. We must realize that we are in process. We have not Leo Hellyer is a non-staff pastor with a local church. He has arrived yet. We do not earn our way into heaven. It is a gift that is been married to his wife, Norma, for 53 years and has served given to us by a gracious God. As we should do in all aspects of our lives, let’s go to the Bible for with Boise Rescue Mission for over 25 years. He is co-founder guidance on this subject of attempting to live perfect lives. and training counselor with Taktikor Defense Group. If you have In Philippians 1:6 Paul tells us, “For I am confident of this very questions about Real Man’s Toolbox, or need other assistance, he thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until may be reached at silverplate426@msn.com or (208) 340-5544. the day of Christ Jesus.” God has started something good in our lives, but it is not complete. We are a work in progress. We have not become perfect yet. We will not be perfect until we are in heaven.

In Philippians 3:12 Paul says, “Not that I have already attained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”

Instead of seeking perfection, we need to be seeking to be more like Jesus every day until we are called to heaven and are perfected.

Yes, we need to seek godly behavior in everything we do. We do need to be as Christlike as we can in our thoughts, actions, and reactions to the challenges we face, but we must realize that we will not be successful in doing that on our own. We need to work daily on our relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Leo Hellyer Holy Spirit. We must seek out godly people and follow their lead in how to live a faithful, productive, consistent, victorious Christian life.

Co-Founder We need to allow ourselves to be vulnerable at times and let others & Training provide us with wise counsel in traveling through the minefield of Counselor spiritual warfare that we will face daily. Since we are not perfect yet, TAKTIKOR.COM we must be prepared for those times when we stumble. We must be open to godly redirection. We must reach for the outstretched hands that are attempting to pick us up, dust us off, and get us back on the TACTICAL right track. We cannot be successful trying to get through our battles IDAHO ENHANCED all alone.

God brings people into our lives for a specific purpose and season.

CONCEALED CARRY CHURCH If we have a good relationship with God, if we are paying attention, TRAINING SECURITY and if we are vulnerable, open, and obedient to His working in our lives, we will take advantage of these divine appointments and grow in our walk with the Lord.

REAL ESTATE God provides us with never-ending, unconditional love and guidSAFETY ance. God loves us so much that He doesn’t put us in a corner where we don’t have a choice of which direction to go. God loves us so TRAINING much that He always gives us a choice of how we will respond to His loving council. We are not His puppets; He gives us free will.

WEAPONS When addressing this whole idea of being perfect in our Chris208.340.5544 tian walk, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association says, “If God QUALIFICATION silverplate426@msn.com required us to be perfect, then no one – absolutely no one – would ever be able to be a Christian! We’re all sinners, and no matter how

By Leo Hellyer

If You Decide To Carry, Carry Responsibly!

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Christian Living | July / August 2026 27

HEART2HEAL Clinic

A faith-based alternative in medical care

By Gaye Bunderson

Editor’s note: Christian Living Magazine respects the opinions of others. This article is not intended to persuade anyone one way or another on the use of vaccines or alternative health care methods. It is merely a telling of the views of the staff at Heart2Heal Clinic and some of its patients, without endorsing or criticizing the clinic, its workers, or its patients for exercising the freedom of opinion.

A group of five original founders spent a year hammering out details for a Christ-centered clinic. Heart2Heal opened in 2023 and now has six providers: a physician, a physician’s assistant, a nurse practitioner, two registered nurses, and a chiropractor. It’s not too outrageous to say that Jesus is the seventh and foremost member of the medical team.

Each person who works at Heart2Heal Clinic, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has made a statement of faith and a commitment to live its principles.

During the course of any given day there, patients are ministered to with the full force of faith-based service. Speak to Dr. John Tribble and ask him if he’s ever prayed for and with a patient and he will state that he ministers to people on a regular basis; he sees where they’re at with prayer and allows the Holy Spirit to open a door. He wants patients to view themselves as he does: as temples of the living God. It’s the way he and others at the clinic feel is the best pathway to a healthy life.

“I’ve seen lives impacted by chronic health issues that are relieved by medications but not cured,” he said.

The original five founders of Heart2Heal included a businessman who owns mental health clinics in the valley; he and H2H Clinic Director Amanda Cox were friends through their children. Others included a local mom with knowledge of nonprofits who connected with Cox over a graphic she posted on social media; a general surgeon; and a functional medicine provider.

