“We have a high casualty rate. We’re the ones who get slandered and ridiculed and fired from our jobs and in every other way made as uncomfortable as possible. A certain percentage of us get killed or imprisoned. We live in virtual poverty. We turn back to our community every penny we make above what is absolutely necessary to keep us alive. We don’t have time or the money for many movies or...
History is replete with devotees of the afternoon nap. Winston Churchill’s two hour break was not negotiable – he even kept a bed in the Houses of Parliament. US President John F Kennedy’s schedule started with lunch in bed followed by at least an hour’s nap with Jackie alongside. JFK’s successor Lyndon Johnson broke religiously for his half hour snooze at 3:30pm. The restorative power of sleep...
Bob Jones was one of the greatest golfers in history. He was the first person to win four majors in one year. He won thirteen majors before he retired at 28. There was one the lost. He took a one-shot penalty at the 1925 US Open, even though no one saw him touch the ball with his own club. Even Jones was not sure that it happened. The officials encouraged him not to take the penalty. But he took...
Revered German church leader Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984) wrote about II WW Nazi Germany: “When the Nazis came for the communists, I did not speak out, as I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I did not speak out, for I was not a social democrat.” The long quote concludes with the statement: “When they came for me, there was no one left to protest.”
Hudson Taylor, well know English missionary that started China Inland Mission in the late 1800s, was so feeble in the closing months of his life that he wrote a dear friend: “I am so weak I cannot write; I cannot read my Bible; I cannot even pray. I can only lie still in God’s arms like a little child, and trust.” Richard Wurmbrand, Romanian pastor, spend 13 years in a Communist...
Andrew Murray – well know pastor and writer from South Africa There were a group of people that tried to find something against Andrew Murray so that they could bring him before the synod. They send to elder from their church to stay with him for two weeks. When they came back, they said: “He lives double what he preaches.” David Livingstone For four months and four days...
The death of John Brown The Covenanters were Scottish Presbyterians who resisted the Episcopal system that Charles I, Charles II and James VI imposed on Scotland from 1637-1690. They oppose the divine rights of kings and believed that limitless sovereignty belongs to God alone. The Covenanters movement was outlawed. During the reign of Charles II they were hunted, jailed and killed in large...
Religious persecution is not uncommon in Iraq, home to some 230,000 Christians in a population that numbers 38.6 million people. Here, mothers often pray over their newborns that they will grow up, be happy and die normally—that is not be shot and killed. The steel barrel of the gun pressed into Father Douglas Al Bazi’s head. His captors pulled the trigger. Another empty chamber. Another...