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The Witness of the Spirit
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit . . . —Romans 8:16
We are in danger of getting into a bargaining spirit with God when we come to Him—we want the witness of the Spirit before we …
Impulsiveness or Discipleship?
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith . . . —Jude 20
There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. …
The Key to the Master’s Orders
Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. —Matthew 9:38
The key to the missionary’s difficult task is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer, not work— that is, not work as the word is commonly used today, which often results in the shifting of our focus away from God. The key to the missionary’s difficult task…
Brangelina split: The end of Love?
Or so that is what some news reports have been saying, after news emerged yesterday that Hollywood’s golden couple, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, are ending a two-year marriage—after 12 years and six children together.
Why We Should Not be Politically Disengaged
“Politicians – they’re all the same, aren’t they? All of them are lying to us, so we just vote for the lies we like the sound of and hope that maybe a few of them will actually come true, even though we know deep down that they probably won’t.”
Why I Deleted Pokemon Go
It all started because of a dream. One about Pokemons, or more specifically, evolving a Pidgeotto into a Pidgeot. Admittedly, I was evolving some of my Pokemons before hitting the sack, but to actually dream about the virtual monsters was another thing altogether.
Free Indeed
Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745–1796) was only 11 years old when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. He made the harrowing journey from West Africa to the West Indies, then to the colony of Virgina, and then to England. By the age of 20 he purchased his own freedom, still bearing the emotional and physical scars of the inhumane treatment he had experienced.
Unable to enjoy his own freedom while others were still enslaved, Equiano became active in the movement to abolish slavery in England. He wrote his autobiography (an unheard of achievement for a former slave in that era) in…
Gentle Influence
A few years before he became the 26th U.S. president (1901–1909), Theodore Roosevelt got word that his oldest son, Theodore Jr., was ill. While his son would recover, the cause of Ted’s illness hit Roosevelt hard. Doctors told him that he was the cause of his son’s illness. Ted was suffering from “nervous exhaustion,” having been pressed unmercifully by Theodore to become the “fighter” hero-type he himself had not been during his own frail childhood. Upon hearing this, the elder Roosevelt made a promise to relent: “Hereafter I shall never press Ted either in body or mind.”
The father was true to…
The Ultimate Road Trip
Madagascar’s National Road 5 offers the beauty of a white sand coastline, palm forests, and the Indian Ocean. Its 125 miles of two-track road, bare rock, sand, and mud, however, have given it a reputation for being one of the worst roads in the world. Tourists looking for breathtaking views are advised to have a four-wheel-drive vehicle, an experienced driver, and an onboard mechanic.
John the Baptist came to announce the good news of the coming Messiah to those traveling on rough roads and through barren landscape. Repeating the words of the prophet Isaiah written centuries earlier, he urged curious crowds…
Naming God
In his book The God I Don’t Understand, Christopher Wright observes that an unlikely person is one of the first to give God a name. It’s Hagar!
Hagar’s story provides a disturbingly honest look at human history. It’s been years since God told Abram and Sarai they would have a son, and Sarai has only grown older and more impatient. In order to “help” God, she resorts to a custom of the day. She gives her slave, Hagar, to her husband, and Hagar becomes pregnant.
Predictably, dissension arises. Sarai mistreats Hagar, who runs away. Alone in the desert, she meets the…
Remembering . . .
One difficult part of growing older is the fear of dementia and the loss of short-term memory. But Dr. Benjamin Mast, an expert on the topic of Alzheimer’s disease, offers some encouragement. He says that patients’ brains are often so “well worn” and “habitual” that they can hear an old hymn and sing along to every word. He suggests that spiritual disciplines such as reading Scripture, praying, and singing hymns cause truth to become “embedded” in our brains, ready to be accessed when prompted. In Psalm 119:11, we read how the power of hiding God’s words in our heart can…
What the Olympics is Really About
What would you do if you accidentally collided into a fellow competitor in the most important race of your life? Get up as quickly as possible and try to make up for lost time? Or stop and help your fellow competitor up?
A Former Olympian: The Greatest Race of My Life
I started running at a young age—I used to break things at home because I was always knocking into them. Naturally, my mum wasn’t pleased so she got me to play downstairs instead. That’s when I started playing catching with the other kids.
When Schooling beat Phelps: 3 lessons on success
Just before the crack of dawn on the tiny island of Singapore, a hero’s welcome awaited 21-year-old Joseph Schooling, the country’s first Olympic gold medallist, who had just touched down after a 24-hour flight from Rio de Janeiro.
3 Lessons I Learned as a Pokemon Trainer
If you haven’t heard by now, Pokemon Go is the latest craze in town—it’s all over the Internet and media, and is dominating many of our conversations. Basically, this mobile game involves the trainer (that’s what the player is called) going around his neighborhood or city to hunt for Pokemon (short for pocket monster) using his mobile device.