When the people who would ultimately found Heart2Heal held a public meeting on January 17, 2022 about the possibility of opening such a clinic, they had to hold it at Foothills Christian Church in Boise and open up the doors for the 480 people who showed up; according to Cox, some of the people in that group represented different medical specialties, but they all wanted to, in Cox’s words, “take health care back and see it through a lens of faith.”

At this point, there was no plan, just conversation.

Much of the core-five group dispersed to different jobs, and/or even to different parts of the country. But those remaining saw a strong need to establish a health-based entity that would align with and lead to the establishment of their hoped-for clinic. “We held multiple events and did fundraising and ultimately subleased one my friend’s [mental health] buildings in May of 2024. We got patients mostly through marketing, face-to-face interactions, and referrals,” Cox said.

The interest in this kind of stand-alone medical care facility was – and still is – brisk in this area. Cox stated, “There are not enough providers in the valley, or in Idaho.” She then explained that, unlike larger practices and bigger medical facilities, Heart2Heal is “not confined to meeting a quota” and thereby not limited to what she calls a roughly nine-minute standard visitation time between patients and health care providers.

Dr. Tribble came to Idaho from California to pursue for himself and his patients “medical freedom, privacy, patient and provider autonomy, and informed consent.” A statement at h2hclinic.org reads: “Dr. Tribble believes the doctor-patient relationship is sacred and private, and every patient requires an individual approach. He feels blessed and excited to be part of a Christian, independent medical organization where he can freely use his talents to heal and minister to others.”

“I consider my patients as my friends,” he said.

Not all staff are medical practitioners. Director Cox has experience in accounting and medical billing, as well as clinic management. She agrees with Dr. Tribble’s outlook on medical care and said, “God designed our bodies to heal. … My faith in God and being created in His image shapes my approach to health and healing every day, and it is my honor to offer that hope to our patients.”

“I grew up in a Christian family in Saskatchewan, Canada,” she continued. “Most of my childhood and young adult years were centered around relationships in my home church. I accepted Christ as my savior

28 July / August 2026 | Christian Living

at 10 years old when I was baptized. Until I moved to the United States for college in my early twenties, my church family shaped everything about me spiritually. This theme of community and service through my faith has carried me throughout my career. I have been blessed to work in Christ-centered health care for more than 15 years in the areas of chiropractic, physical therapy, alternative cancer treatment and now in family medicine at Heart2Heal.”

Heart2Heal Clinic is committed to addressing the root causes of illness rather than simply managing symptoms through medication alone – in other words, functional medicine.

“The clinic integrates faith, medical knowledge, and compassionate care to help patients truly heal – physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Many of the individuals who come through the doors are worn down, discouraged, or overlooked by traditional medical systems, and the clinic provides a place where they are listened to, prayed for, and treated with dignity,” according to information provided by Dr. Tribble’s wife, Maritza. “There is a clear sense of calling behind the work being done at Heart2Heal, and the clinic continually points people toward Christ as the ultimate healer.”

They serve whoever wants to walk in the front door.

Payments can be made through traditional insurance billing, but it is not the most common way at the clinic. “We’re trying to educate patients on alternative ways of paying, including cost-sharing, and we also have a direct primary care model.” That’s a health care payment system where patients pay a flat monthly or annual fee for specific services.

Telehealth virtual services are available, broadening medical care for anyone unable to drive to appointments due to illness or age, or for patients who just want the convenience of a virtual setting.

Said Dr. Tribble, “We have a higher population over 55 than I anticipated.” But the clinic also sees lots of families, with members of all ages.

Heart2Heal offers primary care, urgent care, and family medicine. Dr. Tribble called what they do at the clinic as “look outside the box” care, providing innovative solutions to health care rather than a one-size-fitsall approach.

He bucks a trend that was widespread during the COVID-19 outbreak: vaccines. He prefers that patients and parents be free to make their own choices about vaccines for themselves and their children. He claimed, “People, TV, vaccine companies, and the government operate in fear. … There’s no liability for vaccines, and no critical research. I want ALL the information.”

Other professionals – and prospective patients – are free to question his point of view, but he actually forfeited employment in California for not being willing to compromise on vaccines.

From the website: “Dr. Tribble moved to Idaho to practice medicine when California began mandating an experimental injection without informed consent and lost a job in California for not complying with the state mandate for vaccination.”

