Quotation Marks
. . . read more
The Divorce Generation Grows Up
Grant High School's class of '82 were raised on 'The Brady Bunch'—while their
own families were falling apart. These are their stories—in their
words.. . . read more
 New Study Shows Trends in Tithing and Donating
Christians Give the Most
Christians tend to be the most generous group of donors. An examination of
the three dominant subgroups within the Christian community showed that
evangelicals, the 7% of the population who are most committed to the Christian
faith, donated a mean of $4260 to all non-profit entities in 2007.
Non-evangelical born again Christians, who represent another 37% of the public,
donated a mean of $1581. The other 42% of the Christian population, who are
aligned with a Christian church but are not born again, donated a mean of $865.
Overall, the three segments of the Christian community averaged donations of
$1426.. . . read more
Channel Surfing for Common Grace
As I talk with friends and family, I've learned that many other
Christians watch these shows. I've seen no fewer than 20 churches
advertise a sermon-series spin on the "Extreme Makoever" concept.
Considering other reality TV alternatives, I can see why Christians
prefer these shows. Listening to them, we hear faint echoes of the
gospel.. . . read more
Guess what topic I am preaching on this week?
Harleys in Heaven | What Christians have thought of the afterlife and what difference it makes now.
The Believer's Final Bliss | The regeneration of man requires that old things must pass away and all things become new. By John Murray (July 7, 1958)
The Glories of Heaven | While heaven will be glorious, the greater glory will consist in our transformation. By Stanley C. Baldwin (May 22, 1964)
The Hope of Heaven | Have Christians forfeited their rightful anticipation of eternity? By L. Nelson Bell (May 24, 1968)
Illusion or Reality? | Heaven is a place. There is a city we are going to see and walk in. By Edith Schaeffer (Mar. 12, 1976)
Heaven Can't Wait | I have seen the electrifying results of what can happen when the reality comes alive. By Philip Yancey (Sept. 7, 1984)
Heaven: Not Just an Eternal Day Off
| As if anticipating the question, "Will life on the new earth be
boring?" the Bible points to much activity there. By Anthony Hoekema
(Sept. 20, 1985)
What Will Heaven Be Like? | Thirty-five frequently asked questions about eternity. By Peter Kreeft (from Tough Questions Christians Ask, 1989)
The Eternal Weight of Glory | If only we could have the positives of earthly life without the negatives. By Harry Blamires (May 27, 1991)
Hell's Final Enigma | Won't heaven's joy be spoiled by our awareness of unsaved loved ones in hell? (April 24, 2004)
Christian History Corner: How the Early Church Saw Heaven | The first Christians had very specific ideas about who they would meet in the afterlife. (August 9, 2002)
What's a Heaven For? | C.S. Lewis saw belief in heaven not as wishful thinking, but as thoughtful wishing. (Oct. 26, 1998)
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April 13, 1986: Pope John Paul II visits a Jewish synagogue in Rome, marking the first such visit by a pope in recorded history.
April 14, 1759: George Frideric Handel, composer of the oratorio Messiah, dies at age 74 in London.
April 14, 1775: America's first society to abolish slavery organizes in Philadelphia.
April 15, 1452: Italian painter and scholar Leonardo da Vinci is born in Florence, Italy. Among his most famous religious works are the Virgin of the Rocks, The Last Supper, and St. John the Baptist.
April 15, 1729: Johann Bach conducts the first and only performance of St. Matthew Passion
during his lifetime at a Good Friday Vespers service in Leipzig,
Germany. The choral work has been called "the supreme cultural
achievement of all Western civilization," and even the radical skeptic
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) admitted upon hearing it, "One who has
completely forgotten Christianity truly hears it here as gospel.
April 15, 1892: Dutch devotional writer Corrie ten Boom, known
for hiding Jewish refugees in her home during World War II (an act
dramatized in the 1971 film The Hiding Place) is born. She also died on this date in 1983.
April 16, 1521: German reformer Martin Luther arrives at the
Diet of Worms, convinced he would get the hearing he requested in 1517
to discuss the abuse of indulgences and his "95 Theses." He was
astounded when he discovered it would not be a debate, but rather a
judicial hearing to see if he wished to recant his words. In defending
himself the next day, Luther said, "Unless I can be instructed and
convinced with evidence from the Holy Scriptures or with open, clear,
and distinct grounds of reasoning . . . then I cannot and will not
recant, because it is neither safe nor wise to act against conscience.
Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me! Amen!" When negotiations
over the next few days failed to reach any compromise, Luther was
condemned (see issue 34: Luther's Early Years).
April 17, 1937: With Mussolini's troops occupying Ethiopia,
Sudan Interior Mission missionaries who had started a small church
among the previously devil-worshiping Wallamo tribe are forced to leave
the country. "We knew God was faithful," one missionary wrote. "But
still we wondered—if we ever come back, what will we find?" The
missionaries returned in July 1943 to find that, despite severe
persecution by Italian soldiers, the Christian community had grown from
48 members to 18,000.
April 18, 1874: Having died nearly a year earlier (May 1, 1873)
in what is now northern Zambia, missionary-explorer David Livingstone
(whose remains had been brought, as his tombstone reads, "by faithful
hands over land and sea") is interred in London's Westminster Abbey
(see issue 56: David Livingstone).
April 20, 1718: David Brainerd, missionary to New England's
Native Americans, is born in Haddam, Connecticut. Expelled from Yale
for attending a revival meeting, Brainerd attained fame after his death
(at age 29, from tuberculosis) when Jonathan Edwards published his
journal. The diary inspired countless other missionaries, including
William Carey, who is called "the father of modern missions" (see issue
8: Jonathan Edwards and issue 77: Jonathan Edwards).
April 20, 1853: Fugitive slave Harriet Tubman, who had escaped
from the eastern shore of Maryland four years earlier, makes a return
trip to the South to rescue other slaves. By the time slavery was
abolished, she had made 19 such trips, liberating at least 300 fellow
African Americans (see issue 62: Bound for Canaan).
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