Farrier Court Community Building Mural

Young People Picturing Acts of Kindness Rooted in Love


Muralist Kristina Elaine Riley designed the mural for Bridgewater College students to paint with elementary and middle school youth in the apartment complex. The project was done through the Office on Youth.


The leaves will feature acts of kindness written by the children...


...rooted in love.

Teriffic Tuesdays! A chance for kids to interact with positive role models and even make something beautiful! Muralist Kristina Elaine Riley has designed this project where kids paint along with students from Bridgewater College. Now a project of the Office on Youth, the Teriffic Tuesdays program will soon be taken over by the Blue Ridge Church of Christ as an ongoing ministry to the community.

Here are photos of the Completed Mural [click to view].


Kristina paints colorful creatures into the mural.

Dance of the Dogwoods

Spring Comes to the Hilltops as Trees Blossom








In the days of black and white film, photographers such as A. Aubrey Bodine would rely on line, composition and contrast to capture the subtleties of the season. This exercise is my attempt to emulate their methodology.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume V, Issue XX

The Giving of the Law and the Spirit

Seven weeks after Passover comes Shavuot. is directly linked to that of Passover. Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah, the Law, on Sinai. On Passover, the people of Israel were freed from Egyptian servitude; on Shavuot they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving G-d. Shavout is one of the three 'pilgrimage feasts,' where the people were required to come to Jerusalem. The three feasts are: Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Weeks), and Sukkot (Tents or Booths).

Shavuot also is a the first time for the giving of the Bikkurim, or first fruits. The first fruits of wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates (Deut. 8:8) would be brought in a procession to the temple.

As thousands of pilgrims filled Jerusalem for this feast, after Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, the second chapter of the Book of Acts records a unique event:

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of G-d. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?

 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith G-d, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of G-d among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which G-d did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know."

These were the firstfruits of the promise made to Abram in Genesis 22:18: "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."

Shavuot, or Pentecost, as it is called in Greek, first marked the giving of the Law. It was also the time for giving of the firstfruits of the Promised Land. Now the Spirit was given, empowering the Church to bring in human firstruits of the Promised Kingdom! The disciples, who had cowered in the upper room, now spoke boldly to men from other nations who had assembled in Jerusalem. The Church was now reaching out in Judea, Samaria and eventually to the very ends of the Earth. Isaiah 60 and Revelation 21 speak of the Nations coming to this Jerusalem and the restoration of fellowship between man and the Almighty!

In Isaiah 60 [4.] and in Revelation 21 Believers look to a New Heaven and a New Earth where a Heavenly Jerusalem descends to join the Earth. Here is a Kingdom that needs no temple, needs no sun to light it, for G-d Himself is the force that illuminates it! [5.]

"And I saw a new Heaven and a new earth: for the first Heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from G-d out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of G-d is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and G-d himself shall be with them, and be their G-d." -- Revelation 21:1-3


Journey to Jesus, a mural depicting the nations coming to Jesus in the New Heaven and New Earth described in Revelation 21. Mural by Kristina Elaine Riley and Bob Kirchman

Journey to Jesus [click to view larger images].

"Our Christian hope is that we're going to live with Christ in a new Earth, where there is not only no more death, but where life is what it was always meant to be." -- Timothy Keller.


The sun breaks through after a passing storm.

Remembering a Great Mentor

There was a Man who Convinced Me I Could Do This


Reconstructing my model of Ellicott's Mills for the B&O Railroad Museum.

A Milestone Monday Feature

In Chapter 14 of Chuck Balsamo's new book Make Me a Legend Pastor Balsamo talks about the importance of finding a good mentor. He brought back some important memories as I recalled the influence of a man named Reggie. Reggie served in the Navy during World War II and achieved the rank of Aviation Machinist's Mate, Second Class. He was a first class mentor.

I met this amazing man because I went to school with his daughter. He was a Chevrolet mechanic and an avid outdoorsman. He introduced me to the wonders of Coastal New Jersey as I happily paddled for hours through marshes and creeks. At about 50 years old, Reggie became an instructor at the vocational technology school. There he discovered his true gifts and passions.

