I once travelled to Mexico to help build a church. As we drove up to the building site, it started to rain. We didn’t want our building materials damaged, and as we struggled to get them all under a roof, one of the older missionaries suggested we stop to pray. So we gathered together and asked God to stop the rain…
Read MoreHow to recover when you slip up
A lady in the produce department at a grocery store asked the store clerk if she could buy half a head of lettuce. He replied, “Half a head? Are you serious? God grows these in whole heads and that’s how we sell them!”…
Read MoreWhat to remember when helping others
One of the most dramatic symbols of political freedom in the world was the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. In 1990, church leaders invited Billy Graham to conduct a rally at the Brandenburg Gate. They said that rock stars, entertainers, and political groups had rallied at the Wall, but…
Read MoreWhat it means to surrender everything
A family who had just been called to the mission field sold almost all of their belongings and packed up everything else in their station wagon. They were on their way to meet the ship that would take them and their car to Okinawa, Japan, and stopped to rest and enjoy one last meal in America…
Read MoreShepherd those God gives you
Years ago, a faithful pastor had a meeting with his local supervisor for his review. The superior told him, “I’m really concerned. Only one person has been added to your church this year – and he’s only a boy.” The pastor returned to his church that day discouraged…
Read MoreWhat are your gifts?
A church pastor received a Christmas card with a note in it from a lady in his congregation. She was very complimentary about his preaching, and even compared him with Billy Graham…
Read MoreThe power of community
Harvard professor Robert Putnam wrote a book years ago called Bowling Alone, which documents the decline in community life in America since the 1960s. The title comes from a trivial but telling example: the percentage of adults who belong to a bowling league today is only about a quarter of what it was in the 1960s…
Read MoreHow to stay calm in the midst of stress
A story is told about a little league coach who pulled one of his young players aside and asked him, “Do you understand what cooperation is?” The boy nodded yes…
Read MoreWhat splits history in two?
Just about every country in the world has adopted a calendar that uses Christ’s birth as its base. World history is split into two not on the basis of the birth of great conquerors like Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar…
Read MoreWhat if Jesus hadn’t come
A story is told of a pastor who was preparing his message when he fell asleep in his study at the church. He dreamed that he was in a world into which Jesus had never come…
Read More