The Poor Among Us

Francis Chan, in his book Crazy Love, tells of a family with an interesting Christmas tradition. On Christmas morning, the Robynson family doesn’t focus on opening presents under the Christmas tree. Instead, they make pancakes and coffee, and serve the breakfast to the homeless. This is a small but creative way to show God’s love and generosity to the poor.

A Spiritual Journey

The miracles that God worked through Moses challenged the many gods of Pharaoh. Yet, in another time, there was a Pharaoh who promoted the belief in one deity. Pharaoh Akhenaten pointed to the rising and setting sun as the great deity who gave life to the earth.

The Doers Of The World

Just after we moved to a house in a new neighborhood, we invited my sister-in-law and her husband over for Sunday dinner. As we were greeting Sue and Ted at the door, an odd noise directed their eyes toward the kitchen.

The Price Of Involvement

While making his landmark documentary about World War II, filmmaker Ken Burns and his colleagues watched thousands of hours of military footage. Scenes of the devastating Battle of Peleliu often invaded their dreams at night. Burns told Sacramento Bee reporter Rick Kushman,

Show Up Before You Speak Up

There was a time when a certain West Coast city may have been one of the most hostile places to the gospel in America. Posters in coffee shops advertised witchcraft meetings where you could learn to cast a spell on your enemies.

A Snail’s Pace

One of my earliest childhood memories was watching snails in our backyard flower garden. I was fascinated by this little creature with a shell, a slimy little tummy, and tiny eyes that turned like periscopes. But what really seemed unusual was how slowly a snail travels.

How slow does a snail go? One study clocked a snail at 0.00758 miles per hour—or 40 feet in one hour. No wonder we use the phrase moving at a snail’s pace to mean “slow.”

Bearing The Name

Hans Geiger, Marie Curie, Rudolf Diesel, Samuel Morse, and Louis Braille share something in common. They all invented or discovered something significant that bears their name. Their names, along with many others, appear in the “Encyclopedia Britannica’s Greatest Inventions,” a list of “325 innovations that have had profound effects on human life.”

A Worry List

I was worrying about a few things as I sat in my car under a shade tree at lunchtime. Then a robin, with a fat worm dangling from its mouth, landed near my door and looked up at me. The robin was a vivid reminder to me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25-26, “Do not worry about your life . . . . Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

10 Reasons to Believe Christ Rose From The Dead

In a world filled with belief systems making religious claims, how can you know what to believe? How can you know who to follow? This brochure offers ten pieces of evidence and witness that verify that following Christ is reasonable. As this evidence is examined and tested—we find that it can also be trusted.

10 Reasons to Believe In Life After Death

The greatest fears of life are often connected to the unknown, and for many people the greatest unknown is what happens one second after death. Can we believe the promises of the Bible that there is life after death—and that it lasts forever? Embracing the wisdom of the Bible in this important area can have a dramatic impact on the way we live our lives.

10 Reasons to Believe In The Christian Faith

You're Not Alone.In a world filled with belief systems making religious claims, how can you know what to believe? How can you know who to follow? This brochure offers ten pieces of evidence and witness that verify that following Christ is reasonable. As this evidence is examined and tested—we find that it can also be trusted.

10 Reasons to Believe God Became A Man

Every Christmas season, people celebrate the birth of Jesus—yet, many who celebrate that birth question its significance. Was Jesus merely a good man, or a skilled teacher, or a mystical wonder-worker? Here, we consider evidence that, in fact, Jesus Christ was God in human flesh—and why that matters.

Paul’s Heart

According to a long-held Christian tradition, the apostle Paul was beheaded and buried in Rome around ad 67. In 2009, scientists conducted carbon dating tests on what many believe to be his remains. While these tests on the bone fragments confirmed that they date from the first or second century, positive identification remains in question. But no matter where Paul’s bones rest, his heart lives on through his letters in the New Testament.

Really Thirsty

Have you ever been really thirsty? Years ago, I visited my sister Kathy in Mali, West Africa. During an afternoon of seeing the sights, the temperature had risen far above 100ºF. Parched, I told her, “Hey, I need something to drink.” When Kathy told me she had forgotten to bring along a supply of filtered water, I began to get a bit desperate. The longer we drove, the more I wondered what it was like to truly die of thirst.

Guilty Of Plenty

A man was filling out a job application when he came to the question “Have you ever been arrested?” He wrote, “No.” The next question, intended for people who had answered “Yes” to the previous question, was “Why?” The applicant answered it anyway: “I never got caught.” He evidently knew he was guilty of plenty!