Recently, Donna Louise Greenwell of Pitkin, LA was sentenced to fifteen months of imprisonment at hard labor. She was convicted of attempting to sell a five year-old boy and a four year-old girl to a couple in a neighboring town.

While the crime is bad enough, it was the fee she received that put this event on the news. For the two children Mrs. Greenwell was to have receied $175 and a cockatoo. That’s right — two children in exchange for a smart bird and a small amount of cash.

Before we file this news item, we should pause to reflect how often people trade very important things for little or nothing. A teenage girl trades in her virginity, reputation and self respect for a wild prom night. A talented businessman risks his job by viewing porn [...]

How comfortable are your feet right now?  When I ask this, do you suddenly become aware of them?  At any given moment, we can feel our feet, but if we’re not thinking about them, we don’t really notice how they feel.  Perhaps even as I say this, you suddenly pause and realize the need to adjust a sock or tighten a shoelace.  Your feet have always been there, haven’t they?  But just before you read this, you weren’t thinking about them.  Awareness is everything.

Once in chapel at the Harding Graduate School, a man got up to lead our prayer.  He was from Africa, and he could pray unlike anyone I’ve ever heard.  He spoke with a booming voice and a thick accent.  The first half of his prayer he spent simply acknowledging the majesty of [...]

Dean Pierson was a struggling dairy farmer in Copake, NY who last Thursday reached his breaking point. He went to his barn, barricaded the door, systematically killed each of his 51 milk cows, and then turned his rifle on himself. A murder-suicide with a different twist.

We immediately ask ourselves the question, “Why?” What drives a person to take such drastic action. While few details have been published, one neighbor did say, “These are hard times to be a farmer.”

It is hard to look forward to anything, when our problems consume our “vision.” Hopelessness and despair come when we don’t see any way out of our bleak circumstances. Yet, it was for just such a reality that Jesus came. Peter writes in I Peter 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, [...]

 

The destruction caused by the 7.0 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti rises beyond what we are able to comprehend. Destroyed houses and suffering people are evident in every news report we watch. Thousands dead; hundreds of thousands homeless; a nation’s flickering efforts at economic growth snuffed out. It is not the first tragedy we have witnessed or experienced, but for this week it is the biggest.

Yet, it is imperative that we pause and look at tragedy in a different light. There is a positive side to the catastrophe in Haiti.

#1 — We are reminded of the compassion and generosity of people. Millions of dollars and hundreds of adoptive parents are rising to the occasion. Would they have without the crisis?

#2 — We observe unity borne of necessity. People from all backgrounds and nations with divergent policies [...]

It was January 13 and Frank and Cindy had gone outside to look around after the ice storm was over. The night was clear and very cold. Returning to the cozy confines of their den and sipping on hot cups of coffee, the couple began sharing their recent observations. Frank said, “Did you see those trees that were uprooted by the weight of the ice? I bet we will have some roof damage, and I sure hope the pipes under the house don’t freeze tonight.” Almost oblivious to her spouse’s grumblings, Cindy exclaimed, “Weren’t the stars beautiful?”

They both were standing in the yard surrounded by the same icy devastation, but there was one key difference. Frank was looking at the damage, while Cindy was looking at the stars.

Exactly the same thing happened, when the twelve [...]