Our Daily Bread

Faulty Thinking

Anne Cetas — Thu, 31 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Four people—a pilot, a professor, a pastor, and a hiker—were flying in a small plane when the engines died. The pilot said, “There are only three parachutes. Since this is my plane, I’m taking one of them.” He put it on and jumped out. The professor said, “I’m brilliant and the world needs me, so I’m taking a parachute,” and he jumped out.

God’s Wheelchair

Dennis Fisher — Wed, 30 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Jean Driscoll is a remarkable athlete. She has won the Boston Marathon eight times. She has also participated in four Paralympic Games and won five gold medals. Born with spina bifida, Jean competes in a wheelchair.

Pride And Prejudice

David H. Roper — Tue, 29 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Back in the 1930s, my childhood home was loving and happy, but my parents were often away. On those occasions, the center of warmth in our home was the kitchen and our tiny, joyous housekeeper named Annie.

The Gathering

David C. McCasland — Mon, 28 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

During Oswald Chambers’ ser- vice as a YMCA chaplain in Egypt (1915–1917), he touched the lives of many soldiers who died in World War I. On November 6, 1916, Chambers wrote in his diary: “We have a letter from a New Zealand friend telling us that Ted Strack has been killed. And so Ted Strack has ‘gone to be with Jesus.’ That is just how he would have put it . . . . [He] was a rough beauty of nature and of grace, a fearless, loveable little saint. Thank God for every remembrance of him . . . . So they are gathering one by one.”

A Sense Of Dread

Bill Crowder — Sun, 27 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

In Tennyson’s classic poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” valiant cavalry troops riding into battle are described by the imposing phrase, “Into the valley of death rode the six hundred.” Those words portray a sense of foreboding that anticipated the tragedy that lay before them.

Stand Or Go?

Dave Branon — Sat, 26 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

The Israelites were trapped. Soon after leaving slavery and Egypt behind, they looked up and saw a distressing sight. A cloud of dust was moving their way, and in that dust was a massive army. Pharaoh’s “disease” had returned—hardening of the heart (Ex. 14:8). As a result, he sent his chariots after Moses and his people.

Conversion

Julie Ackerman Link — Fri, 25 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Before my husband and I travel, we go to the bank and trade in our US dollars for the currency of the country we’ll be visiting. We do this so we can pay for expenses while we’re away from home.

Coverups Stink

Marvin Williams — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

The smell at an overflowing garbage landfill site became a growing public concern. So workers installed high-pressured deodorant guns to counteract the smell. The cannons could spray several gallons of fragrance a minute over a distance of up to 50 yards across the mounds of putrefying garbage. However, no matter how many gallons of deodorant are sprayed to mask the odorous rubbish, the fragrance will serve only as a coverup until the source of the stench is removed.

Taking Risks

Dennis Fisher — Wed, 23 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

In his book Stuntman! My Car-Crashing, Plane-Jumping, Bone-Breaking, Death-Defying Hollywood Life, Hal Needham reflects on taking risks. Needham has slugged it out in fist fights, raced cars at high speed, walked on wings of airborne planes, fallen off horses, and has even been set on fire! He risked his life to entertain film audiences and to distinguish himself as a top Hollywood stuntman.

Fear Not

Randy Kilgore — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

My wife became seriously ill dur- ing her pregnancy with our second child. As the doctors struggled to find the problem, she continued to grow weaker—dangerously so.