an indifferent spouse
In the film The Painted Veil, an unhappily married couple—Walter and Kitty Fane—trek into China’s rural Guangxi Province where cholera is decimating the locals. Their visit is hardly altruistic. Walter has caught Kitty in an affair and this trip is her punishment.
While Walter, a bacteriologist, fights the disease, Kitty offers her services to the Catholic-run hospital. One day the nun…
lost
Soon after Charles Lindbergh completed his monumental transatlantic flight in the Spirit of St. Louis, the US Ambassador to Mexico asked Lindbergh to make another flight in order to foster positive US-Mexico relations.
Taking off from Washington DC on December 13, 1927, Lindbergh began the 24-hour flight to Mexico City. After navigating through dense fog, Lindbergh lost his bearings. With only…
real success
I’ve been thinking about success lately. As I write, one of my good friends is at the Cannes Film Festival with her husband. Their film is nominated for the prestigious Golden Camera award. Recently, I learned that another close friend is number 6 in the Top 10 Copywriters in the World as presented in “The Big Won” (a survey of…
adoption option
In his Apology (AD 197), Tertullian argued that the Roman government should stop persecuting its best citizens. He said that Christians not only prayed for the emperor and the empire, but they also sacrificed for the sake of their neighbors. He said they pooled their money “to feed the poor and to bury them; for boys and girls who lack…
book review: thicker than blood
Thunk. A box of books landed on the front porch. The UPS man rang the doorbell to signal the delivery. I ferried the box inside, ripped it open, and pulled out the bubble wrap. Which of the new arrivals would I read first? I skimmed the first page of each book, and went with the one that grabbed me by the…
groundhog day
Groundhog Day, one of my favorite movies, is a comedy featuring Phil Connors, a self-centered, arrogant TV weatherman. After being forced to take on a much-hated assignment—covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney—he suddenly finds himself caught in a time loop, repeating the same day over and over again. At first, he pursues every hedonistic escape he can think of.…
no looking back
During World War I, Oswald Chambers came to a crossroads. Should he continue to oversee the Bible Training College he had started, or go where God was leading—to serve and minister among the British troops in Egypt? The man whose teachings and insights are found in My Utmost for His Highest chose to follow God. He wrote, “I give it up…
handle with care
Various vacations have taught me that jet skis and boulders don’t go together. Neither do 3-wheelers and thin ice.
My motorized mishaps began when, as a kid, my family spent the afternoon visiting friends. Willing to accommodate my need for speed, their son let me use his go-cart. He showed me the gas pedal but assumed I would find the…
April 12, 2010
What has God been teaching you about sacrifice? How are you living it out?
no condemnation
The Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery in the United States was ratified by the necessary number of states on December 6, 1865. So, how many slaves were there in the US on December 7?
Technically, there were none. Although the law had been passed, there were many who did not know the truth and continued to live like slaves. There…
learning to be content
For nearly a year, I was disturbed by a passage in Philippians in which the apostle Paul claims to possess unwavering contentment. “I have learned how to be content with whatever I have,” Paul said, adding, “I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is…
marketing repentance
Have you seen the new Tiger Woods’ television ad for Nike? The 30-second spot features Tiger staring into the camera as the voice of his late father Earl says: "Tiger, I am more prone to being inquisitive, to promote discussion. I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find out what your feelings are. And did…
help the weak
On April 25, 2003, 13-year-old Natalie Gilbert was singing the United States National Anthem for a National Basketball Association (NBA) playoff game. Shortly into the song, nerves got the best of young Gilbert and she completely blanked on the words. That’s when “Mo” Cheeks, the coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, intervened.
Even though Cheeks couldn’t carry a tune in…
ultimate allegiance
Read the first 8 chapters of the gospel of John and you get the distinct impression that inaccurate views of two men—Moses and Abraham—stood in the way of many first-century Jews believing in Jesus. For instance:
• Jesus heals a lame man on the Sabbath (5:8-10). The Pharisees charge Jesus with breaking the Mosaic Law (vv.10,16,18). Moses remained their authority even…
enough for me
Author Peter Rollins offers a jolting retelling of Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000. Rollins recounts how the swarming crowds thwarted Jesus’ efforts to find solitude in a boat. As the crowds poured into this remote location, it became obvious that they needed food. The disciples could only scrounge up five loaves of bread and a few fish, Jesus miraculously multiplied…
