Elmer Bendiner was a WW2 B-17 navigator. In the thick of the war against the Nazis, one of the most incredible stories unfolded. Bendiner explains: “Our B-17 (The Tondelayo) was barraged by flak from Nazi antiaircraft guns. That was not unusual, but on this particular occasion, our gas tanks were hit. Later, as I reflected on the miracle of a twenty-millimeter shell…
“Edward Steichen, who eventually became one of the world’s most renowned photographers, almost gave up on the day he shot his first pictures. At 16, young Steichen bought a camera and took 50 photos. Only one turned out — a portrait of his sister at the piano. Edward’s father thought that was a poor showing. But his mother insisted that the photograph…
A young boy had his face pinned to the window and he watched with fascination as an old lamplighter came down the street. One by one, he was lighting the old-fashioned gas street lamps. Excited, the young boy called out to his grandmother, “Nana! Nana! Come quickly. There is a man outside who is punching…
This week, many across our nation stood in awe as a total solar eclipse swept across America. When we stop and think about it, the fact that we have solar eclipses at all is incredible. There are so many factors that must be perfectly in tune for this to happen. The sun has to be…
“Several years ago, Larry Walters, a 33-year-old man, became bored. So, he went down to the local army surplus store and bought forty-five used weather balloons. That afternoon, he strapped himself into a lawn chair, to which several of his friends tied the now helium-filled balloons. He took along with him a few items, including…
In the course of their conversation at a dinner party, Albert Einstein’s young neighbor asked the white-haired scientist, “What are you actually by profession?” “I devote myself to the study of physics,” Einstein replied. The girl looked at him in astonishment. “You mean to say you study physics at your age?” she exclaimed. “I finished…
“Back in 1839, James Espy claimed that rain could easily be produced by heating the air. But his plan to saturate parched farmland by building great log fires across vast stretches of the American West never materialized — for which Espy’s contemporaries were probably grateful! Later in the 19th century, a new theory emerged: loud…
One of the greatest compliments ever given in Scripture is found in Acts 17. When Paul and Silas arrived in the area of Berea, they made an awesome observation about these people, “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see…
Tom Landry, the legendary football coach, once made a brilliant assessment of his job, “The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don’t want to do, in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to be.” Thinking about this statement for about 3 seconds should cause us to realize this…
Author Martha Bolton told an interesting story about her father. Later in his life, he had suffered a series of minor heart attacks. Bolton went on to tell, “During one of his many hospital stays, it became necessary to transport him to another facility for rehabilitation therapy. The driver who was assigned to pick him…
In the early 1900s, a young man applied for a job as a Morse code operator. When he arrived for the interview, he walked into a large, busy office filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background. Many applicants were seated, filling out forms, and waiting to be summoned…
At the time, Bruckner Chase was only the second person ever to complete the 25-mile swim across the Monterey Bay. Many had tried before, but all had failed except for one. The reason for defeat isn’t what we might expect. It wasn’t the long swim. It wasn’t the temperature of the waters. The reason was,…
Just last week, I heard about some friends of mine in Oklahoma who went through a series of earthquakes. They weren’t too extreme, but two earthquakes at 4.4 is definitely getting scary. Thankfully, there were no injuries or significant damages. It’s a completely different story in China today. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake ruptured in China’s…
Don Marquis once said, “Our idea of fishing is to put all the exertion up to the fish. If they are ambitious, we will catch them. If they are not, let them go about their business.” When it comes to evangelism, this quote often proves all too true. Some Christian’s idea of being “fishing for…
“While she was enjoying a transatlantic ocean trip, Billie Burke, a famous actress at the time, noticed that a gentleman at the next table was suffering from a bad cold. ‘Are you uncomfortable?’ she asked sympathetically. The man nodded. ‘I’ll tell you just what to do for it,” she offered. ‘Go back to your room…
BP's Fuel For Thought 