They called him the "black devil" for wearing an English black overcoat on the streets of Shanghai. The trappings of his Western European culture had become a barrier to the Chinese people, communicating that Christianity was a foreign religion....
It was the annual meeting of the London Missionary Society. I know it doesn't sound like much, but the meeting was a big deal in those days. You needed to arrive two hours before the service if you wanted a seat. What attracted so many people to...
Some people are best known for their nicknames. Honest Abe is one that comes immediately to mind. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprian, was given the nickname Barnabas by early Christians, meaning "son of encouragement." Most every time he is mentioned in...
Generosity originates in the heart of God. Consider what God has made. The Lord didn't cut corners in creation as expressed in the book of Genesis. The world God has fashioned is lavish and teeming with extravagant abundance. God's ultimate act of...
"Shiny Object Syndrome" is a phrase used in business to describe our infatuation with new, trendy ideas. We chase after the latest novel idea until the next best thing comes along to divert our attention. We suffer from "Shiny Object Syndrome" in...
Melito of Sardis (ca. d-180) was both tough and tender. He had the audacity to make a bold request of the Roman Emperor yet did so nicely. Melito sent his Apology for Christianity (apology means defense) to Emperor Marcus Aurelius in AD 170. His...
My original baseball card collection is likely buried deep in an Ohio landfill. My mom threw away my cards while cleaning my room out after I left home. Really, Mom? You trashed my Mickie Mantle's rookie card! She felt so remorseful about it years...
The bishop appealed to local priests for volunteers to serve a remote leper colony in Hawaii. Four priests answered the call, including a Belgium priest who came to the Hawaiian Islands as a missionary in 1864. Joseph de Veuster (1840-1889) adopted...
Their evangelistic revivals were well-known in nineteenth century America. One Chicago flyer said it well, "Come hear Dwight L. Moody preach the gospel and Ira D. Sankey sing the gospel." On paper, they seemed an odd match. Dwight Moody was brash...
The polls don’t paint a flattering picture of Christians. The characteristics most associated with people like us are “hypocrisy” and “judgmental.” Hmmm. It bears a striking resemblance to the critique Jesus levied against religious rulers in his...
Try to imagine a war fought in your homeland for thirty years. Our country was brought low by a four-year Civil War. What would have been the carnage caused by thirty continuous years of bloodshed? For the first half of the seventeenth century,...
Melanie sat in the back pew. She had limited speaking ability and relied on hand motions and facial gestures to communicate. As I was preaching one Sunday, I noticed the commotion as she left her seat, made her way to the aisle, and headed in my...
On May 30, 1868, 5000 people gathered at Arlington National Cemetery for the first Decoration Day observance. Ohio Representative James A. Garfield, a former general during the Civil War and future president, gave the keynote address. He closed...
In the Genesis account of creation, God made Adam from the dust of the earth. God then caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, took one of his ribs, and fashioned Eve. There has been plenty of ink spilled on the meaning of Adam's rib used in...
People often wrote to John Chapman, a respected nineteenth century monk and abbot, asking for his guidance on prayer. He often advised them, "Pray as you can, not as you can't." Scripture introduces us to a wide variety of ways to pray that can be...
When the four Pevensie children learned that King Aslan was a lion, they were unsure what to think. Should they be afraid? “Is he—quite safe?” Susan asks, “I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.” Mrs. Beaver answers, “If there’s anyone...
The great evangelist George Whitefield spoke to an enormous Bradford, England crowd in September 1755. He preached at a makeshift outdoor pulpit on John 3.15 “that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him [Jesus].” John Fawcett...
People ask me about horrible atrocities committed in the name of Christ. How do you as a religious person account for it? "Look," I tell them. "Healthy people use faith in the right way; unhealthy people abuse it in the wrong way." Wesley Kenneth...