you’re beautiful
Ashley Munroe penned the message “You’re beautiful” on nearly 2,000 notes and then placed one on each locker in her high school. Via surveillance cameras, school authorities saw Ashley distributing the notes. The principal assumed she was causing trouble and suspended her. Several hundred students, however, signed a petition to help Ashley avoid punishment. Perhaps her best reward was hearing from a girl who had planned to commit suicide that day but did not because of Ashley’s message.
to suffer alone
In a Downton Abbey episode, beloved housemaid Anna Bates is brutally raped. It was heart-wrenching to watch her try to keep it a secret. The head housekeeper, Mrs. Hughes, found Anna shortly after the assault—bruised, crying, and hiding in a corner. Despite the strong urgings of Mrs. Hughes, Anna told her to tell no one, not even her husband. She was not only afraid he would kill her assailant, but she also felt “dirty” and believed the attack was somehow her fault.
September 2, 2014
"If another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself" (Galatians 6:1). What are some practical ways for us to live out this verse?
intimidation of the Bible
The Bible can intimidate me sometimes. Certain statements bring on the guilt. Here are just a few of them: “You are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48); “You must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy” (1 Peter 1:15). Psalm 119 elicits enough guilt to last a lifetime: “I have devoted myself to Your commandments” (Psalm 119:45); “I rise at midnight to thank You for Your just regulations” (Psalm 119:62); “I have more insight than my teachers, for I am always thinking of Your laws” (Psalm 119:99); “I have done what is just and right” (Psalm 119:121).
April 29, 2013
The book “When Helping Hurts” reveals that the wrong kind of “help” can actually hurt those who are in poverty. What are some positive ways for believers in Jesus to minister to the poor?
you choose Q: I feel depressed and angry, how can I get out of this hole?
Q: "I feel depressed and angry. How can I get out of this hole?" —Olga
A: Anger like sorrow is a normal human emotion. It’s not necessarily a sin to be angry, and at times, not getting angry is sin.
As God’s children, we are to love what God loves, and to be angry what God is angry with. God gets angry…
when giving isn’t helping
Street kids populate most intersections in Uganda’s capital city Kampala. I know many of the children by name, and when I’m stopped in traffic they regularly congregate at my car to talk and laugh with me.
brothers and sisters
Julian and Adrian Riester were born in Buffalo, New York, in 1919. The identical twins lived their lives in sync—attending the same schools (where they enjoyed switching identities and fooling teachers) and taking many trips together over their 92 years on earth. Eventually, they both became Franciscan friars and spent most of their time at New York’s St. Bonaventure University,…
confidence to stand
Hebrews 12:25-27: Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! When God spoke from Mount Sinai His voice…
no kill shelter
Dogtown, the focus of a television show by the same title, is part of a 33,000-acre animal sanctuary in southern Utah. It’s a “no kill shelter” where dogs that might otherwise be put down, find hope.
A devoted staff of trainers, veterinarians, and volunteers take in unwanted, unruly, damaged canines with the goal of transforming each one into a loving…
