A Japanese businessman was invited by his American host to attend church with him, and he quickly agreed. At the end of the message, which was delivered by the Methodist clergyman Ralph Sockman, his host asked him what he thought of the message. In his discreet,...
Charles Spurgeon once wrote, "You may think that it is easy to define faith, and so it is, but it is easier still to confuse people with your definition." Martin Luther defined faith as "a lively, reckless confidence in God." The Quaker scholar J. Elton Trueblood...
Should you ever have the opportunity to visit ancient Corinth, there is an out-of-the-way, seldom-seen-by-tourists place that makes what Paul wrote to the Corinthians more meaningful. Remember Paul's comments that those who run in a race should run in such a way as to...
How do you combat frustration? Or must you learn to live with it, like dandelions in the grass, dandruff in your hair, and wrinkles on your face? No! There are some things you can do to eliminate frustration and make your life less complicated. You can fight back....
Noticing that the hair on the top of my head was somewhat thin, an acquaintance contributed the dubious bit of wisdom that it is now a proven fact that if you eat six bananas a day, you will have a full head of black hair. “Ah, come on,” I countered. “Nobody but a...
The earliest record of the fabled Roman legion tells us that it consisted of about 1,000 men, organized in groups of about 100 who fought in a phalanx formation. It's a fact: the Roman fighting forces were superior to anything else that existed in ancient days. The...
Any tragedy—great or small—forces us to acknowledge our humanity, and often that realization leaves us depressed or immobilized. But through difficulty or disaster, many turn to God; others turn on Him, blaming Him for the difficulty, accusing Him of failing to stop...
What you love and what you hate reveals a great deal about your character. Why? Because simply put, you can’t be for something without being against its opposite. When you love your family, you stand in strong opposition to anything which would threaten it. Long ago...
Of all the Old Testament heroes I would someday like to meet, none has any more fascination for me than does David, the shepherd boy who became king. Though he was a warrior, this man had heart and compassion. Of all the thousands of individuals who are mentioned in...
The headmaster of New College in Edinburgh, Scotland used to ask the blessing at the noon meal by praying, "O Thou who has endowed us with so many gifts, now grant to us just one more—a grateful heart." If there is one universal human failure, it is our habit of...