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Author and Counselor Nicole Unice says that the one thing that every relationship needs to be healthy is a desire to grow. Unice says friendships, working relationships, marriages, and even our relationship with Jesus all eventually become unhealthy if a person becomes complacent and merely shows up,…

Naples, Italy is a city on the verge of bankruptcy. So what are they spending money on? They have begun to DNA-test dog feces so they can prosecute residents who do not pick up after their dogs. In a city with so many problems, especially financial, it is strange to spend money on dog droppings. Many…

Solitude is a key spiritual discipline. Green Bank, WV is a great place to practice it. With only one road into town the population of 143 has all the peace and quiet they need. In addition, it is also located in a Quiet Zone roughly the size of Maryland. This is the site of the Robert C. Byrd radio…

Bubba Watson won the Master’s Golf tournament twice. The prestige of winning the coveted green jacket given to the tournament champion makes Watson one of the world’s premier golfers. How does Watson view himself? His self-description on Twitter reads simply, “Christian. Husband. Daddy. Pro-golfer.”…

A 50-year-old British woman decided 40 years ago, when she was only ten, that she didn’t want to have wrinkles when she grew older. She had been told that smiling would cause laughter lines to develop around her mouth, eyes, and forehead as she aged. She determined to never smile to avoid developing…

When Mary Jane Ponten, who has cerebral palsy, first searched for Bible study resources for people with intellectual disabilities, she was surprised to learn that there was nothing specifically for her. Rather than be upset, she decided to write the kind of material they need to understand the Bible.…

New research has concluded that people simply don’t like being alone with their own thoughts. The experiment called on participants who ranged in age from 18-77, to sit alone in a room for six to 15 minutes. Afterwards over 50% of the subjects reported they did not enjoy it. Talking about the study,…

All excuses are not created equal. Recently a Canadian resident found a “postal worker's delivery failure notice” in his mailbox explaining why the postal worker did not leave a package at his home—it was because there was a “bear at door.” "Ok, fair enough” the man tweeted, “that's a decent reason to…

In his book, The Fifth Gospel, North Carolina pastor Bobby Conway encourages Christians to do more than read the Bible, but to live it as well. Conway says the inspiration for the book came from British evangelist Gypsy Smith who said, “There are five Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Christian.…

As soon as Toby Sheldon has his jaw reduction and a nose job he will look just like Justin Bieber. In his attempt to look like the teen pop star, the 33-year-old Sheldon has already lowered his hairline, lifted his eyelids, and reduced his chin, all at the cost of over $100,000. In first century Antioch…

What might be the primary purpose of colleges and universities? To see how many national championships they can accumulate? To see who can rank the highest in the annual issue of US News & World Report for Best Colleges? To see who can register the most students? If graduating the students is a high…

Youcef Ndarkhani is an Iranian pastor jailed in 2009 for practicing Christianity. Iranian authorities have sentenced Youcef to death. Now an Iranian judge has sentenced the pastor’s attorney to nine years in prison. The charge against the lawyer, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah is acting against national security.…

Some time ago there was a display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It featured a checkerboard with one grain of wheat on the first square, two grains on the second square, four on the third, then eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, and so on. At the end of the board there were so…

Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them but they are talking to you, they bring back the problems…

DISCIPLESHIP What does it cost to follow Christ? For actor Jim Caviezel, who portrayed Jesus in the 2004 movie, “The Passion of the Christ,” the role has cost a lot. The actor says since he starred in the epic movie, good roles have been hard to come by. In 2004, he expressed interest in playing the…

In Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, David Platt writes, “While the goal of the American dream is to make much of us, the goal of the gospel is to make much of God.” - Radical, p. 46 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson John 3:30 (CEV) Jesus must become more important, while I become…

I recently began a refinancing of my home. Interest rates had fallen and I was trying to lower my interest rate and pay things off earlier. A couple of weeks ago, as I was facing the deadline, they called me and said I had to clear something up before they’d give me the loan. It seems that I had an equity…

In Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, David Platt writes, “I could not help but think that somewhere along the way we had missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable. We were settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves…

In Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, David Platt writes, “We realize that we are saved not just to be forgiven of our sins or to be assured of our eternity in heaven, but we are saved to know God. So we yearn for him. We want him so much that we abandon everything else to experience…

The reason I am so excited about this is because I have seen it work. It was just before Christmas of 2008 when I looked at my office phone and realized I had a message. I dialed in and listened. On the other end of the line there was a voice that said, “Hello, This is Gordon. I’d like to come by and…

It was this calling that Dietrich Bonhoeffer heard. In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer wrote, “When God calls a man, He bids him (to) come and die.” Bonhoeffer knew whereof he spoke. He was a rising academic, a promising theologian and a german pastor. His promising academic and ecclesiastical…

Pastor and writer, John Ortberg writes of what he said was one of the most important moments in his spiritual life. He sat down with a longtime Christian friend and told him, “I don’t want to have any secrets anymore.” He says, I told him everything I was most ashamed of. I told him about my jealousies,…

As I stood in the sanctuary last night and listened to the message about idols, I began to look for the idols in my own life, and I determined that I did not have any. This was a little bit surprising to me considering the fact that I struggle to find time for my bible studies, so I tried it again. This…

By the time police arrested him for the 22nd time, John Sala knew that he had reached the end of the line. This time he was guilty of attempted murder, aggravated assault, and grand theft. When the prison gate swung shut this time, it would be a long time before it reopened. Jail was the best thing that…

Pet Sitters International sponsored a “Take your Dog to Work Day” in June of 201. The purpose of the day is to promote pet adoptions “in a positive and proactive way!” --http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/abqnewseeker-mainmenu-39/22163-take-your-dog-to-work-day.html#ixzz0rsPZGpU7 Illustration by Jim L.…