Moesha Johnson’s Olympic miracle
In the choppy waters of Port Doha, Qatar, things weren’t looking good. Moesha was midway through a 10-kilometre open water race in the World Championships. This was her chance to qualify for the Olympics. But she was trailing behind a pack of thirty girls and had been for much of the race.
The testament of Jesus
We experience a feeling of urgency as a consequence of the fear of failure, or the fear of missing out (on people, opportunities, time, good things). Urgency is, therefore, a corollary of fear. Today’s Christianity, hailed by loud voices as near extinction, can easily fall into the trap of undue urgency to quickly regain what has been lost.
The (un)expected Messiah
“God's viewpoint is sometimes different from ours—so different that we could not even guess at it unless He had given us a Book which tells us such things.”[1](Corrie ten Boom)
Hamstrung by belief
Faith and sports are strange bedfellows, and with the FIFA World Cup just around the corner, it is perhaps the only time in the world that more prayers are offered up to any god, as nearly half the planet will tune in to watch the tournament. Like most committed sports fans, I will be one of those billions hanging on to every moment, making earnest,...
Stuck in childhood | The Peter Pan syndrome
The fascination of the universe of childhood, with its multitude of stories, experiences and impressions, is unrepeatable. As adults, however, we are often unaware that monsters may lurk in the shards of that magical past, hidden among dreams, memories and kites, ready to reactivate and injure us, while simultaneously anaesthetising us with a familiar sense of déjà vu.
Clash of sexual cultures (II)
Jessica was 19 when she had to tell her parents, both practicing Christians, that she was pregnant. That moment generated a real earthquake in the young woman’s family who, together with her boyfriend at the time, had been strongly involved in the purity movement, an ideology that promotes sexual abstinence until marriage, for religious reasons.
The problem of happiness
Would you rather “achieve great things or be happy?” That question was asked in a YouGov survey (United States): 81 per cent said they would rather be happy; 13 per cent wanted to achieve great things; 6 per cent were uncertain.
Myths about introverts
Introverts are said to be shy, quiet, withdrawn people who like to spend time alone, or who don't like people. Most of this information is incorrect.
“My Utmost for His Highest” | Book review
Oswald Chambers’ devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, has a remarkable circulation and is considered probably the most well-known and beloved Christian devotional. It was first published in 1927 in the United Kingdom and has been in print ever since. It has been officially translated into 39 languages, with over 13 million copies sold.
The flat Earth theory in the Middle Ages
Atheists frequently invoke the theory that in the Middle Ages, Christians (not just lay people, but even church leaders) believed in the myth of the flat Earth.
How to study the Bible properly
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, […] who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
What religion has to say about anxiety
A cold flash, like the strange, icy feeling after a burn, runs through his body with every breath. He feels his heart racing. It feels like it is counting down to the moment when it will explode—or, mercifully, to the moment when he will turn his pillow to the cooler side, and finally fall asleep.
I’m here! | friendship and interest in each other
I'll leave my heart as payment among the coins, and pass... – Nichita Stănescu
Mary Dyer
That fateful day of June 1st, 1660, was not the first time Mary Dyer wound up at the gallows. The previous time, with her hands tied and her face covered by the handkerchief of her former pastor, Reverend John Wilson, she had escaped death by the skin of her teeth, after a death sentence that had already killed two of her dear friends...
Christians who don’t fear old age
“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you” (Isaiah 46:4).