Let me take you back to an evangelistic meeting in the early 1920s at Trinity Evangelical Church in Shamokin, Pennsylvania (yep, it's an actual town). A man who, in the opinion of those present at the meeting, "was under the influence of alcohol"...
George MacDonald wrote a prayer for every day of the year in Diary of an Old Soul in 1880. His entry for July 16th begins:“The house is not for me—it is for him. His royal thoughts require many a stair, Many a tower, many an outlook fair Of which I...
A woman approached the famous evangelist Billy Sunday after he preached a sermon on anger. She attempted to rationalize her anger by saying, "There's nothing wrong with losing my temper. I blow up, and it's all over." Billy Sunday replied, "So does...
It was the last few months of World War II. Stuttgart, Germany, was in ruins, the result of frequent Allied bombing raids on Nazi strongholds. There was one church left standing. Soon, it would be reduced to rubble and the congregation forced to...
When our son Andrew was young, he was strong-willed and cautious. He was hesitant about trying new things. My wife Chris and I had to coax him into taking swimming lessons, going to summer camp, and trying new activities. It often became a battle...
I'd love to tell you about Peter Taylor (P.T.) Forsyth's (1848-1921) fascinating life, but I'm more intrigued by his observations on prayer. Here is but a sample from his book The Soul of Prayer: ...
The Bible asserts two things about us as people: 1. we are deeply flawed, and 2. we are deeply loved. Both things are simultaneously true about us. Some of us were raised in churches that were all about the flaws, a steady drumbeat of guilt and...
What are we to make of Jesus' frequent encounters with the devil and his legion of demons? Evil spirits don't seem to have the same prominence today as they did in Jesus' time. Here is my take on things. When God comes to earth in Jesus Christ, the...
Idolatry seems so Old Testament. I don't see anyone today bowing down to golden calves, as they did in Moses' day. It seemed that every time Moses turned around, people were paying homage to gods of their own making. Martin Luther said, "An idol is...
Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) went with friends to the German circus and was mesmerized as he watched the Flying Rodleighs perform their high-wire trapeze act. He returned to the circus and introduced himself to these trapeze artists as one of their big...
Robert Harkness (1880-1961) was the music director for the evangelist R.C. Torrey in the early 1900's. They were conducting evangelistic services in Toronto in 1906. Robert met with a new convert after a service, struggling with the thought of...
John Wesley (1701-1791) sought for years to earn favor with God by means of good works. He wrestled with how many good deeds are needed to achieve favor with God. Try as he might, John lacked the assurance that God had accepted him. He had just...
By all accounts, they were rodeo megastars with their own television show and a massive fan base. He was known as "the Singing Cowboy," she was called "Queen of the West." Their stage names were Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Leonard Franklin Slye and...
I've long been an admirer of G. K. Chesterton's wit and humor. Consider his whimsical remark in his book Orthodox, "Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly. Never forget that the devil falls by force of gravity." Excessive weight drags...
Did Jesus have a sense of humor? There's no record in the gospels that Jesus ever laughed or cracked a smile, yet he was a master at employing irony in his teaching parables. The very idea of removing a speck from your neighbor's eye while you have...
The Roman Catholic Church published a list of books considered theologically dangerous and immoral in the sixteenth century. Any book that appeared in the Index of Forbidden Subjects was considered taboo for Catholics to print or read. The list was...
We romanticize the past. We tend to view historical events and periods through the lens of nostalgia and sentimentality. With this thought in mind, I am tempted to idealize the early church in my quest to find old prayers. My overly optimistic view...
Busyness has become a coveted status symbol in our time. It's now chic and trendy to be busy. Busy has become the default response to the customary "How are you doing?" question. I suspect we talk about busyness so much because it gives us some...