Does prayer work?
As a book editor who works in a Christian publishing house, I know prayer works from a sales perspective. Books on the topic of prayer are consistently among our best sellers. It seems that many of our customers and readers—mostly people of faith, but including people who are interested but uncertain about faith—are keen to be reassured that prayer works and to find...
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.
Great expectations in friendship
How can we protect ourselves against expecting too much of our friendships? Can we do something to prepare for the disappointment? And what does one do to deal with it?
How to grow together with God
We’d been married only a few weeks when we discovered that growing our spirituality as a couple was going to be much more complicated than the instructions on the packet suggested.
The rabbi (who never was a rabbi) who will never be forgotten
Given that no one could become a scholar without formal training, it is truly remarkable that Jesus, who was not formally educated, was nevertheless recognized as a “Rabbi” (Mark 12:14 cf. John 3:2).[1]
Jesus and the Goddess of Reason | Thomas Paine and the trap of contemporary deism
"I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life." This is how one of the most famous leaders of the American Revolution and an influential political writer of the late 18th century-Thomas Paine (1737-1809)-begins his testimony of faith. A few lines later in the same book, The Age of Reason, after vehemently rejecting the creed of...
Friedrich Nietzsche, Christianity, and Jesus of Nazareth
“I condemn Christianity; I bring against the Christian church the most terrible of all the accusations that an accuser has ever had in his mouth... The Christian church has left nothing untouched by its depravity; it has turned every value into worthlessness, and every truth into a lie, and every integrity into baseness of soul... the cross as the distinguishing mark of the...
Jesus: a detailed portrait | A review of The Desire of Ages by Ellen G. White
During her lifetime, the Christian author Ellen White published over 5,000 articles and 40 books. Today, over 100 titles comprising the author’s 50,000 manuscript pages are available in English.
Why we shouldn’t neglect the mealtime prayer
It could be a perfunctory ritual, passed down through generations; a mechanically recited poem. But equally, the mealtime prayer can be a genuine spiritual exercise.
The seasons of (un)belief in Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens was not merely an atheist but, as he described himself, a militant antitheist. It was in his home, at his invitation, that the group known as “The Four Horsemen of New Atheism” first convened. Born in 1949 in postwar England, Hitchens was shaped by the politics and intellectual currents of the 1960s.
Does God give signs?
In ancient Israel, the high priests wore a vest that had two stones on it called the Urim and Thummim. Whenever a question about God’s will was brought to the priest, he would ask God to give the answer. If the stone on the left glowed, it indicated divine approval. If the stone on the right glowed instead, it indicated God’s disapproval.
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).
Why our neighbour is the key to understanding God
I have always been fascinated by God. And yet, I believe I could have known Him far better—much more deeply—if only I had better understood what He sought to teach me each day, including through my neighbour.
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.
Fighting over the West: Orthodoxy, Protestant Reformation, and Catholicism
At the beginning of the 15th century, the threat of the Ottoman Empire to Eastern Europe was a painful certainty. The last Byzantines, aware of the ensuing disaster, called on Western aid, seeking political union with the Roman Catholic Church.


























