Blackbeard
As a young man in the late 1600s, Edward Teach joined the crew of a British ship that was headed to the Caribbean. Much later in his nautical career, he managed to capture a merchant vessel and turn it into a 40-gun warship. Teach soon became known as Blackbeard—the most feared pirate in the hemisphere.
Divine Interruptions
A Samaritan made his way down to Jericho and encountered a wounded Jew lying alongside the road. Others had hurried by, too busy with their own affairs to be interrupted.
Trouble At City Hall
Wreckers preparing to tear down a burned-out bakery in Troy, Illinois, accidentally made a big impression on City Hall right next door. A 65-ton crane backed into the government building, creating a huge hole in the front wall. According to a supervisor, the crane operator “was just being careless.”
Unity In The Faith
Aristides, a second-century apologist for the Christian faith, wrote this to the Roman emperor Hadrian about believers in his day:
Prayerful Thinking
Augustine was one of the most brilliant Christian thinkers of all time. Interestingly, he did some of his most effective and intimate praying while engaged in deep thought. He was what might be called a “prayerful thinker.” Often Augustine began a line of reasoning, then concluded it with a prayer. Here is a sample from Confessions, one of his works on theology:
There When You Need It
When I donated blood some time ago, a nurse gave me a card to read while a pint of the vital red fluid was flowing out of my vein. The card showed the percentages of people who have different blood types. Here are some of them:
True Sacrifice
Teenagers amaze me. So many of them love life with grand passion and face it with unrelenting optimism. Sometimes they demonstrate the Christian life in ways adults can only hope to emulate.
Brain Games
A saying among scientists who study the human brain is “Use it before you lose it.” We have the power to help keep our brain fit and working well. Dr. Lawrence Katz, a neurologist at Duke University, urges people to perform daily mental exercises such as brushing your teeth with the nondominant hand or taking a new route to work to help stimulate the brain and keep it healthy. The goal is to replace unthinking routine with fresh awareness and new focus.
The Promise Of Peace
At Christmastime we love to hear the angelic message of peace on earth. But the message that’s repeated in songs and sermons needs to be heard and heeded every day of the year. We continually hear reports of tragedies around the globe. And we may be troubled by personal problems and crises. We long for and pray for peace.
