x prize
The X Prize Foundation attempts to solve the world’s problems by offering large cash prizes to whatever team can fix them first. Winning teams have built a spacecraft that can fly beyond the earth’s atmosphere twice in 2 weeks and cars that achieve 100 miles per gallon. Other teams are trying to land a robot on the moon, build a machine that can quickly sequence each person’s genome, and create a portable device that can diagnose a patient’s condition. These goals will most likely be met, for people will work hard for $10 million.
gift of your smile
The late film director Krzysztof Kieslowski was once interviewing actors for a film. During an interview, a young actress described to him how she’d go out and walk the streets of Paris when she felt sad.
a sure investment
I sat on the gift-shop bench while my family looked for souvenirs. We had just finished climbing nearly 300 steps of spiral staircase to the top of a towering memorial. As I leaned against the wall, the display nearest me caught my attention. Filled with clear packages of coins and bills, it offered a selection of replicas of dated money no longer in circulation. One particular piece—the triangular two-bit—especially intrigued me. Similar only in color to a current coin, I mused on its worthlessness in today’s market.
breaking bread
Several years ago, a friend and I were dining in a restaurant’s outdoor seating area. As we neared the end of our dinner, we noticed a man watching us from the sidewalk. His clothes were dirty, his face haggard. He walked up to us and with a cracked voice said, “When you finish your meal, if you have any leftovers, would you mind if I ate them?” We invited him to sit down, and we asked the waitress to bring him a grilled chicken and butter pasta entrée. For the next half hour, he told us bits of his story.
all our lives
In the early 1500s, Martin Luther said faith in Jesus justifies us. But he also stated that faith should permeate all areas of our lives, including business dealings. Two and a half centuries later, a young man named John Woolman took this to heart as he opened a tailor shop. Due to his commitment to Christian love, he chose not to purchase any cotton or dye supplies that had been produced by slaves. Then he would be able to say, with a clear conscience, that he had lived according to holiness and sincerity in all his dealings (2 Corinthians 1:12).
use what you have
In 2008, economists confirmed that the UK was in recession. Sure enough, in time, as many as one in ten people lost their jobs, and the normally bustling “high streets” fell silent as many well-known companies became insolvent.
January 27, 2014
In verse 2 of Galatians 6, Paul wrote that we should "share each other's burdens." How have you done this or experienced it in your relationship with other believers in Jesus?
give what you have
Last year, a few foreign exchange college students from Saudi Arabia celebrated Christmas with our family. When they arrived, they told us they had never experienced a Christmas in the US and were looking forward to it with great anticipation.
anchor of hope
When we think of retirement, it may be that visiting exotic islands, lying in hammocks, and enjoying endless days of leisure come to mind. Well, that’s not Estella Pyfrom’s idea of retirement. Pyfrom, a retired teacher and daughter of migrant farm workers, spent all of her retirement funds ($900,000) to serve others. She bought a bus, decked it out with computers and desks, and now drives throughout the district where she taught, providing a place for underprivileged children to do homework and learn technology. Struggling students flock to what she’s labeled the “Brilliant Bus”—and find hope.
strangers and foreigners
Last summer, my son and I were heading to a connecting flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. As we walked briskly from one terminal to another, my son said, “Look, Mommy, a Dinka!”
unlikely gifts
The 166 female inmates at Davao City Jail in Mindanao didn’t have much. But as they saw it, others had even less. Typhoon Pablo had just swept over the southern Philippines, killing more than 1,000 human beings, splintering houses, annihilating crops, and leaving nearly a million people homeless.
was it worth it?
In the movie Field of Dreams, miraculous things start to happen after Ray Kinsella builds a baseball field in the middle of his Iowa cornfield. One by one, major league baseball players from years past begin miraculously emerging from the surrounding cornstalks and begin to “play ball.”
thank you, friends
Albert Lee, former international director of RBC Ministries—the parent ministry of ODJ—was instrumental in helping the organization to establish offices in 32 locations and to distribute resources to more than 150 countries. On his 60th birthday, he penned these words, “As I reflect on the past 60 years of my life, my story could be summarized with these two words: greatly helped.”
guard these well
Japanese-born baseball player Ichiro Suzuki, having led professional leagues in Japan and the US in hitting, is arguably one of the best hitters to ever play the game. One could say he has a special bat—literally. The Mizuno sports equipment company custom-makes bats for Ichiro by hand. They use Tamo wood grown on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, and Ichiro cares for them like Stradivarius violins. He even uses a custom-made suitcase that’s shockproof and moisture-free to protect them.
actions and adventure
On a recent visit home to the United States, I got my first taste of D-BOX—motion theater seats that pitch you forward and backward, side to side, and up and down in sync with the action depicted on the screen.