It’s a point a view he hasn’t vacillated from.

Gary and Kathy Poulin of Mountain Home started out with H2H Clinic about 2+ years ago when it first opened. Kathy worked as a volunteer at a local Christian organization and heard about H2H’s grand opening.

“I worked in health care for 30+ years. I managed all the vaccine contracts for a big medical group in California, and I didn’t like what I saw.

It wasn’t health care – it was sick care,” Kathy said. “My husband and I are like-minded; and at H2H, they put people on a path of wellness.

“There’s a place for medications, but there are alternatives as well.

We’ve used H2H for both wellness or when we were sicker than dogs.”

What if the staff at H2H can’t help a patient due to a complex medical diagnosis?

“They refer out to like-minded providers, and we appreciate that.

The doctor has referred us to cardiologists who are like-minded – any specialist we need – and we trust them.”

On the topic of vaccines, Kathy said: “We don’t vaccinate at all. There’s alternatives: nutrition, exercise. Dr. Tribble has worked with us in what we can take in supplements, what is good, and what is not. It’s not traditional medicine; it’s different, and it’s worked for us.”

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appointment at (208) 845-0464 or email at Carol Guthmann of Boise started going to H2H in info@heart2healministry.net.

March of 2025 and heard about it through her church.

Stated Cox: “The mission of Heart2Heal is to faciliShe was extremely sick with diabetes and other ailtate a re-imagined health care clinic founded on faith, ments and had been going to a homeopathic doctor freedom, and, of course, good health. H2H exists to for wisteria poisoning, was doing a lot of lab tests, and restore trust, offer guidance in preventative health, and taking a lot of medications. partner with patients through their medical journey She was very skinny and told herself at one point, “I with collaboration and medical choice. It embodies the can’t swallow another pill. I was on tons of pills and principles of informed consent and patient autonomy. had been taking them since 2005.” She was drawn to Care is provided through voluntary, uncoerced relaH2H because she felt that, “If they’re believers, they’re tionships between patients, providers, and staff.” not going to give up on me.”

Other medical staff includes: Dr. Tribble asked her first thing, “What’s your goal?”

• Mikayla Todd, NP: “She believes that with health and she replied, “I want to be out of pain.”

Dr. John Tribble, MD fully restored, people are able to more fully invest in “They had me stop taking the medications and start their lives, the people they love, and the community.” eating differently,” she said. She’s gone from diabetes • Nicole Broker, RN: “Nicole has been a registered to pre-diabetes and continues to watch her diet and nurse for 22 years, primarily excelling with labor and delivery.” avoid foods like chocolate. She also does some fasting. She still takes • Dr. Jake Roland, Doctor of Chiropractic: “Specializing in functionhormone pills and also takes 10 units of insulin for diabetes – however, al and environmental medicine, he is passionate about helping patients she used to be on 100 units. who are struggling with environmentally acquired illnesses.”

She also blames her emotions for some of her physical dysfunction.

• Stephanie Dalton, PA: “A physician’s assistant, she is in the clinic But she said, “When you walk into the clinic, you feel at home, like twice a week on Monday, Wednesday or Friday. Her clinic days work you’ve come to the right place. They love on you.” She said at 73 her around Dr. Tribble’s ER schedule, so they can change week to week. hair is no longer white because, “My body is functioning better.”

She is the newest member of the H2H Clinic staff.”

She previously couldn’t exercise because she was so weak and had no Regarding vaccines, H2H will refer people to places that give vaccines, muscle tone. She couldn’t lift a jug of water but is now lifting weights for but the clinic is not set up for giving shots, according to Cox, who stated, a woman of her size and age. She eats totally organic. She admitted her “The bottom line is it’s a logistical issue. We don’t have enough storage diet is strict – “You can never go out to eat – but said, “I feel younger space [for vaccines, needles, and similar necessities]. We can’t tackle it at and better.” this point.”

