king of talk
I love listening to Professor Wanjala field questions on children’s health on one of Kenya’s Christian radio stations. Without doubt, the good professor is very knowledgeable and well-versed in pediatrics. But it's the employment of grace, decency and gentleness in his delivery that is sheer music to my ears.
As a child, I was just as mindful of my language.…
January 31, 2011
How have you been affected by bitter people, and what have you done to help them break free of their bitterness?
God's friend
If I were to tell you that the president of your country is my friend, it’s likely you wouldn’t believe me. You might even be tempted to call me a liar. But if your president were to go on national TV and say publicly that I’m his friend, then all doubts would fade away, right? The facts would back up…
prison break
"I absolutely know that in anybody’s eyes I was a traitor,” Mosab Hassan Yousef told the Wall Street Journal before the release of his book Son of Hamas. “To my family, to my nation, to my God. I crossed all the red lines in my society. I didn’t leave one that I didn’t cross.”
By “traitor,” Mosab—the son of Sheikh Hassan…
embrace the cross
If desperate situations call for extreme measures, then extreme measures are a sign that we are in a desperate situation. If a police car flashed its lights behind me, my wife might say in her disapproving voice, “What did you do?” If my car were surrounded by police and a TV news helicopter hovered overhead, my wife’s tone would likely…
bottle of water
When I was riding a jeepney (kind of a jeep bus) from school, someone poked my knee. When I looked back, I realized that it was a boy beggar around twelve years old. He was asking for food, but I had nothing, so I said, "None." People near him began moving away from him because he was bruised, dirty, and…
that we might be changed
"The Scriptures tell us, 'The first man, Adam, became a living person.' But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the earthly…
a time to learn
A video on YouTube captured a mother squirrel trying to teach her baby how to scale a cement wall. Over and over the mother squirrel patiently showed how it was done, but the wall was simply too big for the younger rodent to conquer.
Eventually, a few college students intervened. They first placed a backpack up against the wall, hoping…
is it worth it?
"Last one to the water has to clean the dishes!"
Some man-made rules give the one "up" the advantage. Some simply don't make sense when you evaluate them. Are you living by any man made rules that will lead you to a “frozen lake” and no victory? (These two are by a lake by the way. I don’t think either…
power failure
An impromptu high-wire act by a 26-year-old man caused a portion of Dongguan, a city in China, to experience a blackout. The man had lost his job and chose to drown his sorrows by drinking heavily. After his binge, the drunken one climbed a high voltage cable tower and began walking and hanging on the power cables. When firemen couldn’t…
i'm a sugar bowl
Thinkin' about my grandfather. He used to crack us up by singing "I'm a Little Teapot" and say, "Here is my handle" (one hand on hip), "here is my spout" (other hand on other hip)—pretend to be frustrated, start over and sing—"Here is my handle, here is my spout" (both hands on hips)—look down at his sides in frustration after…
we will serve the Lord
"As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15).
—submitted by Ruth, Indonesia
alone
I saw this quote on a friend’s Facebook page: “It’s not that I feel alone because I have no friends. I have lots of friends. I know that I have people who can hold me and reassure me and talk to me and care for me and think of me. But they can’t be inside my head with me all…
my mouth shut
If anyone in history understood the power of words, it was Jesus. He was the Word made flesh. In Matthew 5, He even instructs us to bless our enemies. I don't know about you, but this command of love is sometimes tough for me to attempt, much less achieve. Don't get me wrong, I know as well as you do…
criminally cute
Giddy with delight, my young son Elias slipped out of the room that served as a temporary nursery to newborn kittens. His mother had warned him not to touch them, so she asked, “Did you touch the kitties, Elias?”
“No!” he said earnestly. Mom wasn’t fooled, so she probed a bit further. “Were they soft?” “Yes,” he volunteered, “and the…
