Part 2: Spiritual Formation: A Counter-Cultural Approach to Spiritual Renewal
Release Date: 11/15/2023
Bridges instead of islands: The state of the military sisterhood / September 2025
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
OCF MINISTRY NEWS Check out and attend any of these local events: Aspentime Retreat: 26-28 September at Spring Canyon (Buena Vista, Colo.) BBQ Bonanza: 3-4 October at Fort Leavenworth (Kan.) OCF Hampton Roads Region Annual Fall Picnic: 4 October at Fort Monroe, Va. USNA Fall Retreat: 10-13 October at White Sulphur Springs (Manns Choice, Pa.) OCF Mid-Atlantic Fall Retreat: 14-16 November at White Sulphur Springs (Manns Choice, Pa.) Start an OCF small group: Read Rich's...
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Military Brats React: What makes the difference in raising military kids
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
Show Notes In this second part of “Military Brats React,” host Courtney Burdick continues the roundtable conversation with 2LT Dani Volle, USA, ENS Mary Ann Leonard, USN, and Matt Taylor as they reflect on their experiences growing up in military families. While the first part of the discussion centered on the challenges and mental health struggles faced by military kids, this episode shifts to the “strengths-based perspective”—seeing the good that can come out of a hard, transient lifestyle—. Have thoughts or want to share your own experience? Reach out to...
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Military Brats React: Mental health, faith, and finding strength
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
In a recent Crosspoint episode, In this follow-up conversation, Courtney Burdick hosts three fellow military kids—2LT Dani Volle, USA, ENS Mary Ann Leonard, USN, and Matt Taylor—for a roundtable-style reaction episode. Having met at they discuss stories from their respective military kid experiences, thoughts on Claire’s research, and more. Have thoughts or want to share your own experience? Reach out to Courtney at [email protected]. If you would like to share your own story, Alternatively, if you have an idea for a guest or topic we should consider for a...
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Faithful Leadership: You won’t get this perfect—and that’s OK
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
The July episode of Crosspoint served as Part 1 of a conversation with LTC Lee Robinson, USA, director of the U.S. Military Academy’s American Politics Program and an academy professor in the Department of Social Sciences. We began answering this overarching question—"What does it look like to follow Christ in uniform, when your faith is personal, your authority is public, and the Constitution sets the boundaries?” In Part 2 we continue this timely discussion on how Christian military leaders can live out their faith with integrity, while respecting the pluralism of today’s armed...
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“Just see God at work”: Prioritizing Biblical mentorship / August 2025
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
OCF MINISTRY NEWS Become findable on the OCF Directory: to add or update your group’s information on our online directory of Bible studies. Apply for Spring Canyon’s Deputy Center Director opening: and apply NLT 15 August. Check out our new Widowed Ministry webpage: helpful resources, invitations to fellowship, and scholarship funding for summer programs at the Conference Centers. GUEST SPOTLIGHT Why is mentoring important to the Christian in the military? Answering that question and others in this episode are COL Jim Brown, USA (Ret.), and...
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How do you balance free exercise and non-establishment as a leader? / Crosspoint Highlights
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
Guest: LTC Lee Robinson, USA In this Crosspoint Highlight from July 2025, LTC Lee Robinson explores the delicate balance military leaders must strike between free exercise of religion and non-establishment under the First Amendment. He emphasizes that the amendment’s brevity—and its ambiguity—stem from the compromises between Federalists and Anti-Federalists at the time of America’s founding. Lee explains how the language evolved, rejecting broader proposals like prohibiting any laws “touching religion” to avoid overly limiting the federal government. He encourages military leaders...
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Was America founded as a Christian nation? / Crosspoint Highlights
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
Guest: LTC Lee Robinson, USA In this Crosspoint Highlight from July 2025, LTC Lee Robinson tackles the complex question: Was America founded as a Christian nation? Lee draws a distinction between the first founding (e.g., Puritan colonies with explicitly religious laws) and the constitutional founding rooted in liberty and freedom of conscience. He explains that while America’s early cultural fabric was deeply influenced by Christianity, the U.S. Constitution intentionally avoided establishing a state religion—rejecting even a proposed religious test in Article VI. Citing Alexis de...
