This is Mount Trashmore.

It’s exactly what it sounds like: a mountain made of trash; a landfill that has been converted into a park. My relatives used to live right behind Mount Trashmore, so I feel like I’ve climbed it 100 times.

Two of those relatives are dead, and have been for about 6 years or so; they both died on the same day—of completely different causes—back in 2016, but the remaining one still lives in that house and I visit him as often as I can when I’m in the area.

Every time I go out there, before going to Oceanfront, I make a stop at Mount Trashmore and take a few minutes to climb it and look around. The view is certainly nothing spectacular; all you see is the surrounding park, as well as Lake Trashmore and Lake Windsor, as well as Town Center in the distance. But being up there reminds me of old times; I think of all those days when I was much younger, and my family would once in a while take a daytrip to the Tidewater region, where on that Sunday morning we would visit the wonderful Brothers and Sisters in Norfolk, then spend an afternoon with some of them, then going our separate ways and meeting up with our relatives for dinner before heading back to Richmond. I think of how much fun we all used to have sitting around the dinner table, and all the laughs we had. I think of how special that house is where they all used to live in Windsor Woods, and the two-hour trek back to Richmond late at night, sitting in the backseat and being really tired but with a full heart after being around so many wonderful people that morning and then others later that evening.

To some, Mount Trashmore is just a landmark that they drive by on the Virginia Beach expressway on their way to the Oceanfront. For me, it’s a very special place that takes me way back.

Of course, there are many, much more famous landmarks all around the world, and they exist not only for direction and location, but to make us remember something or someone from the past.

The Children of Israel were to set up a pile of stones in the Jordan River, so that every time they saw them, they would remember what the LORD had done for them (Joshua 4). Hundreds of years earlier, Jacob had received a vision that was so incredible that he decided to commemorate it by setting up a pillar (Genesis 28:10-22).

We all have reminders of our successes and failures, and it’s different for each of us: David brought Goliath’s armor into his tent as a reminder of the victory the LORD had given him (1 Samuel 17:54). The Apostle Peter denied Jesus as he stood around a “fire of coals (John 18:18).” After Jesus’ Resurrection, he had breakfast with his disciples and there was another fire of coals (John 21:9); what do you think was going through Peter’s mind as he remembered what he had done—and been forgiven for? That fire of coals probably didn’t carry the same significance for the others, just as the twelve memorial stones that Israel set up, didn’t mean anything to the surrounding nations.

There are reminders everywhere of what the LORD has done for you and me, as well as his message to his creation. Be mindful, and think of him every time.

As for Mount Trashmore, I can’t wait to traverse that holy hill again this coming weekend if the good LORD wills.

Grace and peace,

Dan

Back in September, I took a few days off and went to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was the first time I had been there since 2002, when my family and another family had all vacationed together. There has not been a day that has passed since September where I haven’t thought about that weekend, and just how great it was to wake up every morning to watch the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, to see the Lighthouses, enjoy the sea as much as possible (the dreaded red “No swimming” flags were out, due to Hurricane Larry, some hundreds of miles off the coast), and to meet some great people, a few of which I’ve kept in contact with since then, not to mention the relaxation and freedom I felt, not worrying at all about anything going on at work, or in Richmond, or in the country or in the world. Vitamin Sea really does cure all ailments.

One of the days when my family and the other family vacationed in the Outer Banks 19 years before, we all went down to Hatteras and Ocracoke. In the sidewalk at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was an imprint of a lizard who had gotten caught in the cement; my brother and I and Julia and Jackie took a picture around it.

When I was there back in September, as I walked around the property at the Lighthouse, I wondered if the lizard imprint was still in the sidewalk; I figured the chances of that were slim to none. After looking around a few minutes, I found it near two boulders and some benches.

It had been 19 years; the lizard’s mark was still there.

Part of me couldn’t believe it. The other part could; one thing I had noticed about the Outer Banks upon my return was that very little had changed from what I remembered.

I sat there on the bench for a few minutes as people walked by, and I thought there just had to be some lesson to take away from that little marking in the sidewalk: think of all the millions of people who had walked over it in the past 19 years, and all the tropical storms and hurricanes that had passed through (most notably, Isabel, in 2003). Yet, the lizard’s mark was still visible.