At an age where most men are thinking about taking it easy, Reggie enrolled in Rutgers University and pursued a degree in administration. Education and young people had become his true calling and he graduated from college the same time one of his daughters did.

Days at Reggie's place where full ones. He lived in a little postwar bungalo and when his children and their assembled friends were descending on the place around ten in the evening, he'd put on a pot of coffee. It came as no surprise that Reggie enjoyed lively conversation and sometimes these talk sessions would end in the wee hours of the morning. Good coffee, however, always made up for sleep deprivation.

Reggie went on to become a high school principal, but I have to believe that the best classes he ever taught were at his own kitchen table. He noticed that I was a hands-on guy struggling with an academic world. He found information on architectural model making and shared it with me. "You'd be good at this, Bob." Years later I was literally living off of this compliment. My little studio built models for architects, including one famous one. I worked on several models for resort projects in Japan, though I'm not sure how a man who served in the Pacific Theatre would feel about that.

No doubt, this man has influenced many young lives in a similar manner. I am priviledged to have known him.

This week the 'other' weekly news magazine presents its list of 100 'most influential' people. THYME maintains that the most influential people are unsung and unknown.How many people know the name of Edward Kimball? [1.] Kimball led a shoe salesman to Faith in Christ. The shoe salesman happened to be Dwight L. Moody. Here in Volume V, Issue XIX, THYME celebrates the lives of those who truly influence others!

Thoughts on True Greatness [click to read] by Rabbi Yonason Goldson in Jewish World Review.

Spring Comes to the Ridgetops

Blossoms Announce the End of Winter


Spring blossoms and new green paint their colors on the landscape.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume V, Issue XVIII

Unmaking America

In 1969 America landed men on the Moon. In the year following the close of the Apollo Program, Roe vs Wade was decided in the Supreme Court, stripping away state laws protecting the unborn. In the years following, We've Forgotten What Belongs On Page One [click to read]. Kirsten Powers in USA Today slaps us in the face with the reality of what has happened to us as a nation: 

"Infant beheadings. Severed baby feet in jars. A child screaming after it was delivered alive during an abortion procedure. Haven't heard about these sickening accusations?

It's not your fault. Since the murder trial of Pennsylvania abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell began March 18, there has been precious little coverage of the case that should be on every news show and front page. The revolting revelations of Gosnell's former staff, who have been testifying to what they witnessed and did during late-term abortions, should shock anyone with a heart." [1.]

Thankfully there are journalists like Powers, who still tell us the news that belongs in the headlines. Unfortunately many media sources today don't bother to print it. When THYME Interactive [click to read] linked to Ms. Powers' article, Facebook spinelessly labeled it as 'spam,' (later rescinding the label); That shows you that our media only wants you to be outraged at what they determine is outrageous. The screams of aborted babies don't count when your agenda is to promote abortion at all stages of pregnancy.

Pro-life speaker Hannah Rose Allen [click to read] knows firsthand the pain and heartache abortion can inflict. She's spoken on the same platform as Dr. Alveeta King (Dr. Martin Luther King's niece), making the case for the unborn and the women who carry them. [2.]

Abortion and the Devaluing of Human Life

Before Christmas an appalling crime occurred in a small town in Connecticut. The murder of six-year old children shocked most Americans. Killing innocent children is wrong. Most of us would agree. When a nine-year old child asks his Mother: “What is an abortion?” and she tries to explain, the child responds: “But, that means killing the baby.” The existence of abortion in the fabric of our culture has long range implications, and they do not bode well for a culture of respect for life [3.].

For forty years abortion has been given privileged protection (your child cannot have an aspirin at school without your consent, but the same school health system may schedule a 'confidential' abortion consultation for your child at Planned Parenthood) [4.]. Attempts to regulate abortion clinics in a manner similar to other medical facilities are regularly challenged. You will never see an abortion performed on educational television. In fact, pro-choice advocates regularly stonewall discussion of the very real issue of protecting preborn life.

