Proof The Bible Is True

Blueprints for my next construction job were spread out on the kitchen table before me, but I couldn’t focus on them. My mind was on a different kitchen table, one I hadn’t seen in decades. “What are you thinking about?” my wife, Arbutis, asked me. She could always tell when my mind was somewhere else.   “I had that same dream again last night,” I said. “Night after night, the same dream.”   “The one about your grandmother?”   “That’s the one.” In the dream, I was sitting at Mamaw’s kitchen table. I recognized it right away. Growing up, I [More]

”How long is six weeks?” eight-year-old Henry asked as I unpacked the praying mantis pod I’d ordered for our science lesson. According to the instructions, that’s how long it would take the eggs inside it to hatch.   “It’s a month from now, plus two weeks,” I said. I unwrapped the jar that would hold the pod, and handed Henry and his five-year-old brother, George, the bubble wrap to pop.   I felt a pang of guilt. I’d started working as a nanny for Henry and George after my youngest child graduated from high school. We’d been together for three [More]

 Cardinals seemed to love my backyard. I watched them cavort one sunny morning as I sat on the patio with my coffee. “Cardinals appear when angels are near,” my friend was fond of saying. She knew I believed in angels. I started each day with Psalm 91, “For he will give his angels charge over thee.” It had been a habit since grade school, and now with a daughter in law enforcement and four grandchildren in the military, the psalm was never far from my lips.   I sat quietly for a moment, meditating on my prayer, when a cardinal [More]

Are you as excited about the newly reimagined Guideposts magazine as we are? Lately I’ve been talking to a few interested media outlets about our recommitment to the readers of our 76-year-old flagship publication. At a time when so many publishers are pulling back from print, our relaunch is newsworthy. Invariably I am asked how I came to Guideposts. It’s a story I love to tell.   At the time, my life was a shambles. I was desperately trying to stay sober after years of alcohol abuse. My sponsors in the 12-step program I attended informed me that I needed to do two [More]

”We got hit yesterday,” the convoy commander announced. I was still groggy from lack of sleep, standing in the heavy morning air that unforgettable February day in 2002. I glanced at the soldiers around me, standing at attention, backs ramrod straight. I could feel the nervous energy buzzing just under the surface. “We expect to get hit again today.”   I had flown into this remote location in the arid mountains of southern Afghanistan the night before, arriving at 3 A.M. on a Chinook helicopter. I’d slept a handful of restless hours in someone else’s cot before stumbling to this [More]

As a preteen city kid, I was a little nervous that first night of our Girl Scout campout in the Appalachian Mountains. I’d never set up a tent before, for one thing. “Looks good and sturdy,” one of the troop leaders said when she inspected our work. “It’s supposed to be windy tonight.”   We had dinner around the campfire and got ready for bed. The leaders headed off to their own tent nearby. As soon as we curled up in our sleeping bags, the wind started to howl. A huge gust hit the tent and a section collapsed. We [More]

We had a long list of things we wanted to do that summer, including going to the playground across the street by ourselves. My sister was 12, my twin and I were 9—old enough not to need the watchful eye of our mother, we decided. “Please, Mami?” we begged. “Can we go?”   Our parents were protective Puerto Ricans, determined to shelter us from big-city dangers as best they could. Mami was hesitant, but she looked at the picture of Jesus that hung on our dining room wall, closed her eyes and made the sign of the cross. “Okay,” she [More]

  Kristen: I’d just drifted off to sleep when a face appeared before me. Handsome, with tan skin, dark hair, bushy eyebrows, light blue eyes and a kind smile… I woke with a start. Why am I dreaming about Kyle? I thought. I don’t even know him.   I had seen Kyle only once, briefly, a few weeks before. I was visiting my friend’s business. Kyle was also there visiting his girlfriend. I thought nothing of it. He was in a relationship. Dating was the furthest thing from my mind. So why was I dreaming about an unavailable guy I’d [More]

I was out on a walk,my eyes downcast, trying my eyes downcast, trying to sort through my thoughts. A few days ago, my husband, Russ, and I had lost our house of Russ, and I had lost our house of 28 years to California’s Camp Fire. We’d had to move into a hotel. It was all so hard to process.   An emergency phone call had alerted us early in the morning a few days prior. “Wildfire,” the robo-call repeated. “Evacuate immediately.” We sprang into action. Our next-door neighbor came over to check on us and helped Russ wrestle our [More]

I looked over my holiday shopping list. Two weeks until Christmas and I had everyone in the family covered—except for my daughter, Christel. I was a little stuck on her present. The one thing she wanted, I had no power to give.   Christel and her husband, Mike, had been trying to have a baby ever since they got married, 10 years earlier. Now, at age 33, after countless treatments and consultations, she didn’t know if she could take one more failed pregnancy test.   I looked back at my Christmas list and Christel’s name with nothing beside it. God, [More]

Christmas Eve, 1944. My uncle Leonard was fast asleep aboard the troop ship SS Leopoldville. He was one of the more than 2,000 American soldiers aboard, all members of the Sixty-Sixth Infantry Division headed for France from England.   Suddenly, a massive explosion woke him. A German submarine had torpedoed the ship.   “You could see water coming up through the hold like a geyser,” he told us.   Uncle Leonard ran above deck in his long johns. Another ship in the convoy had already pulled up alongside the Leopoldville and was attempting to take on troops, but rough seas [More]

