“John III Sobieski, king of Poland in the late 17th century, is best remembered as the man who saved central Europe from invading armies of Turks in 1683. With the Turks at the walls of Vienna, Sobieski led a charge that broke the siege. His rescue of Vienna is considered one of the decisive battles…
Lately, our world has been filled with bad news, But even in the midst of trouble, God is still good. Chaos and confusion has been swirling, But the Lord is still the God of peace (1 Cor. 14:33) Even when so many have been filled with hate, Our Maker is still the Lord of love…
A story is told of a strange piece of art. This art piece consisted of a shotgun fixed to a chair which was set to fire sometime within the next hundred years. Strangely, people lined up to sit across from art piece and stare down the barrel of the loaded gun. Even though the gun…
If you’ve been to the Grand Canyon, you might have had that certain feeling of curiosity to walk right up to the edge of the cliff and peek over. For those of us who aren’t afraid of heights, there is something extremely invigorating about walking up to the edge. It’s almost as if we get…
There is an old adage, “If you live in a graveyard too long, you will stop crying when someone dies.” The idea behind this saying is less about someone literally living in a graveyard and more about how we can become desensitized. This is why funeral directors don’t typically become emotional during memorial services. Death…
Jewel Shuping grew up with sight, but she has almost always dreamed of being blind. Yes, you read that correctly; she wants to be blind. At 6 years old, the thought of being blind made her feel more comfortable. As a teenager she started wearing thick glasses. At 18 she bought her first cane. By…
I get it. Being the father of four children who have filled diapers with the best of them, I understand the unending, insatiable need for diapers. The thought of stealing diapers, however, is about as petty as it gets. Nevertheless, a few years ago the Diaper Bank of North Carolina had 13,000 diapers stolen. Apparently,…
Albert Brigas is a good employee. He’s hardworking. He’s reliable. He’s been known to show up on days when he is sick. He’s shown himself to be a person of skill and determination. But at 69, this Vietnam veteran has been longing for retirement. He planned to work until he could pay off his mortgage…
It can be scary. It can be intimidating. It can seem like a mile’s walk away. That first step can be one of the most difficult. And so when someone makes this decision, it thrills me to no end to see what took place this past Sunday. After an extremely timely lesson on procrastination by…
When we go to the ballpark, it’s almost a requirement to get a burger or hotdog. Sure, the taste might carry an odd resemblance to cardboard (especially if you let it get cold at all). Yeah, you can almost feel the grease instantly transforming into fat around your waist. We even understand that eating this…
Dr. Paul W. Brand was a noted leprosy expert who was especially famous for his surgical accomplishments with lepers in India. One night he became terrified when he noticed he had no feeling in his heel, a sign that he might have contracted leprosy. “He rose mechanically, found a pin, sat down again, and pricked…
The Chinese man felt discomfort in his ear in the middle of the night but just tried to sleep it off. By morning, the discomfort was still there and he was even hearing noises like someone was beating a drum. Wisely, he went into the doctor right away. Doctor Cui Shulin and his nurses took…
A story is told of two hikers who stumbled upon a huge bear. Abandoning all sense and instruction about what they should have done in this situation, they ran for cover. One man climbed a tree while the other hid in a nearby cave. The bear was in no hurry to eat, so he sat…
In 1838, a brand new prison was built. It was called “The Tombs.” Ironically, the contractor who built the prison was later found guilty of forgery and sentenced to several years in prison. Which prison? The very prison he had built. As the contractor was escorted into a cell of his own making, he said,…
“It is an old ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way” (Rollo May). It doesn’t really make sense, but it’s so very true. When we are lost, we tend to run in an attempt find our way again. Instead, all we do is become more lost with every…
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