By Ron Hutchcraft

The world sure changed in recent days.

Once again, we are plunged into a season of unnerving peril and uncertainty. This time it's drones and missiles.

The Apostle Paul's sober warning to his young protégé Timothy echoes across the centuries: "In the last days, perilous times will come" (2 Timothy 3:1).

By Ron Hutchcraft

I'm writing this on September 11. Twenty-four years ago today, I watched on television as the Twin Towers crumbled to dust. Twenty-four hours ago, I saw the shocking assassination of a hugely popular Gen Z influencer in front of 3,000 people.

In both cases, millions were devastated in disbelief and grief. Including reporters, politicians, law enforcement spokesmen - and lots of ordinary folks. And while the scope of the 2001 tragedy was clearly greater, the trauma of yesterday's assassination hit many young people very personally.

By Ron Hutchcraft

"Be a man."

Three words that have gotten a lot of guys in trouble. Too many of us have done too many dumb things to prove what a "man" we are.

But it seems more confusing than ever to know what that even means anymore. Being a man.

By Ron Hutchcraft

The game could be a nailbiter or a yawner. But you can always count on those Super Bowl Commercials.

Here they come - from Mountain Dew to mayonnaise... TurboTax to Taco Bell... DoorDash to Doritos. All designed to be entertaining and effective.

They'd better be. They cost eight million dollars for 30 seconds! All to introduce you to and interest you in what they offer.

By Ron Hutchcraft

Over the years, when traveling for speaking, my wife and I would often travel together. Depending on the meeting, weather, and temperature where we were heading, we sometimes would have to bring a few pieces of luggage along. My wife was well-organized, and would pack everything we would need for overnight and the next morning in one smaller bag. We didn't need to carry everything in to each hotel, because we weren't planning to stay.

When she was in college, my daughter went on a trip to a part of the world that she brought home in her heart and brought into the hearts of our family. It was back when the Soviet Union was beginning to collapse. She was on a Christian music team on a tour to the Baltic states, formerly Soviet areas. They were actually pursuing some historic opportunities to present Christ in public settings. But what really impressed them were the local believers. And that impressed them even more than the meetings that they were able to hold. And they saw in those people a hope of freedom.

He's a real American hero! He received America's highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor. It was November 14, 1965, Major Bruce Crandall flew a Huey helicopter assigned to lift troops into La Drang, which was to become known, in Vietnam, as the "Valley of Death." His mission to deliver the troops was done. But pretty soon he realized the plight of those troops. There were 450 American soldiers hugely outnumbered by 2,000 enemy troops. Major Crandall began flying into that Valley of Death to bring out the wounded and to bring in ammunition. Before that day was over, he had flown for 14 hours straight - 22 flights barraged with enemy fire. It took three different choppers to do it all; two were too damaged to continue. One officer said, "Without Major Crandall, our battalion would almost surely have been overrun." Crandall simply said, "They knew we would come if they needed it no matter what." That's heroism.

By Brad Hutchcraft

I heard some whispers in church recently that made me smile. That Sunday, we sat down after singing, and a video played introducing a new teaching series. This particular video had some clips about the life of Jesus and the first disciples. As the images appeared on the screen, I heard the voices of two nearby children whisper, "It's Jesus!" Not just once, but they repeated it a few times in their whispers - hushed yet filled with wonder.

Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both called him one of the American Presidents that they revered the most - Theodore Roosevelt. He became a national hero, and soon President of the United States after his heroic leadership in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. The objective of his unit was to take this strategic Kettle Hill and then San Juan Hill. Ultimately, his troops would have to advance uphill in the face of withering enemy fire. And his soldiers would long remember the order he gave to launch what turned out to be an historic advance. Unlike many military leaders, Teddy Roosevelt did not say, "Charge!" Instead, he shouted, "Follow me!"

By Ron Hutchcraft

King George and his army must have had a really good laugh. George Washington and his Continental Army had been whipped in battle after battle in their campaign to become independent from Britain. British troops had driven the Americans out of New York City, across the Hudson River, across New Jersey, and finally into Pennsylvania. Then came the winter of 1777, at a place outside of Philadelphia called Valley Forge.