the tale of three men
Once there were three men who served in the same community—Gaius, Diotrephes, and Demetrius.
diamond in the rough
Michael Dettlaff’s visit to Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park in 2013 turned out to be one gem of a trip! The 12-year-old ended up leaving its confines with a truly precious stone. The park, where visitors can dig up and keep jewels, has given up more than 75,000 diamonds since it was discovered in 1906. Michael’s glittering find was a whopping 5.16 carats, much to the delight of his whole family. He named the diamond, valued at nearly $15,000, “God’s Glory.”
legacy
The book of Genesis is structured around the phrase, “This is the account of.” Its main divisions begin with, “This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 2:4), “of the descendants of Adam” (Genesis 5:1), “of Noah and his family” (Genesis 6:9), “of Terah’s family” (Genesis 11:27), “of the family of Isaac” (Genesis 25:19), and “of Jacob and his family” (Genesis 37:2). These sections focus on the children that each person produced. The account of Terah is the story of Abraham; the account of Jacob is the story of Joseph.
a sulking prophet
We might think of God’s prophets as holy and well-behaved, somewhat like that model student in school. But there was a prophet who had the audacity to yell, “God, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!” Jonah was that man, and his words are written in the Bible for all to see.
new name, new life?
Each year, thousands of people change their names. Some of these changes reflect a deep desire for a new life. “I changed my name and it changed me,” wrote singer Alina Simone in The New York Times. “When I think back to my old self, I think of an entirely different person, not altogether likable,” she reflects. That old person, Alina Vilenkin, was put aside. Alina Simone formed a band, tried new things, and poured her “best self” into her new name.
attractive gossip
Hazel Namandingo says that so many people have HIV and AIDS in her homeland of Malawi that singles often rely on gossip to figure out who is safe to date or marry. Accurate information can mean the difference between life and death—but as often happens when the stakes are so high, unfounded rumors start to fly. Hazel said that Malawians…
unspoken
Sometimes life holds moments—and even needs— too deep for words. Not all silence comes from a desire to hide or pretend we’ve got life together. The reasons may be varied: Perhaps we feel the need to keep a rightful confidence or find that speaking puts another’s reputation at unnecessary risk. Other times, we fail to find sufficient wording to express…
the "accept" button
After months of vowing not to, I finally signed up on Facebook and Twitter. My fears that these social media tools would rob me of precious writing time as I waded through endless updates have largely proven true! But the pros have outweighed the cons— particularly in keeping in touch with listeners to my radio program, Open House.
Open House…
the grapevine
“I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1966, was recorded by Gladys Knight and the Pips and later by Marvin Gaye. It became one of the biggest hits on the Motown label. Its point was that while the telegraph is obsolete, the informal transmission of information, gossip, or rumor from person…
exercising self-control
Here’s a secret about self-control: It works like a muscle,” says Douglas McKenna, former director of Microsoft’s Leadership Development. “With each use, that muscle temporarily loses some strength, leaving you with reduced capacity to handle yourself if the next self-control challenge pops up too soon.
“That’s the bad news. The good news is that just like with any other muscle,…
maximum sentence
South Korean courts sentenced actress Ok So-ri to 8 months in jail for cheating on her husband. During court proceedings, So-ri fought to stay out of prison, claiming the 1953 law against adultery was an invasion of privacy. The courts upheld the law, but suspended her sentence for 2 years.
Even though most countries don’t recognize adultery as a criminal…
mistaken motives
I once sent a hurting person an anonymous note that included the reference for this verse: “Why are you scheming against the Lord? He will destroy you with one blow; He won’t need to strike twice” (Nahum 1:9). Why send that verse, you ask? Well, I thought I was citing Nahum 1:7, “The Lord is good, a strong refuge when…
whatever it takes
A province in Indonesia has asked a few of its residents to add a certain fashion accessory to their wardrobe—a padlock. Let me explain. To curb the prostitution that sometimes occurs in massage parlors, masseuses in East Java were prompted to wear a lock on the waistband of their pants.
While this idea seems a bit medieval, it certainly sends…
