Sleepless In Heaven

One of the most dangerous aspects of flying is the landing. As the aircraft gets closer to land, the air traffic is more congested, the weather on the ground may be far worse than the weather at 30,000 feet, and the runways may not be clear of other planes. So pilots rely on the air-traffic controller to coordinate all the details so that every plane can arrive without incident. Without the air-traffic controller, chaos would be certain.

Discover what God’s name represents

Friday, August 24, 2012, Part 2

“In this manner, therefore, pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name’” (Matthew 6:9).

IDEA: “Hallowed be your name” is not a request that God be made holy, but that we will be able to reflect His holiness in the way we pray and the way we live.

PURPOSE: To help listeners pray this petition with meaning.

Risky Business

As the worldwide financial crisis deepened in 2010, executives of a global banking firm were investigated for deceiving their customers about the risk involved in certain investments they were selling. While promising a high rate of return, the banking firm knew that the investments were destined to fail, leaving those who purchased them with nothing.

Green Pasture

By Debra Ayis, Nigeria “The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to His name.” —Psalm 23:1-3 You promised to lead me to green pasture New land flowing with [...]

A Picture Of Him

One day my son uncapped an orange marker and drew a picture of his father. His toddler’s rendering featured eyes, a nose, and a mouth, all inside of a circle on top of two long sticks (he informed me that those were the legs). Although my little boy scored high marks for effort, his picture didn’t quite capture the specifics that would have created a close likeness to my husband: blue eyes, a confident smile, and silver-flecked hair.

Service before self

By Joanna Hor, Singapore Five cold showers. Six hours of sleep per night. Eight days. Nine hours of manual labor under the hot sun. Thirty-six Cambodian families. Countless insects. The list could go on to describe my recent mission trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia. I even have a bruise and a couple of insect bites [...]

Sharpening One Another

Social networks on the Internet are on the rise. Even when separated by great distance, people are still able to gain insights and a listening ear from peers on-line. Blogs, Twitter, e-mail, and Web links add to the ways we can receive and give spiritual guidance.

It just takes five minutes

By Christie Weakly, USA After I made myself a really awesome maxi skirt last night, I decided to go back to the fabric store with my mom for material to make more clothes since the first one turned out pretty well. After gathering all my desired materials at the store, we waited for our turn [...]

Heman’s Honesty

I marvel at Heman, the poet who wrote Psalm 88. His lot in life was unrelieved distress. “My soul is full of troubles,” he lamented (v.3). He was fed up with suffering!

Living In Community

Texas Ranger baseball player Josh Hamilton has battled the demons of drug and alcohol addiction. So when his team won their playoff series in 2010, Hamilton was concerned about the postgame celebration. He admitted that it’s not good for a recovering alcoholic to be in the midst of a “rainstorm” of champagne. But something beautiful happened. Instead of champagne, his teammates stocked the locker room with ginger ale so that Hamilton could be included in the celebration. What a great picture of community and putting others’ needs above your own.

Song Review: Surrender by Jeremy Camp

By Daniel Gordon Ang, 20, Indonesia Surrender is a special word. Most of us have a vague agreement on what it means and entails, but we might have different feelings about actually doing it. For those of us who were perhaps raised in a Christian household and environment, or have been spiritually stagnant for some [...]

Dreams

By Cora Cheung Everyone has their dreams and aspirations. Everyone knows how to dream—and wants to dream. As a child, Aaron Hotchner loved to dream. It took him somewhere else—somewhere where he belonged. His family wasn’t exactly like what most people thought it was. They thought his family had: pushy parents, an extremely well behaved [...]

Tear Down That Wall!

The Wall. For people living in East Germany over 50 years ago, those two words were the only ones necessary to describe the barrier erected on August 13, 1961. That date marked the beginning of the construction of a concrete barrier that separated East and West Germany. Eventually, the wall became nearly impenetrable—secured with barbed wire and armed men. But in 1989 the wall was torn down, removing the barrier between the countries.

Interview: Elana Meyer

Elana Meyers began the sport of bobsled in 2007, making the national team during her rookie season. In 2008 she won her first World Cup medal, a bronze with driver Shauna Rohbock. She followed the performance with a gold medal at the inaugural World Cup in Whistler, Canada. At the 2009 World Championships, Meyer pushed with driver Shauna [...]

Eyes To See

My first glimpse of the Promised Land from the hills of Moab was disappointing. “Did this look a lot different when the Israelites got here?” I asked our guide as we looked toward Jericho. I was expecting a dramatic contrast from the east side of the Jordan. “No,” she answered. “It has looked the same for thousands of years.”