Several years ago, I made my first trip to Freetown, Sierra Leone, just as that country's civil war was winding down. One of my first stops was a camp for the war wounded.
During the war, nearly 250,000 people had their arms or legs amputated by rebels, ...
The language of home and mission field is still used by many churches and agencies, but it fundamentally misrepresents reality.
The map of global Christianity that our grandparents knew has been turned upside down. At the start of the 20th century, only ...
As the flight from Chicago to Dallas climbed in the sky, I became engrossed in conversation with the passenger to my left. "Aimee," a French businesswoman, asked me about my work. On learning I was a Christian communicator, she related that ...
Only one person holds the title of "evangelist" in the New Testament—"Philip the evangelist" (Acts 21:8)—and he was an outlaw.
In Acts 5, Peter and the other apostles were told in no uncertain terms to cease and desist ...
Driving home from church one day, I pulled behind a guy on his Harley-Davidson. I noticed a bumper sticker on the rear fender of his motorcycle, so I pulled closer. It read: [EXPLETIVE] GUILT.
After the shock wore off, I was struck by how different his ...
History fascinates me. It's the strange little facts that impact humanity and change history that interest me. Where did ties come from? Why do men's and women's shirts button differently? As is typically the case, I was intrigued by one of those simple, ...
"I thought planning women's programs would be easier," sighs the leader of women's ministries as she sits down in the pastor's office.
"What seems to be the problem?" he asks.
"Well, the women in our church are so different. ...
A woman seeking a divorce went before the judge. He asked, "On what grounds do you want a divorce?" She replied, "My husband and I own an acre and a half of ground. I'd like the divorce to cover the whole thing." The judge said, ...
We love extreme sports. They've even made it to the Winter Olympics in the form of snowboard stunts. It's thrilling to see athletes defy gravity with skateboards, bikes, and parachutes. It gives us the feeling of conquering the laws of nature and fascinates ...
Already an international publishing sensation, The Da Vinci Code now is a feature film directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks. The compelling story written by Dan Brown blurs the line between fact and fiction, so moviegoers have joined readers ...
Tomorrow at 3:00 P.M. is your annual review. Sweat pops out on your forehead. Will you be able to sleep tonight? What's your boss going to say? Is he pleased or disappointed? There's reason for concern. Your first year hasn't been as productive as he ...
Do we as Christians really stop to think about how we are representing God? Have you ever thought about how the things we do and say affect non-Christians? Sure, we all worry about what our Christian friends and acquaintances think about the things we ...
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
This may be one of the first verses you learned in Sunday school. No doubt you sang the song: This little light of mine, I'm gonna ...
Many people today are interested in discussing spiritual matters. If the one you are talking to opens the topic to God, he or she will be more likely to listen to what you have to say. The key is first listening to them. Use these 20 questions to turn ...
One of my colleagues told me the story of a professor, a brilliant man, whose father couldn't support the family. As a boy, this professor listened as the extended family argued over who was going to get stuck with raising him. In the middle of their ...
My grandpa had a large garden. One spring he showed me how to cut seed potatoes so that each piece had at least one eye, and we planted them in the soil behind the house. The waiting was agony. At first there was no progress at all, but Grandpa encouraged ...
I like answering questions with questions. Maybe it's because I'm Jewish. I grew up with dialogues that went like this:
Me: How's the weather down there?
Granny Belle: How else could the weather be in Florida in the middle of July?
Me: So, how have you ...
The Gallup polling organization reports that 46 percent of Americans identify themselves as evangelical. Researcher George Barna estimates 41 percent are born again based on their answers to basic questions about salvation. But worship attendance, ...
Her name was Keli. She had a past. For all that I knew she had never been through the doors of a church in her life. But here she sat in the pew next to me, giving her heart to the Lord.
I had invited her to attend the service, not out of obligation but ...
One day I received a call inviting me to be the keynote speaker at the leadership convention of a large, national Christian organization. When I asked why I was being invited to do this, the man on the other end of the telephone line said, "Because ...