Proof The Bible Is True

I sighed. I’d been job hunting for nearly a month without any luck at all. Now a homeless man had sat down next to me at the bus stop. I studied the classified ads, purposely ignoring him. “Finding a job is hard,” the man said. “Sometimes life ain’t fair. I looked at him. His clothes were worn, but he had a kind face. He was just down on his luck, like me. Suddenly I found myself telling him all about my job search. The man handed me a newspaper. Read More  A Mysterious Stranger Held the Key to Her Job [More]

Bouts of pneumonia and severe asthma had dogged our child since birth—but never like this. Sitting in the hospital waiting room, my husband and I didn’t know if he’d survive the night. We’d been at Grandma’s house when his lungs suddenly seized up. Epinephrine injections didn’t help. Now he was on a ventilator. The nurse checked in on us from time to time to see if we needed anything. Otherwise, we were alone with our worries. Until a chaplain entered the room. I expected him to say the obligatory prayers, wish us well, and move on to others in need. [More]

People often ask me to tell them my story. Maybe that’s because they see the difference between where I am now and where I used to be. Today I’m a professional artist, a father of four and a substance abuse counselor at a gang intervention program. Growing up? I was a gang member myself, a drug addict, a prison inmate. You might think it’s miraculous how I got here from there. I prefer to think of my story as evidence that there really are angels watching over us. Looking back, I see God guiding me every step of my way. [More]

Mom and I always relied on one another. I worked at fast food, but before and after my shifts she served me the best home-cooked breakfast and dinner a girl could want. Plus she gave expert foot rubs, which came in handy. But most of all I looked forward to our evening walks. One evening we walked down the road to the first major intersection. “Look both ways before you cross,” Mom said. “Always the mother hen,” I said. Always trying to take care of me. Just like I’m always trying to take care of her. Lord, I wish we [More]

Trapped in her car with her vital signs failing after a head-on collision in a rural location, a young Missouri women is saved by a guardian angel. Read More  Miracle on the Highway – Guideposts.

Bears were common in the Smoky Mountains come fall. But when one of them started raiding our family’s beehives, I grabbed my rifle and cow horn and headed up Chestnut Mountain with my hunting dogs to track him down. The dogs picked up a scent in the huckleberry bushes. I ran after them, determined to keep up. Soon we were a mile deeper into the mountains than I’d wanted to venture that morning. I sat down on a log to catch my breath. I could hear the dogs barking as they trailed the bear along the far ridge line. Then [More]

As an artist, I’m a keen observer—I always note the details that make each individual unique. But there’s one portrait I’ll never be able to paint. Twenty-five years ago, my husband and I were hauling our trailer down from Omaha to Holiday Island, Arkansas, for vacation when the transmission blew on our ’87 Chevrolet Suburban. We pulled to the side of the interstate. “Let’s flag down a car,” my husband said. Read More  Rescued by a Roadside Angel – Guideposts.

Marriage is tough. It’s a given. This list covers most of the common troubles, but your situation is unique, and the key point here is to face the hardship—whatever kind of struggle it is—together with your wife. OK, if you haven’t watched the “Ian and Larissa” video, then stop reading right now, watch the video, then come back to this list. Seriously, you have to watch it. Do you remember your marriage vows? “For better, for worse … ” “In sickness and in health … ” “For richer, for poorer … ” These promises presuppose tough times. We went into [More]

You don’t have to take your style cues from the world or legalistic saints. Here’s how to make fashion sense. Read More  The Dos and Don’ts of Fashion as a Christian.

