As soon as the gold in the casket rings, the rescued soul to heaven springs.” Ever heard those words? They form one of the outrageous claims of the 16th century Roman Catholic cleric John Tetzel. Some people quote the last phrase in the claim as saying, “another soul from purgatory springs.” Tetzel was put in […]
Twenty years ago, on January 10th, 2003, a young man named Terry Drier was stranded in the ocean for twenty hours after his boat capsized. He gave a valiant effort at survival, although he later confessed that he felt certain that he was going to die. After that long while, a helicopter located him, and […]
“The power of hope defines the psychological victim and psychological survivor. If I could find a way to package and dispense hope, I would have a pill more powerful than any antidepressant on the market. Hope is often the only thing between man and the abyss. As long as a patient, individual […]
There is a story about the Lone Ranger. He and his sidekick, Tonto, are crossing the Great Plains. All of a sudden, a group of Indians attack from the south. Tonto asks, “What do we do, Kimosabi?” The Lone Ranger says, “Well, we should go to the north.” So, they go north to run from […]
Sometimes it seems we humans just “park our brains” or at least sound that way. A man named Jack Ray illustrated the point with a humorous piece in the March 2004 edition of the Readers Digest (p 76). He wrote: “The trouble with being a landlord? Tenants. Especially those who write letters like these: * The […]
There’s a preacher story about a man who went to dinner with a friend of his. He asked his friend to take him to a restaurant with the best possible meat selection. The friend took him to a restaurant that specialized in serving tongue. They served grilled tongue, fried tongue, baked tongue, tongue in salads, […]
Does Jesus Know You Love Him? by: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN What would you do if you were worth $3.2 billion? When media mogul Ted Turner found out in late September 1997 […]
Some of the most graphic language in the Old Testament is found in the writings of the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah 64:6, he uses an explicit illustration to demonstrate our desperate need for God’s grace. He wrote, “We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag […]
Discipleship is an ongoing process; it doesn’t just happen overnight. One of my favorite “preacher stories” is the one about the farmer who went to the city for the first time. He saw a mall and had never seen a mall before. He was with his son and his wife. He told them, “I’ve got […]
A guy said, “I once had a goldfish that could break-dance on a carpet. But only for like 20 seconds.” My apologies to goldfish and those who love them. This little article is about a Bible passage in Galatians 2:11-21 where the apostle Peter is doing a little dancing of his own. Not on a carpet, mind […]