Month: January 2005

Against The Flow

Two college students in Moorhead, Minnesota, painted a mural on the wall outside their dormitory room. According to USA Today, it showed a school of fish all swimming in the same direction except for a single fish heading the opposite way.

Say So

Mel Trotter was a drunken barber whose salvation not only turned his own life around but also changed thousands of others. He was saved in 1897 in Chicago at the Pacific Garden Mission, and not long afterward was named director of the City Rescue Mission in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

If

 new government regulation will require US foodmakers to list the amount of "trans fat" on the labels of most food products purchased in stores. Trans fat, which has been linked to heart disease, high cholesterol, and obesity, is something most people should limit or avoid altogether. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that Americans could save up to $1.8 billion in medical costs if they reduce their consumption of trans fats.

Companions

Two men were neighbors—one had opened his heart to Christ and the other had not. The believer witnessed often; the other ignored him.

Tight Lines

Fishermen sometimes bestow this blessing on one another: "May you keep a tight line," by which we mean, "May you always have a trout on your line."

What God Can Do

They were called the "lost boys" of Sudan. Thousands of them fled the civil war in that country and sought refuge from the chaos and killing. Many had been taught the gospel in churches founded by missionaries, but they knew little of the world beyond their villages.

Frightened By A Boxer

On a bright Sunday morning one of my boys, who was just a little fellow, was walking to church with me. Soon the sights and sounds of a new day invited him to skip on ahead. Suddenly his carefree progress came to an end. A few yards away was a boxer dog looking at him. Stopping abruptly, my son turned and rushed to my side. Only when his hand was securely in mine and he knew I was right beside him was he able to walk undisturbed past the boxer.

Social Stomachs

Honey ants survive in difficult times by depending on certain members of their group known as "honey pots." They take in so much nectar that they swell up until they resemble little round berries, hardly able to move. When food and water become scarce, these ants act as "social stomachs" and sustain the entire colony by dispensing what they have stored in their own bodies.

A Stone In The Mouth

We would all cringe at the thought of a mouth full of gravel. But a stone in the mouth can actually be desirable—at least that seems to be true for the cranes that inhabit the Taurus mountains of southern Turkey.