Stories of Jesus’ Followers

273) Pursued by Grace (part two)

     (continued…)  “If you don’t straighten out, Jimmy, God will deal with you,” Grandma Klobuchar would always say.  Many years later, after grandma was long dead and ‘Little Jimmy’ had become ‘Famous Jim Klobuchar,’ he still had a lot of straightening out to do.  In one area of his life, he was a successful […]

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272) Pursued by Grace (part one)

     Jim Klobuchar was a newspaper columnist for the Minneapolis Tribune from the mid-1960’s to the late 1990’s.  He is now 85 years old, retired, and living in the Twin Cities.  His daughter Amy represents Minnesota in the United States Senate. Klobuchar has written many books describing his active life and many adventures. He

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265) An Uncommon Touch

     A touching image of Pope Francis tenderly embracing a severely disfigured man in St Peter’s Square has gone viral.      Pope Francis kissed and blessed the man, whose face was covered in boils, after his general address at the Vatican on Wednesday.  The pope laid his hands on the head of the

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262) Who Am I? I Am Thine.

By Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1939), Letters and Papers from Prison, pages 346-7, edited by Eberhard Bethge, copyright 1953, SCM Press, Ltd.       Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a young theologian of great promise.  He became active in the Confessing Church movement in Germany which took a stand against the Nazi government in the 1930’s.  His activities made him

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255) Ben Hur

By Don Sweeting, from his December 19, 2013 blog at http://www.donsweeting.wordpress.com    Sweeting serves as the president of Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando, Florida)      It always intrigues me that the best Christmas stories are filled with traces of the gospel.  That’s true of A Christmas Carol, It’s A Wonderful Life, the story of St.

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226) Atheist ‘Flabbergasted’ at Christian Assistance

by Rich Flowers in the 3-20-2012 edition of The Athens Review, Athens, Texas            Sometimes life can take a turn that makes you see things in a different light.      A few weeks ago, Patrick Greene of San Antonio was known in Henderson County simply as a professed atheist who threatened to

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188) The Death of Polycarp

From The Early Christians: In Their Own Words, (Ch. 2; #13); Selected and Edited by Eberhard Arnold (1883-1935); Copyright 2003 by The Bruderhof Foundation, Inc.  Used with permission.  View this book and many others from Plough Publishing at:  http://www.plough.com/ Polycarp (69 – 155), was an early church leader known as a kindly pastor and a defender of

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166) The Man Who Wrote “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”

     Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”  Behind the writing of many of our best-loved hymns are stories of trouble:  personal tragedy, ill health, early death, or conflict.  And when we are in trouble, it seems, we are more likely to look to the Lord

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149) A Gentle Response

The Amazing Story of Antoinette Tuff By Eric Metaxas, http://www.breakpoint.org , September 5, 2013      How do we respond when everything is on the line?  In fear, or in faith?  Or perhaps in a little of both?  Well, one amazing story is getting national attention, and I want you to hear it.     

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148) Christian Leader Describes Party With Three Prostitutes

By Tony Campolo (1935-2024), Let Me Tell You a Story, pages 46-48, © 2000      I head up an organization that has created a missionary enterprise in Haiti.  Presently, through the efforts of those who have taken over this ministry, a network of some eighty-five schools has been established that serves children who have

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