What kind of mark are you leaving on the world?

There’s plenty of good and bad examples in Scripture, of people who left their mark, and it was still there many years after they were long gone: Solomon, who even though I like to think repented at the end of his life, made some mistakes and the effects were felt through Israel for generations. The Book of Ecclesiastes may be his reflection on all he had done, whether good or evil. Of Jeroboam, it’s written many times that he “made Israel to sin.” Of course there are many great examples as well (the most important, of course, being Jesus himself). Imagine when Paul is resurrected, and he gets to see the full result of his preaching effort, or Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when they get to see the Promises fulfilled and the reward for their faith. These examples are thousands of years old.

Even the little things we do in life can have a major impact, for better or worse. The “butterfly effect” is very real, and what you do can have a lasting effect long after you’re gone. How do you want to be remembered?

On the last night of my trip, I spent a few hours at the Lighthouse, taking photographs of it with the Milky Way in the background, and talking to people who had also come out to enjoy the night, but one thing I really appreciated was just watching the Lighthouse do its thing: shine its light. I sat there on the amphitheater for quite some time after finishing my photos, watching the rotating beam of the Lighthouse shine in all directions. The Lighthouse didn’t care what type of people were out there at sea; it just shined. Jesus—the Light of the World—tells us to let our light shine before all people, that they may see our good works and glorify our father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Think of all the people out there who are in darkness and need light; you may be the only light they ever get. No one hides a light under a box; it does no good that way. Be the example that others will want to follow.

Grace and peace,

-Dan

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl; countless Americans (and many more around the world) will tune in as the Rams and Bengals meet for all the marbles. Any incredible play or costly mistake will be seen (and then talked about) by millions; all of which will have seen the same game broadcast as everyone else. Have you ever wondered how many people are watching the same thing at any given moment?

A while back, I got a scam email from someone saying they had hacked into my computer’s webcam, and that they had video of me that they were going to send out to all my contacts if I didn’t pay the ransom. Now, I knew this was fake; I even considered calling their bluff, but I just deleted it. Many people choose to cover their laptop’s camera with a piece of tape, because there really are people out there who can hack into the camera and watch what they do, whenever they want.

Last week, one of my coworkers and I used my work computer to join a conference call with someone in a different state. We hadn’t done a video call in a long time, and for well over a year I had kept a piece of tape over the camera. I took the piece of tape off so the other person in the video call could see us, but it got me thinking: what good is the piece of tape? If I’m not doing anything wrong, who cares if some hacker in China is watching me from the other end of the planet?

Someone much more important is always watching: the LORD, and Jesus.  There is an old Sunday School song that goes something like:

“Oh be careful little eyes what you see,

Oh be careful little eyes what you see,

For your Father up above is looking down in love,

So be careful little eyes what you see.”

(followed by “be careful little ears what you hear, be careful little hands what you do, and so on).

The Apostle Paul tells us to abstain from all appearances of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22), to give our adversaries no reason nor occasion to speak badly of us; to be above reproach. Zig Ziglar once said, “live in such a way that if someone spoke badly of you, no one would believe it.” We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). The LORD searches and knows you (Psalm 139:1). Keep your conduct honorable, so that when people speak evil of you, they may see your good works and glorify God on the day of visitation (1 Peter 2:12).

Every moment, everything you do and say, is monitored carefully by the LORD. He is looking not for fault (he doesn’t need to look for that; nothing is hidden from him; it is all in plain view), but looking out for you, because he wants you to be in his Kingdom with his Son, Jesus. It will be his great pleasure to have you there (Luke 12:32), but without holiness no man shall see him (Hebrews 12:14). Invite him to search and know you, and see if there be any wicked way in you, to lead you in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).

Grace and peace,

Dan

(Side note: this is the Super Bowl matchup that I’ve secretly wanted for a while—my high school’s mascot was a Tiger, and my college’s mascot was a Ram; I’m cool with whoever wins, but predicting the Rams win 28-17).

Two stories have broken in the news this past week that have had people talking.

