The Gospel Of Judas
The recently discovered manuscript The Gospel of Judas alleges that Jesus asked Judas to betray Him. Supposedly, Jesus hoped that His death would free Him from this world of matter to become a pure spirit again.
How Long?
My friends Bob and Delores understand what it means to wait for answers—answers that never seem to come. When their son Jason and future daughter-in-law Lindsay were murdered in August 2004, a national manhunt was undertaken to find the killer and bring him to justice. After 2 years of prayer and pursuit, there were still no tangible answers to the painful questions the two hurting families wrestled with. There was only silence.
The Heaven File
My wife Luann has a folder she calls her “heaven file.” It contains articles, obituaries, and photos, along with cards from the memorial services of family and friends. She keeps them, not as a sad reminder of people we have loved and lost, but in anticipation of our glad reunion with them in heaven.
The Pain Of Falling
There I was, sailing along on my rollerblades, my wife at my side. Suddenly, the wheels on my left boot began to wobble, and a second later I was face down on the asphalt. Just like that, I had a broken finger and some nasty cuts on my face.
The Scorpion’s Sting
Aesop tells the ancient story of a boy hunting for locusts. The lad had caught quite a few when he saw a scorpion. Mistaking it for a locust, he reached out his hand to take it. The scorpion showed his stinger and said, “If you had but touched me, my friend, you would have lost me, and all your locusts too!”
Corky
Stephen Kuusisto grew up feeling a stigma about being legally blind. For him, sight consisted of a kaleidoscope of shapes, colors, and shadows. Privately he would press his face close to the page of a book and memorize street names in an exhausting attempt to appear more able to see than he really could.
Looking Ahead
During General Colin Powell’s tenure as US Secretary of State, he discovered that a speech he made to the United Nations had been based, in part, on wrong information. In his long and distinguished career, this was a low point and a blot on his record. “I’m disappointed,” he told an interviewer. “I’m sorry it happened and wish those who knew better had spoken up at the time, but there isn’t anything else I can say about it.”
Empty-Handed
As the first green heads of grain formed on the spring barley in Israel, workers would tie a ribbon around each budding stem to set them apart from the still immature barley. When this marked grain ripened, it was harvested for the temple in Jerusalem because God had commanded that when they came to the feast, they should “not appear before the Lord empty-handed” (Deut. 16:16).
Scaredy-Bear
Jack, a 15-pound, orange and white cat, took seriously his job of guarding his owners’ backyard in New Jersey. He often scared small animal intruders away, but the owners were surprised when one day they found him sitting at the base of a tall tree, looking up at a large black bear.
