Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict Hubert Zafke was 95 years old when he went on trial for a crime that he committed 72 years earlier. On the surface, it seems harsh to punish a 95-year-old for a crime he committed when he was 23 years old. Why not let this crime go? Why seek vengeance for a crime committed seven decades earlier? Yet the people of Germany,...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict It is a life or death situation! Imagine that you find yourself lost in the middle of a vast desert. The sun is beating down on you, the sand is burning, and the wind is making you feel as though you were inside a convection oven. Would you know what to do to survive? One myth that has been propagated through Hollywood mo...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict Several years ago, a small town in Maine was slated to become the sight of a new reservoir. Knowing that their town would soon sit at the bottom of a lake the citizens stopped taking care of their town. Lawns stopped being mowed, burnt-out streetlamps weren't replaced, potholes weren't filled, and litter was never cleaned...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during World War II once remarked, "It was thanks to ULTRA that we won the war." ULTRA was a top-secret operation to decode German communications encrypted on the Enigma machine. While the war for ground, air, and the sea raged on, there was another war occurring, the war for inf...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict Casablanca is one of the most famous movies of all time. For those of you who have not seen the movie, it takes place at the start of World War II. The plot centers on Rick Blaine who runs a nightclub in Casablanca, Morocco. One night his past love, Ilsa, unexpectedly shows up with her husband Victor. As the movie develop...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict I am not sure why I do this. I guess that I am just lazy, or that I think that I have more skill with a paintbrush than I have. Either way, I have the habit of not changing my shirt prior to beginning a painting project. There is something within me that believes this time I will be able to control the flow of paint to su...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict What would Thanksgiving be like if we celebrated it in the Spring? How would that change the holiday? First, it would change the food that we eat from the robust flavors of Fall to the delicate flavors of Spring. Second, it would change the direction of the meal. Thanksgiving in the Fall looks back in gratitude. But if we...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict When April and I were engaged she decided to make a special dinner. She thought everything was going as planned. But the oil was overheated and when she dropped the chicken into the pan it instantly burned. Smoke filled the kitchen and the fire alarm started blaring. In an attempt to air out her apartment April opened the...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict The boll weevil arrived in Alabama in 1910, traveling north from Mexico. This insect wreaked havoc on the cotton fields of Alabama. As these pests multiplied across the state they destroyed millions of dollars in crops. Small farmers who were already in debt could not afford this loss. What were the farmers to do amid suc...

Preparing for the Lord's Day Kingdoms in Conflict It may be the most famous plot twist in science fiction, if not in all films. Luke Skywalker has been battling Darth Vader's evil plots for three films now. At the end of the third film, the two Jedis finally fight it out. Back and forth the battle goes. It is good versus evil. Then in a dramatic moment, Darth Vader revea...