On Wednesday, it was announced that Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring from the Supreme Court of the United States, which means President Biden gets to nominate Breyer’s replacement. However, within a few hours of the story breaking, it was announced that Justice Breyer had not intended for the news to get out so soon (traditionally, Justices announce their retirement at the end of the Court’s term in June), and that he was upset at what had happened. Obviously, someone had leaked the news to the press and it had not even been verified (although it did turn out to be true).

Then today, it was announced that Tom Brady, a 7-time Super Bowl Champion and possibly the Greatest Quarterback of All Time, was retiring. Within minutes, it was all over the news. Again, nothing from the man himself; in fact, his own father came out and said Brady was not retiring, and Bruce Arians, the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—Brady’s current team—said this was the first he had heard about it. Yet, sports networks like ESPN continued to pedal the rumor that Brady was done (not surprising; ESPN isn’t exactly known for journalistic integrity).

What if Justice Breyer or Tom Brady had come out afterward and denied the whole report? You can’t un-ring a bell, and once a story is out there it’s hard to make a retraction (actually it’s quite easy; the hard part is getting as many people to pay attention to it once the narrative is out there). Breyer is retiring, and Brady probably will as well, but it doesn’t make the media look any better.

Fortunately, these are two minor examples from the recent past (there are major examples from just the past few years), but journalism is in big trouble in this country. And it’s not just about journalism; there is a huge problem with truth. Who are you supposed to believe anymore? Who is the great arbiter of truth?

I majored in Journalism at VCU (side note: the basketball team beat the Richmond Spiders tonight in the cross-town rivalry; Go Rams!) and one of my professors once said, “if your mother tells you she loves you, check it out.” What he meant is that whenever you hear something, check it out for yourself to make sure it’s true.

Another famous saying in media (which is obviously not applied much anymore) is that “it’s better to be right than to be first;” if you’re the first to break a story, but you’re wrong, it doesn’t matter that you were the first: wrong is wrong. Truth is truth.

Just because a famous person says it doesn’t mean it’s right, either.

Christians are supposed to be truth-seekers. If we believe whatever we hear in the news, or from our social media feeds, or wherever else, without checking it out for ourselves, we need to be careful enough, but all the more if we hear something that goes against what the LORD says. The Apostle Paul said those in Berea searched the Scriptures daily to see if what they were being taught was so (Acts 17:11), and he warns against being tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, but to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:14-15). If you go to court, you swear to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” on penalty of perjury. How much more important to heed God’s truth! A half-truth is not truth, and truth with a little extra is not also not truth; at the very end of the Bible is a stern warning against adding to or taking away from God’s Truth (Revelation 22:18-19). John MacArthur said, “When the Word of God is not set up as the supreme authority, division is inevitable. Such happens even in evangelical churches, when pastors and other leaders begin substituting their own ideas for the truths of Scripture. The substitution is seldom intentional, but it will always happen when the Bible is neglected. A Bible that is not studied carefully cannot be followed carefully. And where it is not followed there will be division, because there will be no common ground for beliefs and practices. When the truth of Scripture is not the sole authority, men’s varied opinions become the authority.”

We live in a world where it’s hard to figure out who to believe. With so much information out there coming from so many sources (mainly the internet), it’s impossible to comprehend it all, but none of that will actually save anyone. The only source of information that can be depended on with absolute certainty is the Bible; God doesn’t change, even here in 2022. “The truth of the LORD endures forever (Psalm 117:2).”

Grace and peace,

-Dan

(also, I neglected to mention recently that my presentation on Handel’s Messiah can be found here)

Have you ever felt forgotten, like you did all the work for something but someone else ended up getting the reward? I’m not just referring to a job, where you want a promotion and someone else who does no work ends up getting it; I’m talking about when you put in a lot of effort for something, and it is forgotten, or unappreciated, while someone else who literally just exists, gets what you wanted, what you were chasing, where it seems to just fall into their lap, many times without even asking for it.

This has been on my mind a lot lately, and it’s really frustrating. I don’t even know if I’m wording it right on here.

One of the worst things someone ever told me (and this was someone I think very highly of and have a huge amount of respect for), was that God doesn’t care about effort; that no matter what, God is going to just do things his way. That was the last thing I needed to hear on that day, besides, “There’s other fish in the sea…” I totally disagreed that God doesn’t care about effort; sure, his will prevails, but we can’t just sit by and think that everything just falls into place: your future boss at your dream job is not just going to call you out of the blue, and your future significant other is not just going to ring your doorbell and say “Here I am!” You have to put forth quite some effort. But the cruel irony is seeing someone who just has everything seem to go their way get what you want without any effort. It can actually discourage you from wanting to try at all for something, hoping that maybe for once things will just fall into your lap.

