When author and pastor Timothy Keller released a new book eight years ago, he could not have foreseen how dramatically he would personally be living out the title: Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering In June 2020 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Since then his life has revolved around physician consultations, therapeutic strategies, and a great deal of… Read more »
When Bible scholar Dale Bruner was teaching at Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington, he was approached by a skeptical student. “The church only talks,” he said. “It never does much of anything.” Bruner writes, “In a (for me) rare moment of ‘inspiration,’ I asked the student for the names of the major hospitals in Spokane. He replied a little sheepishly,… Read more »
Years ago our family lived on a street in which adjoining houses sat on properties that were roughly equal in size. This created a substantial temptation for the males on that street. OK, it created a potential issue for me. It turns out that it was possible for neighbors to race each other while mowing the grass. I mean, why… Read more »
Jesus’ original disciples were not what an objective observer would call the brightest and the best. The top students – those who at the age of 13 had rung up the highest marks on their SATs (if there had been a Synagogue Aptitude Test) and who therefore seemed destined to become the future leaders of Israel – would typically present… Read more »
Charlotte Bronte, an unmarried, impoverished woman who lived in the desolate moors of northern England, longed to write a novel. In 1846, at the age of 30, she submitted her first manuscript – The Professor – to a publisher. It was rejected. Four more publishers returned her manuscript, each time with a rejection notice prominently affixed to the front page. … Read more »
In the year 2000, Pixar was riding a wave of success unrivalled in the history of movie studios. Their first three feature-length films – Toy Story, A Bug Life’s, and Toy Story 2 – had been smash hits. Two future blockbusters – Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo – were in production. Buoyed by such achievement, what did Pixar do next? … Read more »
In 1995, the late Walt Wangerin Jr. was traveling in the west African nation of Cameroon. He came upon an appalling sight: Two black birds were perched atop a donkey, pecking at an open wound. The African driver of his car, sickened by the scene, said aloud that he wished he had a gun so he could put the poor… Read more »
In April 2019, Ksenia Ovchinnikova bought a McDonald’s cheeseburger in her hometown of Omsk, Russia. It turned out not to be a happy meal. Ovchinnikova, who is a member of the Russian Orthodox Church, was overwhelmed by guilt. She had made a heartfelt spiritual resolution not to eat meat during Lent, the stretch of 40 days that precedes Easter…. Read more »
The opening decades of the 21st century may well become known as the time astronomers bade farewell to one beloved planet and said hello to thousands of others. Pluto lost its place at the grownups table in our solar system back in 2006. Even though “the little planet that could” was cherished by myriads of amateur sky-watchers – especially… Read more »
It seemed that everyone who carried a Nerd Card in my high school – and I had a Nerd Gold Card – eventually joined the Chess Club. I was a capable chess player. Generally I could whip my friends during lunch before they had a chance to finish their Fritos. When I joined the Chess Club, however, I found myself… Read more »
