The Blood of the Martyrs

By Steve Beard “They were stoned, they were sawn in two; they were put to death with the sword. They [were] … destitute, afflicted, ill-treated – the world was not worthy of them.” Hebrews 11:37 Added to the ever increasing list of demonic atrocities conducted by ISIS...

LL Cool J on tithing and career longevity

By Steve Beard “Every dime I get, no matter what it is, I give 10 percent to the church,” rapper and actor LL Cool J recently said. The interviewer from Hot 97, a hip hop radio station in New York City, said that she had first heard LL Cool J (born James Todd Smith)...

The way of faith for Alice Cooper

By Steve Beard Back in 2002, MTV announced that the biggest hit in its history was a program called “The Osbournes.” The half-hour show — complete with constant bleeping from excessive foul language — was a curiously fascinating docu-comedy starring the members of...

Wrestling disquietly with the Bible

By Steve Beard “My new Bible study is really testing me. I have never studied the Bible or read my Bible and I really have no idea how to do it,” confessed my friend Tiffany on Facebook. “The language is still confusing and I feel like I’m not really getting the...

East of Eden

By Steve Beard Every morning I see a poster hanging in my home for a Triple Crown surf contest in Hawaii. During the last 25 years, I have been to several of the islands, but the small town of Haleiwa on the North Shore of Oahu has been my vision of paradise. We all...

Eternity on the Sidewalks

By Steve Beard When we are born we bear the seeds of blight; Around us life & death are torn apart; Yet a great ring of pure and endless light; Dazzles the darkness in my heart. Sometimes poets drive me nuts. Despite my best efforts, poetry is not my first...