I know this verse is taken a little out of context, but the principle behind it still applies:

“God is not unfair; he will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to other believers.”-Hebrews 6:10

The Lord remembers; he will not leave you empty-handed. He has promised that the righteous will be rewarded; he knows what we need before we even ask him (Matthew 6:8). A brother once told me that if you’re trying to do the right thing and you’re asking God for help, he will take care of you. That was a few years ago, and I’ve kept it in the back of my mind ever since.

Don’t be discouraged; the Lord is mighty to save and nothing is too hard for him (Isaiah 63:1; Jeremiah 32:17).

Grace and peace-

-Dan

Happy 2022 everyone! I hope you all had as great a holiday season as I did; thankfully, I had the privilege of attending the Williamsburg Conference again after it was canceled in 2020. My notes from the Conference are here, and the exhortation I gave on the final day, is available here.

After the Conference ended on the afternoon of December 31, instead of heading home to Richmond, I went to Virginia Beach for some time to unwind and reflect on what had been a year so full of ups and downs that I lost count. It was a great way to finish off 2021, sitting by the ocean and getting some free Vitamin Sea. I got back to Richmond around 9 PM that night—just a few hours until the New Year—and sat down to write some New Year’s Resolutions/Goals—29 to be exact—I was so excited for 2022. Unfortunately though, after January 1, I very quickly forgot about the “resolutions” I had made, and here we are two weeks into the New Year, and I’ve hardly accomplished anything. Interestingly enough, starting a blog was NOT on my list of resolutions/goals, but it is now #30; I was inspired to restart my blog recently when I read a wonderful blog post by someone who I have never even met.

Today around 12:30, Glenn Youngkin put his hand on the Bible and took the oath of office to become the 74^th Governor of Virginia. He was elected in somewhat of an upset victory back in November, along with Winsome Sears and Jason Miyares, the Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, respectively.
The LORD changes the times and seasons, and sets up kings (and Presidents and Governors) and removes them (Daniel 2:21). Today was the start of a new time and season in Virginia; the pendulum has swung the other way after being controlled by one party for the previous eight years. I hope you all will join me in praying for the new Governor, that the LORD will help him will do what is right in His sight, and that they will all come to a knowledge of the truth and be saved (1 Timothy 2:1-4): when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice (Proverbs 29:2). Therefore “pray FOR your leaders; don’t prey ON them;” their job is difficult enough. Remember that every Governor/President is a very imperfect human being who is the imperfect leader of a very imperfect state/country. My Bible tells me to curse not the king, not even in my thought (Ecclesiastes 10:20). Our outgoing Governor Ralph Northam did not start any of the problems that plague this state, nor did Donald Trump or Joe Biden start any of the problems that plague this country; WE did, because we’re human beings. Governor Youngkin may be a wonderful Governor—and I hope he will be—but he isn’t going to cause all the problems to go away, neither is President Biden, nor any human leader. Only Jesus can, and he will one day very soon. The wind and waves are roaring, but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is almost here, who will bring peace and truth and righteousness to this sick and sinful and troubled world; worthy is the Lamb that was slain and hath redeemed us to God by his blood, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor and glory and blessing (Revelation 5:12).
The LORD told Solomon that if his people will humble themselves, and pray, and seek the LORD’s face, and turn from their wicked ways, he will hear from heaven and will forgive and heal (2 Chronicles 7:14). This is a promise—not for America—but for all who will listen.

Side note: at the end of the Inauguration ceremony, the new Governor gave a prayer for his administration and for all of Virginia; it was amazing, and refreshing to see a leader who makes it a priority to seek the LORD’s help before beginning the journey ahead of him. Let that be a lesson for all of us.

I hope to post on here often as I begin to phase out Facebook (which is a real shame; Facebook just isn’t what it used to be), and I’d love to hear your thoughts as well.

Grace and peace, and love in Jesus, who makes all things new-

-Dan