Stories of Jesus’ Followers

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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146) The Teachings of Sadhu Sundar Singh (#3)

From Wisdom of the Sadhu: Teachings of Sundar Singh, (1889-1929), compiled and edited by Kim Comer. (Reprinted from http://www.bruderhof.com. Copyright 2003 by The Bruderhof Foundation, Inc. Used with permission.) For this and many other books on-line from The Bruderhof, see <www.plough.com>  “A Warning to the West”      Christian:  Haven’t you visited America and western Europe?  What

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145) The Teachings of Sadhu Sundar Singh (#2)

From At the Master’s Feet, 1922, by Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929)  (see  Meditation #143)      The great gift of service is that it also helps the one who serves.  Once when traveling in Tibet, I was crossing a high mountain pass with my Tibetan guide.  The weather had suddenly turned bitterly cold, and my

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144) The Teachings of Sadhu Sundar Singh (#1)

From At the Master’s Feet, Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929)  (See Meditation #143)     Once, as I traveled through the Himalayas, there was a great forest fire.  Everyone was frantically trying to fight the fire, but I noticed a group of men standing and looking up into a tree that was about to go up in

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143) The Story of Sadhu Sundar Singh

        Sundar Singh (1889-1929) was raised a member of the Sikh religion.  Prior to his conversion, he attended a primary school run by the American Presbyterian Mission where the New Testament was read daily as a ‘textbook.’  He said, “I refused to read the Bible at the daily lessons…  To some extent the

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