The Immanuel Project

Outside of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City is a huge statue of Atlas, holding the heavens on his shoulders. If you don’t know the story, here’s a brief overview. Atlas was a titan, a race who preceded the Greek gods. The titans were big and powerful but had been overcome by the younger, more powerful and certainly more crafty gods. They didn’t like it and tried to overthrow everyone on Mt. Olympus. When the titan revolt failed, most were thrown in the pit of Tarsus,

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of hearing all the bad things going on with boys these days. Falling grades and school engagement, increased drug use, failure to launch, the rise of ADHD.... The list goes on and on. Enough. Let's do something about it, one young man at a time. Want to know a great way to start? Help him to consistently serve someone younger or in need. Commandment 1B In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is tested and questioned by Satan, Pharisee's, Sadducees a

Tell me if this sounds familiar. Your son gets home from school and heads directly to his room or spot in the house and basically checks out. You can't get a word from him for what feels like the 100th day in a row and it really bugs you. Rather than full sentences, you get a grunt, blank stare, or barely audible response. Well... the good news: you aren't alone. This is a normal thing that almost everyone goes through while raising a son. It doesn’t matter if you are a mom o

Over the Thanksgiving break, our middle son went into building over-drive. J was dead-set on creating a structure he could sleep in just outside of our treehouse. He worked on his project every day, sometimes with friends, sometimes alone. He collected everything he could find that would be useful, enlisted all the help he could find, and created something fun. Through the whole process, he was completely committed, overcame every obstacle, kept a positive attitude, and just

Minister Chuck spoke recently about three major questions a person needs to ask him or herself. A similar version of his first question came up three different ways on the same day and, when that happens, I feel God is telling me to pay attention. Who do you follow? It’s one of those deceptively deep questions. Do you follow the news on a daily basis? Your political party? Conventional wisdom? Your gut? Christ? Another way to restate the question is ‘to what or who are you pa

For the longest time, we had a gnarly, old apple tree at camp that I would walk by every day heading to the office. The tree was protected a bit by one building and a few larger trees close by. It got plenty of water and sun and was planted in good soil. However, it was almost completely hollowed out. Each summer, though, it would still bear its fruit. However, the bitter, hard apples were good only for deer fodder or for a game of apple ball with the boys. This past winter,