I participated in a prayer vigil to silently protest the first abortion clinic built in the city where I lived in 1974. Now, forty years later, one must ask what the long-term consequences are. Occasionally a child survives the attempt to abort her. Gianna Jessen is one such person and though the failed abortion left her with a number of physical challenges, she regularly speaks on the issue of sanctity of life.

Margaret Sanger [click to read] ought to be well reported for her Eugenics. She isn't. That driving force in her mission is quiely 'forgotten' by the media, although it does surface in this Interview with Mike Wallace [click to read]. Planned Parenthood gets a free pass to mainstream respectability in spite of its founder's views, which Adolph Hitler found applicable in his own diabolical doings.

Although Judeo-Christian ideals were built upon to found this country they are now banished from the Academy [click to read]. Dennis Prager [click to read] is one journalist who understands that a society needs to have foundations. He says: "I offer the single most politically incorrect statement a modern American — indeed a modern Westerner, period — can make: I first look to the Bible for moral guidance and for wisdom."

Prager is not alone.

'Made in America'

This week the 'other' weekly news magazine talks about the 'Resurgence' of Manufacturing [click to read] in America. Let's be honest here. The great manufacturing era of the past is nowhere near returning. The 'resurgence' they talk about is largely fueled by the availability of an Undervalued Workforce [click to read] and (compared to Europe) cheap energy. Companies that treated their workers like family members, such as Bill's Barbeque in Richmond, are closing. While I understand sound business decisions, people are more than "human resources" when seen through eyes informed by society's foundations.

When I worked for my Grandfather's company (now closed), a man informed me as he was teaching me how to lace drive belts for large machinery: "Your Grandfather loaned me the money for my first house." Grandpa never did his good deeds in public view, but there were many eager to tell a good story about him.

People no longer see companies loyal to them as employees. Rosetta Stone in Harrisonburg recently downsized, announcing in a press release: "Rosetta Stone announced today that it is re-shaping its Product organization and expanding its operational footprint in order to drive technological innovation and accelerate product development. The company will eliminate 48 positions in its Harrisonburg office."

Translated: "We're hiring new people elsewhere and laying off the office that got us started. Labor costs; you see. Have a nice day!"

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume V, Issue XVII

Marriage Wins in the Big Picture

"In terms of their social orientations, journalists are clearly more influenced by the post- 1960s "new morality." Few attend church or synagogue." -- Donald Lazere, American Media and Mass Culture: Left Perspectives.

It is not surprising then that the 'other' weekly news magazine last week stated that traditional marriage has Already Lost [click to read]. This week they're looking at Latino Influence in the Church [click to read] and The Rise of Evangélicos [click to read]. Journalist Elizabeth Dias has discovered a growing interest in Faith among the Latino community. She writes: "What I discovered signaled a Latino Reformation. Both churches were doubling in size every few years. Many of the congregants were Catholic converts, and even more may have been undocumented. All were fervent believers—they sang with hands high, danced during worship, and often brought their own tambourines and flags to Sunday services. They were charismatic and believed in miracles. They told me their stories over tamales and café con leche—how they converted, how G-d healed their physical illnesses, and how their churches became refuges from hunger and homelessness. To the mainstream American culture, and even other white evangelical churches, they were invisible. But they were hiding in plain sight."

"I offer the single most politically incorrect statement a modern American — indeed a modern Westerner, period — can make: I first look to the Bible for moral guidance and for wisdom." -- Dennis Prager [click to read].

The post 1960's culture declared marriage 'obsolete' thirty years ago. Certainly there are trends toward cohabitation, easy divorce and out-of-wedlock parenting (and a new set of societal costs as a result), but marriage as an institution is still a strong force in our society. Mark Steyn [click to read] has a pretty straightforward picture of what is really happening here. Steyn writes: "Gay marriage? It came up at dinner Down Under this time last year, and the prominent Aussie politician on my right said matter-of-factly, "It's not about expanding marriage, it's about destroying marriage."

