Our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776, and now we celebrate with fireworks, grilling out and parades. Some understand the major event that this was, and plenty of others just know it's an excuse to drink and get a day or two off from work. 247 years ago, a group of leaders from the colonies signed a document that told the British Empire to pound sand. These men signed it as representatives of our newly formed nation (technically formed that day) and knew the costs of the decision they were making. While we celebrate and wave flags, we don't necessarily think about that moment in that room, on a hot July day. Benjamin Rush, one of the signers later wrote to John Adams, remembering that fateful day. He wrote in his letter to Adams,… read more

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” John 15:13 The year was 1095 A.D. and Pope Urban the II’s voice thundered over the crowd, recounting to all who had gathered the attacks that had taken place in the Holy Land in recent memory. Forgiveness was declared to all whom would embark on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in order to recapture what had been taken and the first Crusaders then sowed crosses on their shirt sleeves. These cross patches were to be a symbol of dedication. They would respond to the call. Many Christian crusading knights left their family, their homes, their land, and their wealth behind for a chance to liberate Jerusalem from the Islamic Jihad forces that had invaded several centuries prior and many of them … read more

Chapter 1 - Introduction from BECOME FORGED - MAXIMIZING MASCULINITY Something's wrong. If we take the time to stop and look around, life seems normal enough. And through the day-to-day, the current becomes normal, so much so that we become blind to the unhealthy reality which constructs our society. Unfortunately, it has become commonplace to cry out about all kinds of major problems in our society, and it has also become common place to scream, with the next breath, solutions at the top of our lungs. However, if a solution requires something of someone else, is it a solution, or an abdication of responsibility? Stick with me here, there's a point to all this. When we clamor for the increase of welfare, are we taking responsibility for the solution, or hoping other… read more

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” -Matthew 25:35-36 “Where charity is not, justice cannot be” -Saint Augustine From its earliest days Christianity has been a source of selfless charitable compassion, not only evident by todays worldwide ministries but also since ancient times. What began as the world’s example of serving others selflessly through Christ, quickly spread throughout Rome and continued through the so called “dark ages” of medieval times. Many of todays well-known, international charitable organizations were founded in the… read more

The influence of Christianity on western civilization is ingrained all around us in our original culture. Not only did it provide the fundamental bedrock of the United States Founding itself, but it also remains evident in many of our cultural customs. Some of these things are very common and hardly considered when it comes to their source of origination. They can include deeper things like how our western worldview was formed and the moral expectations of how we treat one another, to phrases we say in our everyday language, to even the names we grant our children. The majority of our population enjoys and partakes in these things, even those that would consider themselves completely secular. The deeper fundamentals of our worldview’s foundations have been covered at length in other… read more