The Psalmist wrote, “I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart” (Psalm 38:8, ESV). His longstanding sickness left him isolated from family and friends and feeling as though he had been abandoned by God! His journey through illness led him to consider his spiritual well-being. Many of us will know the feeling of abandonment that such an experience with lengthy illness will ...  Read More

Vedran Smailovich was the foremost cellist for the Sarajevo Opera when the siege of Sarajevo began in 1992. Bosnian Serb forces shelled the capital city and snipers targeted citizens. The siege lasted nearly four years. On May 27, 1992, an artillery shell exploded in front of a bakery where people were lined up to buy bread. Twenty-two innocent citizens were killed, and more than 100 others were s...  Read More

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”Isaiah 43:2-3a, ESV Introduction "The life of a Christian is wondrously ruled in this world, by the consideration and meditati...  Read More

The XIT Ranch in Texas, established in 1885, was once the largest ranch in the world enclosed by fences. Its barbed wire surrounded more than 3 million acres. Amazingly, one fence line ran 150 miles without a turn! That huge enclosure provided grazing land for enormous herds of cattle and presented equally as large challenges.The ranch’s size required cowboys to travel long distances to protect th...  Read More

In 1845, the population of Ireland numbered almost eight million. The Irish were an industrious, hardy people, exporting to England their livestock, peas, beans, onions, rabbits, salmon, oysters, herring, lard, honey and even potatoes. However, when the Irish potato crop failed that year and the next, large parts of the population, particularly in the west of Ireland, were left destitute. Irish Qu...  Read More

On 9-10 November 1938, Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses, and killed almost 100 Jews. In the aftermath of what was called Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass,” some 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to Nazi concentration camps. German Jews had been subjected to repressive policies since 1933, when Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler (18...  Read More

“Peace” seemed to be the middle name of the babe born that sunny day in Bethnal Green, east London, on 29 July 1870. Son of devout Anglican parents, James Henry Rushbrooke was brilliant, thoughtful, and became known as a careful reconciler of differences, even as a child. When James was fifteen years old, he began attending Westbourne Park Chapel with his aunt each Sunday and soon made a professio...  Read More

In the year 1864, on a 240 acre farm near Diamond Grove, Missouri, George was born to his mother Mary and father Giles. He had a sister and a younger brother too, and they were all enslaved by Moses and Susan Carver. When George was an infant, his father died. He and his mother were then kidnapped by rustlers and resold in a neighboring state. Mary was never seen again, but George, small and frail...  Read More

It is generally held that Mickey Leland was one of the most effective spokespersons for hungry people in the 20th century. How did this young man, born and raised in obscurity, become such a globally-recognized figure for this cause?Born to George Thomas and Alice Rains Leland II in Lubbock, Texas in November of 1944, “Mickey,” as his maternal grandfather called him, was a third generation namesak...  Read More

Brother Laurence (225-258) was one of seven deacons in the Early Church in Rome, in charge of the church’s treasures and the distribution of funds for the poor. But when Valerian took the throne and began persecuting Christians, hundreds died and serving the poor became more difficult. And when Valerian’s director of pagan religions demanded that Laurence turn over all of the church’s resources, L...  Read More

Carlos is a friend of ours. He lives in Cuba. Every two or three weeks, he is summoned to the police station to be interrogated for his role as pastor in his city. Every day, he and others are followed, they have had phone and computer accounts tapped, their mail is read before they receive it, and their cell phones are confiscated when they arrive at the police station. Carlos sends out prayer re...  Read More

Henry Ward Beecher once said, “Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation.” Compassion certainly seems to be in short supply if one reads social media these days. How are we to live good and right lives and judge bad and wrong, yet remain free from becoming judgmental? Paul helps to position us rightly so that we may live genuinely as salt and light in a sinful age. Let’s look carefully at o...  Read More