Steyn's article is worth pondering. The case of Elane Photography [click to read] and the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association [click to read] bear out Steyn's argument. These cases are not about freedom to marry, but about imposing a civil morality, or civil legality [1.] upon people of faith. In the first case, a photographer is sued for not photographing a same-sex ceremony for reasons of faith [2.]. In the second, a Methodist organization does not allow their facility to be used for a same-sex ceremony for the same reason. Ultimately this is about First Amendment protected religious freedom. Most of us would not deny a person the right to live with whoever they choose, and civil and contract law allow for the sharing of property. Most of us also acknowledge that this country was built upon religious liberty as well as individual freedom.

Marriage has come under attack in times past. Claudius II, Emperor of Rome issued an edict prohibiting marriage for his troops, seeing family life as a 'distraction' to them. A priest named Valentine [3.] performed secret marriages anyway. He was beheaded on February 14, 270. People still give their wives cards on that date, and soldiers still get married. For people of Faith, marriage is more than a human institution. In Ephesians 5:25-32, Paul states:

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband."

Thus marriage is, for the person of faith, a picture of the relationship of the believer with his G-d. The sacrifice and fidelity of a traditional relationship are essential to this picture. Marriage as an institution survived Claudius. Today, the challenge is to build our own marriages upon the challenge of Ephesians 5. The marriage that models relationship of humanity to G-d is impossible to codify. Those precious couples who's lives actually reflect this, (and I greatly admire them), create a transcendent work of art that no law can snuff out.

It is for this reason that I see great hope for the institution. Are not the stories we remember the stories of love that is steadfast and triumphant in the face of overwhelming challenge. G-d in His wisdom has made that a picture of the Relationship of Redemption!

Revelation 19:6-9 speaks of the time when people of all nations are joined in communion with G-d:

"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord G-d omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of G-d."

In Isaiah 60 [4.] and in Revelation 21 Believers look to a New Heaven and a New Earth where a Heavenly Jerusalem descends to join the Earth. Here is a Kingdom that needs no temple, needs no sun to light it, for G-d Himself is the force that illuminates it! [5.]

"And I saw a new Heaven and a new earth: for the first Heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from G-d out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of G-d is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and G-d himself shall be with them, and be their G-d." -- Revelation 21:1-3


Journey to Jesus, a mural depicting the nations coming to Jesus in the New Heaven and New Earth described in Revelation 21. Mural by Kristina Elaine Riley and Bob Kirchman

Journey to Jesus [click to view larger images].

"Our Christian hope is that we're going to live with Christ in a new Earth, where there is not only no more death, but where life is what it was always meant to be." -- Timothy Keller.


The hope of Heaven.

The Steeples of Staunton XI

Spires and Symbols of Faith Around Our City


Bible Way Community Church on West Beverley Street.


First Church of the Nazarene on West Beverley Street.


Faith Baptist Church on Essex Drive.


Community Fellowship on Market Street.


Downtown Young Men's Christian Association on Frederick Street.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume V, Issue XVI

Barley, Not Bunnies

The first people to learn of, and celebrate, the Resurrection of Christ would not have associated the day with Spring fertility symbols. They would likely have seen more of an association to the next Feast following Passover.

In Leviticus Chapter 23 there is a list of Feasts, instituted by G-d's command: "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts." -- Leviticus 23:1. In verse nine He continues: "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord." -- Leviticus 23:10-12

The harvest of Barley, a Winter crop, marked the Firstfruits, and the recognition that this was the beginning of the inbringing of G-d's provision. This came after the celebration of the Passover. After celebrating G-d's deliverance, the people moved on to celebrate G-d's provision!

In 1 Corinthians 15:20, Paul says: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." -- a direct reference to this Feast. 1 Corinthians 15 [click to read] is a wonderful Scripture to read in the days following Resurrection Sunday. Here is a powerful and succinct testimony to the power of Resurrection. h/t Pastor Bruce Hankee