Sunday is the seventh day of the week. True or false?

According to the international standard ISO 8601, Sunday is the seventh day of the week. However, many countries, including the US, Canada, and Japan, consider Sunday as the first day. Where does this contradiction come from and why does it matter if Sunday is the first or the seventh day of the week?

The spirit of the age: Trends that are reshaping our lives

The spirit of our age is revealed in the actions that have become so commonplace that we no longer notice them, even though they have become trends.

Kate Lindsay: When the dream is bigger than the challenges

It was the year 1870. Kate Lindsay was sitting the most important exam of her life in front of her Greek teacher.

Practical tips for memorising the Bible

"When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight" (Jeremiah 15:16).

Generosity: the liberating face of love

It happens to all of us: we feel the warmth of a song or the peace of prayer and have the sense that God’s love is there, alive and near. But true love does not stop at emotion. It asks to be expressed in concrete ways, shaping the choices and actions of everyday life.

The woman who dared to knock on closed doors

Between Gladys Aylward’s dream and its fulfilment lay an insurmountable chasm. She crossed it for the sake of people with no future, looking only to the One who promised them one.

A tribute to life, when life left him almost nothing

Losing one’s health and being unable to regain it are profoundly transformative experiences. The body suddenly becomes more than an appendage of the mind, as it is treated when everything is going well, while the mind becomes its prisoner.

Our lives, with all our phones on the table

The phone lies face down on the table. It doesn't make a sound. Yet, everyone in the room senses its presence, just as we...

Faith, not illusions | An interview with Rusty Williams

American pastor Rusty Williams has an amazing life story to tell, as well as a story about developing his faith. The occasion was his long-term effort to build a church—a vision that took 14 years to accomplish! While preparing the written version of this interview, I attended the first worship service in the completed church, just as HopeTV was broadcasting the programme.

Sweet killer

In 1980, the World Health Organization estimated that there were 108 million people with diabetes. By 2021, the International Diabetes Federation database reported 537 million people with diabetes between the ages of 20 and 70, with projections of 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045 (IDF Diabetes Atlas).

How to change a cynic’s mind

Although it is often mistaken for intelligence, especially by those who practice it, cynicism is, in fact, a mask of disappointment. It is toxic to the soul of the individual and to the soul of the community, so we should get rid of it. Here’s how we can do that.

Food allergies

Millions of people live with food allergies. Chances are, you are either one of them or know someone who is. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food allergies affect 4–6% of children and about 4% of adults (Cosme-Blanco, Arroyo-Flores, and Ale, 2020).

What the body does with plant proteins

In reality, the human body, like that of many powerful animals—from horses to elephants—is perfectly capable of extracting and using protein from plant sources....

The invention of movable type

"The world concedes without hesitation or dispute that Gutenberg's invention is incomparably the mightiest event that has ever happened in profane history." Mark Twain

An essential duo

Focusing on healthy eating while overlooking physical activity is not so much a myth as an uncomfortable truth that many of us prefer to ignore. Yet the rapid rise in sedentary lifestyles and metabolic diseases, with their harmful consequences for both individuals and society, is difficult to ignore.