Results

A penny isn’t worth much, but they can be quite valuable. Otha Anders, who lives in Ruston, Louisiana, recently redeemed 45 years of pennies that he had collected in plastic jugs and was able to deposit $5,136.14 into his bank account. –Jim L. Wilson http://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/man-pretty-penny-5k-cashing-coin-collection-34828804…

In 1931, Miriam McMichael, a schoolteacher from Maine, sent a nine-page letter from her home to her mother who lived in Pittsfield Maine. A postal worker recently found the letter at the Pittsfield post office who knew it was old because the letter has a two-cent stamp on it. Both of the original women…

In A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson says, “Perseverance is not the result of our determination; it is the result of God’s faithfulness.” So when we are tempted to compromise our faith, or when we think we have no strength left to endure—we should remember God’s faithfulness. ––Jim…

In his book, Quiet Strength: the Principles, Practices & Priorities of a Winning Life, Tony Dungy said he thought his skills and talents were good enough to get him immediately into the NFL. He was disappointed when it did not happen. “I was in shock after not being drafted into the NFL. Something about…

Herman “Hy” Goldman celebrated him 101st birthday by going to work, just like he usually does. Goldman says he is happy to still be working and doesn’t plan to quit after 73 years at the same job. Other than a brief absence to serve in World War II, Goldman has worked at Capital Lighting since 1941.…

Diana Nyad is a great exemplar of persistence. At the age of 28 she attempted to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. No one had ever done it before. She failed. Then she failed again, and again. She tried and failed 4 times. Finally on her 5th try at age 64 she succeeded. For 53 hours she…

In 1952, 14-year-old- Dave Bell bit into a candy bar, and found a twig inside. He wrote the Pearson Candy Company a letter seeking a replacement bar and included the twig as his proof. He received a letter from George Pearson, the son of one the company’s founders. Person apologized for the twig and…

In Iran Christians are coming under extreme persecution for observing the Lord’s Supper. One received 80 lashes and others sentenced to less lashes. Their crime was drinking communion wine. It may not seem like it at the time, but when believers are persecuted for the Lord’s sake, they are really blessed.…

Most of the cars built in the 1970s are long gone, but a small spacecraft launched in 1977 is still going, traveling through space at 38,000 miles an hour. Voyager 1 has been on a journey for 35 years and is now 11 billion miles from the sun. Ed Stone signed on with the mission in 1977 and only expected…

A postcard sent to two sisters in Elmira, New York arrived at the right address, but ended up in the hands of another family because it arrived nearly 70 years after it was sent. The card was sent in July, 1943 from Illinois. It was sent to Pauline and Theresa Leisenring by their parents who were visiting…

Chinese pastor Samuel Lamb summarized his life and ministry: “more persecution, more growth.” Lamb was imprisoned in 1958 for refusing to register his house church with the government. Sentenced to 20 years of hard labor, he spent two decades working in the coalmines. He used the time to teach Christianity…

In August of 2012 NASA landed a rover on the surface of our neighboring planet Mars. It should provide some good research and fantastic pictures for some time to come. It is not without some persistence and patience that it is there. Of the 41 missions sent to Mars by various space agencies, 26 have…

Using a Popsicle stick and a razor blade, Carlos Garcia spent five months breaking the bar on his New Mexico jail cell and eventfully escaped. However, he had a change of mind and climbed back up the bed sheet and through the window into his second-story cell that he had just escaped from. Garcia is…

Mark made a commitment back in 1989. It was not a commitment to devotionals though, it was a commitment to run. “The 55-year-old college professor from Mendham, N.M., says he has run every day since Dec. 31, 1989. Washburne’s streak has endured through illness, injury, ice storms, and a brief marriage.…

A South Korean woman recently demonstrated that perseverance pays off. After 960 attempts, 69 year old Cha Sa-soon passed all the tests and was awarded a driver’s license. South Korea requires both a written and driving test before a person can receive a license. Cha took the written test almost every…

The world’s shortest man recently died in Italy, where he planned to be part of television program. Officials say He Pingping, of China was 2 feet, 5.37 inches tall. He was certified to be the shortest person by Guinness World Records and had become a recognized figure around the world. Pingping became…

Derek Redmond was prepared for the 400m semifinal race at the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992. He felt he was in the best shape of his life. Despite eight operations on his Achilles tendons over the past 4 years, he felt very confident. His father Jim, sitting in the stands, also had high hopes. Jim and…

SACRIFICE The latest fad for runners is known as “Ultrarunning” which features such extreme running events as a 100 mile marathon. The sport takes such a degree of commitment that some participants have permanently removed their toenails in order to eliminate one of the potential sources of runners’…

With only a couple laps to go in a race he thought he was winning, Dutch Ice Skater Sven Kramer was troubled when he looked into the stands. He saw his girlfriend as he passed. Instead of cheering, she had buried her face in her hands. Kramer said he knew that something was not right. When he finished…

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier - not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to do has increased." Ralph Waldo Emerson

AGING At the start of the annual British Open Golf Tournament in 2009, the media focused primarily on two players: Tiger Woods, the number one ranked golfer in the world, and Padraig Harrington, the winner of the two previous British Opens. Tiger had already won three tournaments on the PGA tour earlier…

It is easy to become discouraged. Sometimes all of us feel we are all alone, no one to stand by us; no one to help us out. Bonnie Richardson of Rochelle, Texas must have felt like that many times. Coming from a town of only 162 people, in a high school of 58 students, with only two other girls to join…

Partnership We were quite a pair. At my last church, there were five of us on staff, two full-time people, me and the secretary and three part-time ministers. One of the part-time pastors was Dr. McGuffin, a semi-retired pastor who'd spent the bulk of his ministry pastoring in New Mexico and California.…

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." Albert Einstein

SOWING TOO RAPIDLY In their book, "The Insider", Peterson & Shamy write "We like to think there are shortcuts to taking the gospel to the nations of the world. As a society of entrepreneurs it's hard for us to accept the idea that shortcuts might not exist. We believe that if we can just plan a little…