the Rock
The Christian faith is a singing faith. Knowing that I love to sing hymns, a friend gave me the devotional book 101 Hymn Stories: The Inspiring True Stories Behind 101 Favorite Hymns so I could learn the history of great songs like “Amazing Grace,” “A Mighty Fortress,” “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” and “It Is Well with My Soul.” Already rich in biblical truth, these hymns have stories behind them that have caused me to appreciate their message even more.
steps to nowhere
Serving with a group of students, I was picking up trash from the grounds of a home when I found a set of three sturdy brick steps. An ordinary set of stairs in every way, but they led nowhere. Climbing to the top simply led to the plank siding of the old, worn house.
tested and proven
We live in an age of testing. The food we eat, the medicine we take, and the toys our children play with have all been rigorously tested before being sold to us. This helps us to be assured of their safety, quality, functionality, usability, and reliability.
bwana asifiwe!
Bwana asifiwe!” is Swahili for Praise the Lord! As I traveled from the dry place of Tala to the slums of Kawangare to the densely populated and dangerous ghetto of Korogocho in Kenya, this is the way every believer greeted me.
no tampering
Kim Peek, the megasavant who inspired the film Rain Man, once went to a performance of a Shakespearean play. As the performance was ending, Peek stood up and shouted, “You’ve got to stop it, stop it, stop it.” Why? An actor had skipped the second to last verse of the play. The actor apologized and said, “The verses are so much alike, I didn’t think it would matter.” Peek is quoted as saying, “It mattered to Shakespeare, and it should matter to you.”
Christian avoidance
In many parts of the world, it’s an amazing time to be a Christian. Most of us can walk down the street and find a church to join. If none interests us, we can go online and download our favorite preacher’s sermons in minutes. Hours and hours of biblical teaching for free. And Scripture! Most of us can read the Bible in our own language and in many different versions. We can buy it in softcover, red-letter, and slim-line formats. We can read it, listen to it, or watch it dramatized. Bible commentaries and devotional iPhone apps are ours for the downloading.
invisible hand of God
While her mother-in-law was out of town, my friend was given the keys to her luxurious car. Later, my friend said to me, “The leather seat seems to be made just for your body shape. And the car cruises silently along the highway. Wow, such luxury is intoxicating.”
good-bye egypt
The Hebrews’ life was literally changed overnight. For generations they had been slaves in Egypt—born as slaves, raised as slaves, and died as slaves. It was beyond their wildest imagination that they would ever be set free.
Now 2 million of them were traversing out of Egypt to a new land. But the exhilaration of their newfound freedom and status…
roaches are forever
For a $10 donation to the Wildlife Conservation Society, you can name a Madagascar hissing cockroach after someone you love. This fund-raising event for a New York City zoo targets sweethearts who want to pay tribute to the long-standing nature of their love. The zoo claims that the cockroach symbolizes resourcefulness and resiliency, and says, “Flowers wilt. Chocolates melt. Roaches…
lead on
Spending much of my childhood in the cool north of the US, I always thought of palm trees as something exotic. So when we traveled down to South Carolina to visit family every few years, I felt as if I was somewhere near Hawaii, even though I knew deep waters and many miles separated the two states. Now that I…
taking God for granted
I’m not going to join the track team again! I said that to myself countless times during my years in school. But every track season, there I was, back on the team.
Why did I have a love/hate relationship with track? The training! During practice, we pushed our perceived physical limits and strove for perfection. And all that training led…
show up
My colleague missed the deadline for submitting his part of our project. When I asked our leader how long I should wait, he told me to turn in what I had put together, for my partner would probably never come through. “It’s unfortunate,” he said, “but he isn’t dependable.”
“Not dependable” is a terrible tag. We may be attracted to…
the model church
What church in the New Testament stands out as the model for the rest? This question was asked during a church growth seminar. It was no surprise that no one attempted to give the church in Corinth that honor. Understandably, everyone said it was the infant church in Jerusalem, described in Acts 2:42-47. But to the apostle Paul, the church…
textcouragement
Have you ever received a textcouragement message? You know, a little scrap of encouragement sent via a text message? My friend Myrna sent me this one: “Read Philippians 3:1-11 today if you have time. It blessed me.” My friend Nicole beamed me: “How is the baby’s cough? I’ve been praying for you.”
As Christians, we need to lift up fellow…
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…
