I was born on September 29, 1976. That was a long time ago, according to some. After all, the first two numbers are 1 and 9; as my son has said, I am from the 1900's. I've seen a lot of things come and go, and I've seen information and access to it explode over the past few decades. I remember America as the greatest country in the world in the 1980's and 1990's, and I remember how everything accelerated on Sept. 11, 2001. Although I also remember the ultimate day of unity, Sept. 12, 2026, where much of this nation was like, "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!"

And then, it is as if time spun forward faster and faster. I got married, we had a son, we got separated and got back together. Every year of marriage since then has gotten better and better. But I've changed careers twice since then, and even had a few other odd jobs along the way; I've been a personal trainer, bouncer, wellness director, police officer, training officer, and school resource officer, since I left education in 2007. The past 17 years I have been in law enforcement, and discovered an independent writing career when I wrote my first book in 2014! And I even began blogging in 2006, in the fall of my last year teaching. In that time, I've seen police vilified, races divided, party lines drawn as if agreeing to disagree never existed, and the moral fabric of society fly away faster than an SR-71 Blackbird.

But I refuse to give in to pessimism, the overwhelming sense of cynicism that develops when working in the field of law enforcement, and the inevitable distrust of a government run by corrupt politicians and twisted bureaucrats and billionaire and trillionaire-elites that have brought chaos to the world. The reason I refuse to give in is because God has revealed to me a spiritual pivot in young people. I also know my God is bigger than all of the crap we see. Everyone in the catastrophe-forecasting business is in it to make money, whether they want to admit it or not...but that doesn't mean catastrophe won't come. But I still don't feel like we are even nearing the end. Not THE end before Christ makes all things new. I mean, it feels like it, sure. And maybe we are about to see His return.

But here's what I know is definitely coming - the end to all things as I once knew them, from the innocent boy who had entire conversations by myself in the back seat before my brothers were born, to the happy-go-lucky young man who somehow won over the most thoughtful and generous woman to marriage. The world has definitely gotten darker, more divided, and more violent. But Christ has the hearts of millions. There has been a stirring in hearts, who are awakening to the evil veil that has been cast over much of society's eyes for eons. I see it. I feel it. I wasn't in tune with it for years. I was ready to protect my family from kinetic wars in the streets that everyone says is coming one day - and they still might come, and I will protect my home the best I can. But it's not here yet. So in the meantime, I will preach, I will teach, I will read, I will pray, I will fight falsehood in public whenever I hear it, but I will do it with a Christ-like heart. But don't misunderstand that comment. Christ was not a pacifist, and I will not be either. However, I will make a strong stand on truth and love, first. Truth might mean acting in true physical self-defense to enact violence against an evil person. But truth will mostly be confronting lies to people's eyes and ears.

My wife threw me a huge celebration of my fiftieth birthday and graduation from seminary yesterday. I saw all of those people gathered around tables, smiling and talking to each other, and they all chipped in, every single one of them, to just celebrate special events in one fellow human being's life. That doesn't make me special. That shows humanity's capacity for good. And yet I can guarantee you, not everyone in that room agreed on politics, religion, and worldview. But somehow, some way, nobody left with heads missing or knives or bullets stuck in their bodies. Horribly graphic, I know - but you get my point. That was just one large room, on one day, people all eating one meal together, just celebrating one regular guy. Now, imagine a multitude of young people, learning, accepting, believing, and living in Jesus Christ day by day, year by year, reversing a trend of decrease that lasted a couple of decades. Suddenly, you could have a multitude of older people one day, actually sharing similar worldviews, gathering in multiple places, to celebrate one extraordinary guy; we call Him Jesus.

It's happening. I have seen it. I talk to younger people. I see college age kids, and talk to them. They are not all lost to socialism. Is the turn to socialism in a lot of circles a problem? Sure it is. But I am not going to give up and lay my head on the proverbial chopping block just because the ones who profit off catastrophes and real conspiracies tell me it's all over while they rake in their next bit of millions from their podcasts. Once again, I'm not calling them liars. Many are probably genuinely caring about this nation while their wallets fill up. But I am not going to live like I worry about it all of the time anymore. I've got books to write. I've got a son to support as he transitions fully into being the man he's going to be. I've got a wife to support as she becomes a full-fledged professor.

I definitely miss the days of the 80's where cartoons were cartoons worth watching. I miss the real rock music of the 90's, and the country music of the 90's when they still knew what a melody was. I know I will never see the likes of K.I.T.T., or Airwolf, or Mr. T, or the A-Team or Baywatch or heck, a good old-fashioned Richard Dean Anderson MacGuyver special. I know that pandemics will probably scare us more regularly than they have since the Middle Ages or the Spanish Flu, but there happened to be a very wise man that once lived, that although he turned away from God after the prime of his life, came back to realize how bad he'd screwed up. And King Solomon shared much of that realization with all of us in Ecclesiastes. "There is nothing new under the sun," as he said, and history will keep droning on until Christ comes again.

In the meantime, I will be awaiting the next transition in my own life, as the vest and gun get heavier. Seminary has allowed me to see a different road in the near future; no telling when and where that road leads just yet. But I will teach and preach, I will serve and lead, and most of all, I will keep my eyes on the prize at the end of the race for which I'm supposed to persevere. All I can do is all I can do, and what happens now is anyone's guess - except God's. He is the great author after all. And although He might not dictate move by move like I am some robot, there is a certain short prayer that I say every day now.

"Your will be done."

And that's it. From 1976 to now, I've lived an amazing blessed life, but I've observed and discovered a lot of crazy things. And yet, I know what we have all been called to do. Here is to as many of us that are willing, to praying that God shows His will in all of our lives, so that we can look forward to that final outcome, where finally, all who believe will finally see something NEW, under the sun, when history finally stops repeating its ever-harrowing cycles. We can all have that giant feast of 2 Bros in the sky, and have little slices of Heaven to celebrate the eternal extraordinary God, in our fully restored perfect Images. O what a day that will be.

God bless you all,

JEF