I have been writing about people of great faith and courage in the past months. It is said that when a person uses their faith in striving to do good things for humanity, that faith gives them the courage to do the impossible. I have written about Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Corrie Ten Boom, Tony Nathan, Eric Liddell, Luis Palau, David Wilkerson, Sister Helene Studler, St. Peter, Pope Pius XII, and Pope John Paul II; all of these…..
Throughout my life, I have been a survivor, a fighter, God’s child. This past year was perhaps the most challenging of my entire life. Between the ages of 68 and 69, I have conquered my fears and anger by growing my faith in God from a tiny mustard seed into a tall oak tree. Hope triumphed over pain, and my life is, once again, surrounded by the love of Jesus Christ. In His unconditional love, I am becoming the Christian…..
Now we know what it feels like in the Bible, during the Middle Ages, and during any major natural disaster…pestilence, plague, and pandemic. All starting with the letter “P” and all so destructive to human life. Have we learned anything from COVID-19, or are there still people who think this last year was a hoax? It’s been hard to stay in the house, wear a mask, constantly wash our hands, and stay six feet apart, but think of all those…..
In 1973 in Birmingham, Alabama, racism was the backdrop for one of the most inspiring stories about a Black American high school football star and his impact on the desegregation issues in his racially torn southern state. His name was Tony Nathan, and he worked his way through very difficult decisions pertaining to his development as a Christian young man. Through the courage of a Christian youth counselor, Tony was challenged to play football for something higher than himself. As…..
Corrie ten Boom’s family endured the darkness and the horrors of WWII in Holland and in concentration camps. Members of the family were some of Holland’s finest watch makers. After Holland’s queen left the country for a self-imposed exile in England in 1940, the citizens of Holland felt abandoned, and they soon came to realize that the Nazis would tear out their souls’ hope. The Ten Boom family’s beliefs were strongly based in their Christian faith. When their Jewish neighbors…..
When tyrants or dictators come to power in countries around the world, how do we stop them from turning the places we call home into Satan’s residence? In WWII, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill refused to acknowledge the possibility that a German resistance existed in the Third Reich. They believed that Adolf Hitler had total control over the entire German population, that no one was trying to stop the rise of this evil dictator, and that every German was…..
When we enter those valleys in our lives when all the colors disappear and only grays are hanging over our heads, it’s time to believe in the truth, the light, and the way. Returning from the troubles of our lives to a much more quiet life, what do we do with our lives? Do we climb the mountains or do we choose to stay in the valleys? We can do odd jobs to get by or we can choose a…..
One of the effects of this pandemic on my own creative spirit has been an ever increasing desire to research people of great merit, generosity, and Christian love. One such man is Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965): theologian, organist, author, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. As a Lutheran theologian, he challenged the secular view of Jesus Christ as being a person of history and the traditional Christian view of Him as being the Savior of the world through His death on the cross. …..
This is the fourth blog about Mother Teresa’s beliefs and deeds. Today is my 69th birthday, and it is as beautiful as the day I was born at 7:00 A.M. on a Sunday morning. I’d like to think that God has been pleased with my successes and only a little disappointed in my failures. I’d also like to think that Mother Teresa has influenced how I have lived my life. I hope to continue to be “Christ with flesh on”…..
This is the third blog in a series about Mother Teresa. I continue to be impressed by her love, courage, compassion, and Christian dedication to the poor of India. In studying her theology, I have been able to identify prayer beliefs and their impact on our relationship with God, the connections between love and our quest for peace in a darkened world, and how our futures should be based on forgiveness. It is my sincere desire to try to be…..