Most of us were taught as young as children the proper manners and simple phrases we could use to be polite. But somewhere along the line, it seems we’ve lost the simple art of using these words, and then we wonder why our relationships aren’t going the way we want them to go. Consider this: If you aren’t getting what you want out of your relationships, maybe it is because you aren’t putting the right things in. Here are four simple phrases you learned in elementary school that may be the currency you need to improve your relationships as an [More]

Ellen agonized over the spiritual lostness of her daughter, who in her youth had walked faithfully with the Lord. In her late teens, the young woman had rejected her spiritual moorings, defying almost everything in her life that was good, righteous and principled. She had become a prodigal. Ellen, of course, prayed for her daughter every day and tried to stay connected through phone calls and cards. Soon, they lost even that connection. Calls went unanswered, phone numbers were changed, and letters seemed to disappear into the void. It now seemed like an impenetrable wall separated mother and daughter. Read [More]

As we age, we tend to gain weight, especially in our abdomens. In addition to making it more difficult to fit into last year’s swimsuit, belly fat can have a significant impact on our health. That’s because the fat doesn’t just sit there, spoiling your silhouette. Belly fat and its companion, visceral fat—the fat that hides deep in your body—continuously create inflammatory compounds that wreak havoc in your body, increasing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and many other conditions. Don’t despair, though, because there are seven surefire ways to melt belly fat away. Read More  7 Secrets to [More]

I was clearing up the breakfast dishes when the phone rang. “Something’s happened to your mom,” my dad said. He was trying to keep calm, but I could hear panic in his voice. “The ambulance should be here any minute.” A rush of cold swept through my body, as if I could feel the blood draining to my feet. “Ambulance?” “I found her collapsed on the floor. Hurry over! I’m alone here.” I stumbled upstairs, jerked on my shoes and ran out to the car. Luckily my family all lived close together. My parents were only a few minutes away. [More]

Georgia Lea Horvath and her husband of North Bend, Washington, were grieving the loss of their 26-year-old son, Scott. The three of them had planned a Hawaii trip before he passed. As the departure date approached, neither grieving parent wanted to go. One day, however, Georgia re-considered. Maybe the trip would distract them. They invited her mother to join them. The island was beautiful. One morning Georgia and her husband took a walk along the beach where black lava had hardened into the water. All around the Big Island, people leave names and messages made out of white stones on [More]

Crisp white cotton billowed in the wind almost knocking the clothespin out of my hand. After a struggle, I clipped one corner of the bed sheet onto the line to dry. “You’ve got it!” Mother called from the window that looked out onto the backyard. Heart disease kept her from doing much, so household chores like hanging out the laundry fell to me. I didn’t mind—even with my full-time job. Mother didn’t always ask for help when she needed it. I watched her closely so she didn’t have to. Featured Product Angels in the ER Angels in the ER & [More]

I was at the bus stop, heading home after a long, busy night waiting tables at a steak house, when I realized I’d left behind my money pouch, with $70 worth of tips in it! I couldn’t afford to lose a night’s pay. I ran back into the restaurant. There was no sign of my money. Just imagine you had the night off, I told myself. I’d try to forget about it. The next night was even busier than the one before. I was already waiting on five tables at once, when an elderly couple, both snow white-haired, sat down [More]

Debe’s mother-in-law passed away in Wisconsin during freezing January, so the family decided to hold a memorial service at the funeral home chapel instead of at a gravesite. With so many friends and family members traveling to say their last goodbyes, “We put all her photos and favorite memories out for all to see,” Debe says. “One item I wanted to have on display was an angel that had fiber optics in her outstretched wings.” Debe and her husband had given the angel to his mother the previous Christmas, and she loved looking at it and watching the colors changing [More]

My wife and I adopted a Chihuahua with a bright white spot on her back, whom we named Nuala (pronounced noo-luh, short for Fionnula, an Irish name meaning “white shoulder”). In addition to the white spot, Nuala has another unusual marking—or pair of them, to be exact: two symmetrical black streaks just above her shoulder blades. Nuala’s a young dog, and her coat is still changing. The longer she stays with us, the more pronounced the marks are becoming. “They look a lot,” my wife pointed out recently, “like wings.” Nuala may be the first dog I’ve ever had with [More]

