the walls come tumbling down
If you perform a Google search for the Rwandan genocide, you’ll encounter thousands of disturbing stories and graphic images. The most disturbing emerge from a church building in Nyarubuye, where between five and ten thousand Tutsis were murdered. The visual depiction of such gruesome violence in the one place where the victims thought they would be safe is horrific. BBC…
a good investment
In a time when financial and housing markets around the globe have taken a beating, good investments can be hard to find. Some urge, “Buy gold. It’s an inflation beater that will always be worth something.” Others suggest that a corrected real estate market is a good place to park your money. Many recommend traditional long-term investments in mutual funds.…
run the race
One of my favorite television programs is The Amazing Race. This reality show takes up to a dozen couples (people in pre-existing relationships) and places them in a foreign country where they race—via trains, buses, cabs, bikes, and feet—from one point to the next, gaining instructions for the next challenge. The goal is to get to the designated finishing point…
expansion
Looking out my back picture window, the normally peaceful view had become a bit of a wasteland. Scraps from our now nonexistent deck lay stacked against the fence, twisted sprinkler pipes poked out at varied angles from the red clay, and the once green grass now bore the violent claw marks from a backhoe. We had entered into an entirely…
passion and pigtails
In 1853, 21-year-old Hudson Taylor left Liverpool for China. His ship arrived in Shanghai, one of five treaty ports China had opened to foreigners following The First Opium War with England. Soon after arriving, Taylor made a radical decision (at least for Protestant missionaries of his day). He decided to wear Chinese clothing and grow a pigtail (as Chinese men…
June 15, 2010
Have you ever deliberately ignored the Holy Spirit when you felt that He was convicting you of a sin in your life?
the slippery slope of sin
My friend had been a loving mother who put her Bible degree to good use by teaching Sunday school and participating in several Bible studies. But last month she informed her husband that she recently had two affairs and is open for more. After I recovered from the initial shock, I marveled at how quickly a person can destroy her…
trumping tradition
It’s tough when tradition trumps family. Daman Rao knows this bitter reality only too well. Born in a small south Asia village to a family steeped in superstitious tradition, he was despised and mistreated by them for simply being the fifth child and a boy.
Fortunately, as Daman grew into his teens, he was befriended by believers in Jesus and…
legacy
I’m writing from Karamoja, a vast plain located in northeast Uganda. This region is home to the Karamojong, a tribe whose dress, religion, and traditions represent a vestige of pre-colonial Africa.
The Karamojong are fierce warriors, guided by their deep-seated belief that all cattle belong to them by divine mandate. In other words, if anyone else owns a cow, they…
ken cooper’s kitten
In 1983, Ken Cooper’s 3-year career as an armed felon ended when he was sentenced to 99 years in Florida’s infamous prison—The Rock. With just five guards controlling 900 inmates, The Rock was a hell hole of knifings, beatings, murders, and rape. But while there, Ken Cooper heard the gospel through a brave prison chaplain and became a follower of…
from eden to here
Recently my 5-year-old son, Seth, came running into the room. “Daddy, you have to teach me a superpower.” Apparently, Seth’s 7-year-old brother Wyatt had convinced Seth that I had already bequeathed to him a superpower—how to be invisible. Now, here Seth stood, waiting for his own bit of the birthright.
Each of us desires to have a unique purpose. We…
intimacy with God
As we look at the Christian landscape, only a portion of believers in Jesus appear to enjoy an intimate, vibrant relationship with God. Are they God’s favorites? Is it possible that there are some people who have “qualified” for a deeper intimacy with Him?
In Exodus 24, we read about people who were at four different levels of intimacy with…
June 8, 2010
What has God taught you about how to avoid bitterness?
chameleon
Nicodemus is a man I can relate to. You may recall him as the religious leader who came to see Jesus “after dark one evening” (John 3:1-2). Some scholars say the time of his visit is simply how meetings were done back then. Others say he wanted to keep the meeting hidden from his colleagues, men who saw Jesus as…
revenge
I recently ran across a Web site that instructs you in ways to take revenge. Later, I was stunned to find many online sites that are dedicated to getting even. From “thepayback.com” to “makehimpay.net,” they feature stories and tips on how to get even with people who rub you the wrong way. The sites are obviously put together by folks…
