Philosopher Emile Cailliet was born in a small French village near the end of the 19th century. His early education was committed to naturalism, leaving no room for God or supernatural intervention in human affairs. His godless philosophy, however, didn’t help him deal with the horrors of WWI Confronted…

An expanded excerpt from the diary of John Wesley, reprinted on the 100th anniversary of his May 24, 1738, conversion by The Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review, Volume XX. New Series, Vol. IX, 1838. New York: T. Mason and G. Lane, for The Methodist Episcopal Church, at the conference office, 200…

Three Zen Buddhist monks stopped on their journey to rest. One of the monks saw a flag and said, "Oh, What a strong wind blowing!” The second monk argued that it was not the wind blowing but the flag flying. The third monk contended that neither the wind was blowing nor the flag flying, but their minds…

Until the time of our death, we live, sometimes even if we don’t want to. Vangelis Kapatos, a 26-year-old New York City man, decided he didn’t want to live anymore. He jumped from a ninth-story window to kill himself. It must not have been his time. He landed on his back in a pile of uncollected garbage…

The events of December 7, 1941 changed the world forever. That day also marked the beginning of a change for one of the men who attacked Pearl Harbor. Mitsuo Fuchida was hand selected by Admiral Yamamoto to lead the Japanese attack, and took great pride in the devastation his forces inflicted. Fuchida…

God's Autograph in the Sky Have you ever watched children build a "castle" out of Lego blocks? They don't develop architectural drawings or do structural analysis, instead, they just start sticking blocks together. On rare occasions, they cooperate, usually the play time ends when one child gets frustrated…

Suppose you had been a pig all your life, and that you were suddenly made into a man. Well, now you are a man, you look through a telescope; swine cannot do that. You look through a microscope; I never knew a pig do that in my life. Swine do not talk, but you speak, you sing, you pray, you are quite…

FORGIVENESS A Grinch of sorts was busy in South Florida this past holiday season. On Christmas Eve, Ron and Helen Meijer found a ransom note in their front-lawn nativity scene. The plastic baby Jesus had been kidnapped. The kidnappers did not demand money. Instead, they made a demand the Meijers refused…

In his autobiography, Pat Summerall the former player and broadcaster tells of becoming a born again Christian during his treatment for alcoholism at the Betty Ford rehab clinic. The message of the Gospel is changed lives in the grace God gives in Jesus Christ. --Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell World,…

Walt In 1976, Walt Arnold' s ministry was featured at the Southern Baptist Convention in Norfolk, Virginia. No, Arnold wasn't a preacher. Far from it. He was a Rodeo Cowboy-as close a thing to a celebrity we had in Silverton, Texas. He was one of the finest horse trainers in the area, but his claim to…

Quaint, bizarre, eccentric, peculiar—those words describe a little, wiry coal miner named Billy Bray, of Cornwell, England. Before his conversion in November, 1832, Billy lived a vile life. After finding Christ, he became a flaming evangelist and lay preacher. On a mountain near his home lived a cluster…

Ever hear the story of the Prodigal Pig? It goes like this: There was a man who had two son And loved them for they were his own. The younger said, “Dad, I want my estate, I think that I’m now fully grown.” The son left home, went far away, And spent all he had living high. A famine then hit and low…

Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan, shares the story of a woman in his congregation who was learning how the grace extended to us through Christ's work on the cross can actually be more challenging than religion. He writes: Some years ago I met with a woman who began coming to church…

The motion picture, City of Ember, provides an interesting look at the end of the world. With civilization on the brink of destruction, scientists construct an underground city named Ember to ensure the survival of the human race. To make the citizens of the city safer, they decide the residents must…

Gary Paxton wrote over 2,000 songs. The two best-known songs from the 1950’s were “Alley-Oop” and “Monster Mash.” All the time he was writing he struggled with a tumultuous personal life. He made and lost a fortune, overcame addiction, and was once gravely wounded when a disgruntled singer hired hit…

Is this not he that destroyed them which called on this name… But Saul increased the more in strength… proving that this is the very Christ. —Acts 9:21-22 It has been said, “No one who ever meets Jesus remains the same.” Paul was never the same after meeting Christ on the Damascus road. The power of…

When the Moravian missionaries first went to Greenland, they were months and months teaching the poor Greenlander about the Godhead, the doctrine of the Trinity, and the doctrine of sin and the law, and no converts were forthcoming. But one day, by accident, one of the Greenlanders happened to read that…

PORNOGRAPHY Steve Fetrow, a respected spiritual leader, resigned his position as a youth pastor in 1997 due in part to his use of pornography. Fetrow isn't alone. According to a recent study commissioned by Focus on the Family, there is no statistical difference between the number of Christians and the…

ETERNAL LIFE Biotechnologists in Iceland report they advanced the search for the secret to eternal life after locating the gene responsible for healthy old age. The gene has been named the Methuselah gene after the Old Testament figure who lived for 969 years. Scientists pinpointed the gene using Iceland’s…

CHANCE Does fortune really smile on a select few people? What role does luck or chance play in our lives? The experience of a Wisconsin church suggests there are no such things as either luck or chance, but that God is involved in everything that happens. In August 1992, a tornado swept through a small…

Rosaria Butterfield was once a lesbian leftist college professor. She is the author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert. In explaining her life transition, Rosaria Butterfield talks about the authority of the Bible. After accepting Christ and leaving her lesbian lifestyle, she wrestled with…

For 100 days in 1994 Rwanda was a killing field. Saveri Nemeye was one of the aggressors. With a machete he brutally killed Rosaria Bankundiye’s husband and their four children. Released from prison in 2004, Saveri went to Rosaria and begged for forgiveness. Rosaria considered his request and then granted…

SALVATION "Actions," the saying goes, "speak louder than words." Ungodly actions can muffle the sounds of righteous words. That's what happened in Stephanie's home. Stephanie grew up in church and regularly heard the claims of the gospel, but never experienced a life transformation until she was eighteen.…

That’s what Liz Curtis Higgs thought. Liz Curtis Higgs was one of the best-known disc jockeys in America, and she lived quite a…wild lifestyle without God. In fact, Howard Stern was the A.M. show, and Liz Curtis Higgs was the P.M. show. And one day Howard Stern said to Liz, “You know, you need to clean…

GOSPEL Philippe Martinez thought his mountain climbing days were over. He had been a mountain guide since 1981, but had since followed God's call to become a pastor. At the age of 52, a friend asked Martinez to lead a French Expedition to the summit of Mount Everest. Though he resisted the idea at first,…