We all know the devil is a liar. But did you know that when you agree with the devil’s opinions about you, he can hold you in bondage? I still have vivid recollections of my fear of the “spanking machine.” I began my education eagerly in the first grade, believing that the teachers were nice people who were going to help us learn and grow. After all, wasn’t learning supposed to be fun? Mrs. L. didn’t think so. She was like a drill sergeant barking commands at all of us, commands that were followed by threats. Her threats were underscored [More]

I have discovered that as we seek the Lord our most difficult periods can be transformed into wonderful breakthroughs into God’s love. For me, one such season occurred during the years 1979 to 1981. The association of churches with which I was aligned had fallen under spiritual deception. Not only were its core doctrines increasingly seeded with New Age influences, but also immorality crept in, and key leaders began leaving their wives for other women. I could no longer remain silent. I left my congregation in Detroit, where I had served as pastor, and traveled to the organization’s regional headquarters [More]

An offer to help, a smile and a kind word will reduce the heat of everyday responsibilities The first command God gave mankind was to be fruitful and multiply (see Gen. 1:28). But fruitfulness involves more than merely growing physical fruit. As a Christian, the Spirit of God has already been planted within you, now it’s your job to cultivate the seed of His nature. And it is not going to be an easy thing to do all the time. The farmer’s seeds must push through a layer of dirt in order to reach the sunlight. That dirt outweighs that [More]

In today’s world, all we have to do to be worried or afraid for our kids is wake up every morning! There is fear and doubt all around us. Anyone can look at the condition of society or at the behavior of their children and be fearful. But God calls us and our kids to be salt and light in the earth (Matt. 5:13-14). We do not have the spirit of fear (2 Tim. 1:7). So, how do we keep our kids surrounded with faith every day when things don’t look so good? By saying what God says. By speaking [More]

Almost all ministry in the book of Acts occurred outside a church meeting. So why do we hide our message in a building? Whenever I visit my friend Lewis Lee, a pastor in Baltimore, I end up on the streets. That’s because Lewis is never content to keep his congregation cooped up inside their church. Every month he takes them downtown to feed homeless people at a park near Johns Hopkins University. On hot summer days he takes teams to the worst neighborhoods of his city to pray for people, share the gospel and distribute bottles of water. This should [More]

Open your ears, God, to my prayer; don’t pretend you don’t hear me knocking. Come close and whisper your answer. I really need you. I shudder at the mean voice, quail before the evil eye, as they pile on the guilt, stockpile angry slander. My insides are turned inside out; specters of death have me down. I shake with fear, I shudder from head to foot. “Who will give me wings,” I ask—“wings like a dove?” Get me out of here on dove wings. I want some peace and quiet. I want a walk in the country. I want a [More]

John was a teenager in the ‘70s, raised in a very religious family. But he was more interested in hot cars and pretty girls. “My faith was very superficial,” he says, “consisting mostly of a strict adherence to the rules except when my parents weren’t looking.” Shortly after getting his driver’s license, John landed a well-paying job at a local grocery store chain. Soon he talked his dad into letting him buy a motorcycle. “Now, my independence was complete,” John explains. “I earned my own money. I was buying my own vehicle. I felt like an adult.” (And at six [More]

Applause thundered throughout the theater as I clasped the hands of my cast mates and we all took a bow. A standing ovation—I couldn’t believe it. It seemed like yesterday I was a chubby, timid girl in high school who hid behind Jane Austen novels. Now I had a slimmed-down figure, was about to enter medical school and my gorgeous boyfriend had asked me to marry him. And I’d just sung a solo in a musical theater production in front of a theater full of people: “All Good Gifts Around Us Are Sent From Heaven Above.” I felt on top [More]

Measuring tape, hand wipes, magnifier, jeweler’s loupe, and a pile of dollar bills for negotiating. I was armed and ready for the yard sales Jessie and I planned to hit that day. I even had a little surprise to show my friend when I drove up to her house in my silver Olds. “Check out the bumper,” I said as she came out to the car. I didn’t want her to miss the new hot pink sticker I’d applied: THIS CAR STOPS AT ALL YARD SALES. “That’s us,” said Jessie as she grabbed the classified section off the seat and [More]