26 Jun
AS A STUDENT IN ACADEMY and college, I used to hang wall plaques or small posters in my room—or place them on my desk—with verses I discovered and valued as I read my Bible through:
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called [...]
25 Jun
SO I’M WRITING A STORY…and at some point my main character hears a knock at the door. I write, “Daniel heard three sharp raps on the door, rose from the sofa, and crossed the room to reach for the knob.”
Then I leave my computer, get in my car and go shopping. Later, I get involved [...]
24 Jun
TODAY THE ADVENTIST BLOGROLL for this site has passed 200 blogs. Know of any not discovered yet? Send them along!
20 Jun
ARE YOU SO WORN OUT that your fatigue is stumbling over your exhaustion? A good many years ago I read a little booklet by Charles E. Hummel called The Tyranny of the Urgent.* He described the frenzied effort so many of us make to “get it all done.”
Are you pushed, rushed, stressed, exhausted, hurried, harried, [...]
17 Jun
IF ONLY WE COULD retain the untouched innocence of childhood! Six-year-old Connie Talbot today came in second in the final round of “Britain’s Got Talent.” This clip is from her first-round presentation, in which Connie melted even the crusty Simon Cowell.
16 Jun
IF I COMPARE MYSELF to some people on this planet—past or present—I come off rather well. I’m no Bin Laden. I’m no corrupt Washington politician. I’m no murderer or drug pusher. I’m no Hitler or Pol Pot or Stalin or Idi Amin.
Yes, for sure, I’ve messed up in a lot of ways. But when I [...]
13 Jun
Sometimes, I listen to a hauntingly beautiful melody, and it stirs something in me too deep for words—a longing desire for life always to be so beautiful, so uplifted, so pure, so calmly joyous.
Sometimes, I experience human love so profound I’m taken to places I never realized could exist—and it’s as if I’m previewing heaven.
Sometimes, [...]
11 Jun
IN MEXICO CITY a few years ago, I had some time between meetings there to explore various parts of the megalopolis. Many areas of the city were slums filled with miserable hovels: “homes” made of cardboard, sheet metal, discarded planks, ragged blankets. Yet other parts of town contained massive, grand mansions.
Even here in America, the [...]
10 Jun
PEACE GETS A BAD RAP. War is macho: guns and explosions, blood and guts, winning and losing. And where war isn’t available, we’ll manufacture vegetarian versions of it: football (replete with war metaphors), video games, violent movies, boxing and wrestling.
But peace? Peace is for sissies. It’s wimpy and boring and lacks enough testosterone. Perhaps there’s [...]
8 Jun
IS IT POSSIBLE that the Adventist hierarchy of sins—ranked from most grievous to least—is radically different than God’s?
In the Roman Catholic Church, sins are categorized as either mortal sins—or venial sins. The latter are considered “lesser” sins, while mortal sins are seen as especially offensive to God. For the edification of their adherents, Catholic believers [...]