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Christ & the Constitution: Navigating the “wall of separation between church and state” / July 2025
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
OCF MINISTRY NEWS Sign up for summer programs at the Conference Centers: Visit ocfusa.org/CCexperience to find the right program and week for you at Spring Canyon (Buena Vista, Colo.) or White Sulphur Springs (Manns Choice, Pa.). Consider your next steps at the Caleb Challenge Career Transition Strategies Workshop (12-14 September): Visit White Sulphur Springs’ website to learn more about and sign up for this impactful weekend. Update your information and stay connected: Whether it's your address, military status, rank, contact...
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Special announcement: Leadership workshop with LtGen Clint Hinote, USAF (Ret.)
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
Information about Summer R&R 7 at White Sulphur Springs, and speaker LtGen Clint Hinote, USAF (Ret.): About the Topic: Wherever we are, God calls us to lead. He calls us to lead ourselves, our families, our units, our communities, and our culture. The Bible contains many accounts of leaders, including stories about their successes and failures. In this session, we will examine Biblical leaders and learn from their experiences. We will celebrate the good and be honest about the bad. In doing so, we will seek practical truths we can apply to our lives because we can always learn and grow as...
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The “hidden epidemic” among military children / June 2025
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
OCF MINISTRY NEWS Sign up for summer programs at the Conference Centers: Visit ocfusa.org/CCexperience to find the right program and week for you at Spring Canyon (Buena Vista, Colo.) or White Sulphur Springs (Manns Choice, Pa.). Connect with OCFers at USNA and USAFA: OCF at USAFA: Pre-Inprocessing Day Reception (Class of 2029), 24 June, Monument, Colo. USNA OCF: Class of 2029 Open House, 25 June, Annapolis, Md. Volunteer as a Local Leader at one of these locations: Columbus AFB, Fort Campbell, Fort Drum, Fort...
info_outlineToday, you’ll hear audio from Part 2 of a speaking session by CH(MAJ) Jake Snodgrass, USA, this past fall at Spring Canyon’s Aspentime Retreat. If you’re new to OCF and you’ve never heard of Spring Canyon, it’s OCF’s western conference and retreat center located near Buena Vista, Colorado. And if you’ve never heard of Aspentime, it’s a weekend getaway at Spring Canyon for Christian military members and families, and it features teaching and small group sessions led by a speaker like CH Snodgrass.
Participants at the weekend retreat explored the profound concept of spiritual formation through the lens of renowned authors such as John Mark Comer, Dallas Willard, John Ortberg, and Donald Whitney, and they uncovered principles and practices that challenge contemporary ideals, emphasizing the necessity of community in the pursuit of spiritual growth. There were also interactive discussions, activities, and real-life applications in which leaders discovered how to build and sustain a vibrant military ministry while fostering personal renewal in an increasingly secular world and military.
About CH(MAJ) Jake Snodgrass, USA
Chaplain Jacob Snodgrass is a native of Ames, OK, and graduated from the University of Oklahoma and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Applied Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City. He was commissioned from ROTC in 2002, and has served as a Chaplain since 2009, endorsed by the Southern Baptist Convention. He currently serves as the 10th Special Forces Group Chaplain and as the lead pastor of Agape Carson, Fort Carson, CO.
Chaplain Snodgrass has served numerous assignments as a chaplain, pastor, and church planter, including Camp Humphreys, Korea; Fort Lewis, WA; and Kandahar, Afghanistan. He was named U.S. Army Chaplain of the Year in 2019. Chaplain Snodgrass has been married for 18 years to the former Heather Dostal of Leakenheath, UK, and they have six kids: Manuel 24, Karmen 22, Gage 15, Boyce 14, Jovie 11, and Bennett 8.