In 1954, when I was six years old, my family went on a road trip that has since become legend.   My parents, sister and I were driving from our house in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to Mom’s hometown in Texas. As night fell, we found ourselves on a deserted dirt road in Oklahoma, nearly out of gas. We hadn’t seen a service station in hours. It was getting late. My parents tried to hide their growing panic as the gas gauge crept toward empty, as empty as the road ahead of us.   Then a gas station appeared on the horizon. [More]

Heaven-Scent Diane Stark from Brazil, Indiana   The stink hit me as soon as I opened my parents’ front door. I stopped in my tracks and struggled not to cry. Obviously, I needed to investigate and then clean up whatever was causing the odor, but just the thought was overwhelming.   I’d been struggling with depression for months, ever since my husband had left and I’d had to take my kids and move back home. Even with Mom and Dad’s support, the adjustment to being a single mother wasn’t an easy one. A bad smell felt like more than I [More]

“Marion, why don’t you get another cat?” a friend suggested one day last spring. “You loved Minnie.”   “That’s exactly why I don’t want another one now,” I said. “That cat broke my heart. I’m not ready to go through something like that again.”   Two years had passed since we put down Minnie at age seventeen. I still missed her every day. I missed her spying out our living room curtains at the bird feeder, running to rub against my legs every time she heard the false promise of the electric can opener.   There were those luminous yellow [More]

“There are 3 good podcasts to listen to at the link below.” Admin   Warnings From God 17 Minutes • June 24, 2021 There are hundreds of warnings throughout the Bible given to protect, preserve and instruct us. Too often we look at the warnings of God as a reason to fear. Many people even resent the notion that God warns man about hell. Learn more in today’s podcast with Bill and Annette.   Listen: Believers, Don’t Be Surprised When Your Faith Offends

06/24/21   If you’re a Christian, you already know you should be sharing your biblical faith with people of other faiths. Yet if you’re like most Christians, you lack the courage, confidence and skills to do so. That’s OK. Let’s change that.   Read More: 4 Ways You Can Start Spiritual Conversations — Charisma Magazine

“After the article is an audio interview with her.” Admin   Blood was everywhere. The drunk driver collided with the family when they were on their way back from church service. Angela’s 15-year-old body laid lifeless in the car. Nevertheless, the family refused to accept death, and they prayed.   Suddenly, a gust of wind blew over the car, and her lifeless body gasped for air as she miraculously regained consciousness. This was the beginning of a long list of miracles God performed as He showed Himself faithful to His Word as prayer went forth with steadfast faith!   Steadfast [More]

“There are many wonders to see if we just look for them.” Admin   The gray sky outside my kitchen window matched how I felt inside. Hopeless. I sighed and turned away. Life had lost all meaning.   Nearly a year earlier, on a sunny Fourth of July day, I drove to a nearby lake to celebrate with friends and family. It was my birthday. After a long workweek, I was looking forward to our picnic. And I couldn’t wait to get in the water. I loved to swim.   “Here I go,” I shouted, laughing, as I dove headfirst [More]

”I’ll be back in a couple hours,” Dad said as the screen door slammed shut that late afternoon.   Two hours, I told myself. You can do this. I took a long, deep breath and turned to face Mom. Through her cataracts, at least, she couldn’t see the worry in my face. Keeping Mom’s anxiety at bay while she struggled with Alzheimer’s could be next to impossible. If she had an episode, I didn’t know if I could handle it alone, especially at the end of the day.   Read More: She Feared Being Alone with Her Mom with Alzheimer’s [More]

06/16/21   Where all dogs are welcome, especially the ones that are broken and scared.   “This dog is not normal,” my friend and fellow veterinary technician Shannon said, studying a tiny bulldog mix puppy who’d been born at the clinic where we worked. We watched Rosalie try to find her balance. As soon as we put her on her feet, she would flip onto her back.   “Something’s definitely off,” I said. “But I’m going to figure out how to help her.”   Rosalie’s breeder thought the kindest thing would be euthanasia. No way, I thought. This eager puppy, [More]

I live near Omaha, in southeastern Nebraska. If I ran to the basement every time I heard a tornado siren go off, I’d never get anything done. So when a siren wailed one Friday in June, just two days before Father’s Day, I didn’t pay it much mind. I wanted to get my dusting done before settling down for the day. Besides, it wasn’t even raining, with barely a cloud in the early-evening sky. Maybe they’re testing the system, I thought. They do that a lot around here.   Asher, our 12-year-old grandson who lived with us, winced at the [More]

06/16/21   “What a great idea! What if we did this once a month or week, think what a positive impact we could have.” Admin   My mom always made birthdays special. She died of cancer when I was 32. After that, I dreaded my birthday because she wasn’t here to celebrate with me. As I approached 40, I decided that I wanted to have joyful birthdays again. A friend told me that she’d read about someone who spent their birthday doing random acts of kindness. My mom would have loved that. Why not give it a try? I thought. [More]

Visits from a Hummingbird from Jackie Waters in Williamsburg, Ohio   I woke up early and headed to the front porch. My family was still asleep, and I needed a moment to myself. My sister, Tracy, had been battling brain cancer for years, and now there was nothing more the doctors could do. I hope Tracy will be at peace soon, I thought.   Just then, a hummingbird flew up to the porch. It hovered in front of me, looking directly at me before flying away. Short as it was, the visit felt important. This property has been in my [More]