Cox said that, to initially get patients at H2H Clinic, they advertised She ended with, “We’re a landing place if you don’t want vaccines for in churches, on social media, through word-of-mouth, and at schools; at present, they have roughly 1,000 regular patients who come to the clinic your kids and you want freedom in medical choices.” n at 2950 E. Magic View Dr., Suite 184, in Meridian. Anyone – even For more information, go to h2hclinic.org. distraught moms concerned about a sick child – may call and make an

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Christian Living | July / August 2026 29

‘THE LITTLE niggle’

Listening to the Spirit in a world of scams

Now, you may be someone who saw all the red flags in this

By Roxanne Drury Trust is a virtue, but in the world of scammers, it can also be exchange. I failed to see them until later. But that is how a scam a target. Just about everyone on the planet has heard the saying, artist works – they play on a person’s hopes and dreams. The “If it looks or sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” The devil doesn’t always come with horns; sometimes he comes with scammer hopes that you have not heard it. They also hope you a “too-good-to-be-true offer” and a gentle, encouraging email. will not check them out and that you will make a rash decision.

Here is what I learned from this experience: We have the tools They use many tactics to entice you to part with your money, and resources we need to protect ourselves from scammers in such as fear, intimidation, sweet talking, and speaking your the form of an acronym: P.R.A.Y. language.

• P – Pause: Don’t let their “manufactured urgency” or How can Christians protect themselves from scam artists? And “sweet talk” force you to do anything rashly and possibly make they ARE artists because every day they come up with new ways a mistake. to try to trick us into giving them money. Handling endless scam • R – Research: Verify the source, and their answers to your emails and texts requires a combination of modern caution and questions. Search for a website or a social media presence. spiritual discernment. By using the P.R.A.Y. method – Pause, • A – Ask: Ask the Lord for discernment, wisdom, and to Research, Ask, and Yield – trusting people of God can identify “too-good-to-be-true” offers and avoid making rash, fear-based point you in the right direction to find a clear answer. Ask the financial decisions. emailer questions, as many as you want. (If it is not legit, they As I learned recently, some of the things we do every day are won’t want to answer your questions.) Ask a trusted and wise our best defense. As a writer, I receive solicitations nearly daily Roxanne Drury spouse or friend for an opinion. from literary agents, publishers, editors, website designers, you • Y – Yield: Stop, breathe, and yield to the Holy Spirit’s name it. They sing the praises of my books, using language prompting if something feels “off” or you are unsure in any way. directly from Amazon reviews. Do they think I don’t read the reviews? Some of the Yield to your “gut feeling,” or the little “niggle.” offers look legit, until I read the last paragraph. “Our services will only cost you The P.R.A.Y. survival guide can help you identify a scammer from the real deal $1,300. How do you want to pay for that?” Not today, buddy! by combining modern caution with spiritual discernment. Having just experienced This week, I received an email from a Christian readers’ group. The writer wanted this, I suggest a “Pause and Pray” approach to verify the source, ask questions, and to feature one of my devotional books in the 2026 Challenge. (Isn’t 2026 half over?)

She was very gentle in her approach. She asked permission to send me more info, and seek wisdom before sharing personal information, parting with money, or committing.

I said sure. She said my book would be a blessing to readers – (isn’t that what my goal My final email to the scammer was a simple, “No thank you. I am not interested.” has been for my books?) – and that readers would purchase it using whatever link I Her response was “Bummer.” I’ll bet it was a bummer – for her! provided (she was not profiting in any way).

She answered every question I had. And if you know me at all, you know I am a “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and question-asker, but I am also a researcher. She, in fact, welcomed my questions. She petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, told me in one of the several emails we exchanged that there is no website because the which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in group is on Facebook and by invitation only. In her explanation of how the program Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7 works, she informed me that it would cost me $135 to feature my book. Everything “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, seemed on the up and up, but… I had this little niggle in my brain that wouldn’t go you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John away. So, I paused and kept her waiting while I prayed about it. As I was praying, the 16:33 thought crossed my mind that if this were a Facebook Group, I should be able to find “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can it and check out some of the information she gave me. Let me just say here: God is so be against us?” – Romans 8:31 n good! And, best advice ever – listen to the niggles!

So, I put my researcher hat on and immediately searched Facebook using the name Roxanne Drury is a wife, mother, grandmother, and retired Christian preschool of the group the emailer had given me. It brought up a readers’ group with the same teacher who served the Lord in children’s ministry for over 45 years. She has name. The most recent post was made by a Christian author I greatly admire. It was written a group study guide on Psalm 23, as well as other books. She may be also the last post, and it was posted a year ago. Her post indicated that the “Chalreached at glorylandbooks@gmail.com. lenge” was a scam. Let me say again: God is so good! And God does answer prayer!

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