When I was around 30 years old I took a bike ride while on vacation in Myrtle Beach. Turning out of the rental property, I rode about 15 miles down the coast. It was a beautiful day and the environment, scenery and traffic encouraged me to take a rather aggressive pace. I felt invigorated and… Read More »

From the Study of Pastor Austin 03.01.2026 One pass after another, with no visible progress. The same block with the same blue piece of paper with hundreds of ceramic bits stuck to it. Each pass leaves behind it a thin sheet of dust, like the fresh-fallen snow which turns the landscape white while the ground… Read More »

From the Study of Pastor Austin 02.22.2026 Beginning a new habit is like trying on clothes. You don’t always know if it is right for you until that first test drive. One practice I have recently taken for a spin has been to spend the exactly four weeks between my brother’s birthday and my own… Read More »

I was relaxing on my day off this week and decided to watch a movie. “The Martian” is a movie about NASA sending astronauts to Mars to work in the Mars Habitat facility that had been built for living on, as well as, exploration of Mars. During a chaotic emergency evacuation from Mars because of… Read More »

Something absolutely astounding happened to me this past week. Over the last few months my shop had gotten to be quite cluttered, and so I was finally doing some necessary cleaning. Putting away tools, vacuuming cobwebs and bringing a bit of order to chaos so to speak. I was carrying a tray loaded with screws… Read More »

When you think about how God has expressed his love for people, what Bible verses come to your mind? Perhaps it is the most well known verse in the Bible. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal… Read More »

Nasty. There are just no other words to describe the situation. Nasty. N-A-S-T-Y. NASTY! Why does our garage floor appear to be excessively wet? I mean, I did park the truck in the garage when it was covered in snow, but how has the melted snow run all the way over to the other side… Read More »

Seventy years ago this past Thursday, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, Roger Youderian, Nate Saint and Jim Elliot landed their small aircraft in a riverbed to make first Christian contact with the small tribe of Waodani people in the Ecuadorian jungle. They had been planning the trip for months. Flying over the villagers, dropping gifts from… Read More »

It’s been a long time since I was a little kid, but I still vividly remember the excitement of Christmas as a child. The decorations hung. The tree decorated. The cookies we had to eat (Mom could feed the whole block Christmas cookies for the entire season). The Christmas cartoon specials on TV that are… Read More »

Recently I was reading in Judges 13 about Manoah and his wife. Ever heard of them? I’ll bet you have heard of their son — Sampson. Judges 13 tells the story of how Manoah and his wife were childless. One day, the Angel of the Lord appeared to his wife and told her that she… Read More »