Jonathan L. Shirk

We wake up in the morning and perhaps lay in bed for a while. We get out of bed. We start our day. It is likely that most of us seldom contemplate our

We vote for presidents, but we also vote for local government officials. It may be tempting to focus entirely on one position, the president, while ignoring key politicians that you can have a

I assume you want to live a happy life. I also assume that when you are taking your last breaths, you want to have a deep sense of joy, peace, and comfort in

I don’t think we should take some peculiar pleasure in the death of animals. Native Americans killed many animals but had great esteem and appreciation for them and industriously made use of

If life suddenly became like Alfred Hitchcock’s horror film The Birds, then maybe the thought of a dead bird would provide some comfort. But in real life seeing a beautiful little dead

I was ordained for the pastoral ministry on May 1, 2010. Since that day, I continue to struggle deeply with sinful desires, thoughts, words, and actions. Being ordained doesn’t kill sin in

When some professing Christians liken the Holy Spirit to a “funny and sneaky and silly blue genie” like the one in Aladdin, it becomes painfully obvious that many professing Christians don’t know

You look at your schedule for the month and think, “How am I going to make it through this?” You hear the unwelcome words from your doctor, “It’s cancer.” You feel deep

Bondage is uncomfortable. Who enjoys gluing their fingers together with superglue? What wrestler enjoys not being able to move as his shoulder blades are pinned to the mat? Who wants to be in

Years ago, when I was the Director of Student Ministry at a church in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, I invited a family to go out to Rita’s Italian Ice with my