The first soccer match in Brazil was attended by 15 spectators: four family members plus 11 tennis players who were there by accident. Today, soccer is Brazil’s most popular sport and a key part of the nation’s identity. Their national soccer team has won the World Cup five times, more than any other country. Recovery…
George Washington was the father of America, but he was not our first president. That honor goes to John Hanson of Maryland. The United States was officially brought into existence with the ratification of the Articles of Confederation in 1781. George Washington was not elected president until 1789. For those eight years, Congress named a…
An interesting study was conducted in 1984. It was found that hospital patients whose rooms had a window view recovered more quickly than patients whose rooms had no views. Consequently, they spent less time in the hospital. The conclusion was that when we are constantly given a view of hope, we recover more quickly. God…
Dr. Lindsay Weisner is a psychologist with a private practice on Long Island. He is a popular author and podcaster. Dr. Weisner asserts, “It has long been established that the genetic code you inherit from your parents can contribute almost 50 percent of the genetic code that determines your likelihood of being predisposed to alcoholism.”…
“Speak, Lord, for your servant hears” (1 Samuel 3:9). Those are among the most powerful six words in all of Scripture. There is no greater task than to sit, be still, and listen for the voice of God. So why don’t we hear him more clearly, more directly, and more consistently? I suggest several reasons.…
On this date in history, 1865, Union cavalry troopers cornered and shot John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln, on a farm in Virginia. Booth had shot Lincoln 12 days earlier, at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., while the president was watching the play Our American Cousin. Lincoln died the next morning at the…
Life is a matter of choices. Your addiction may explain your behaviors, but it does not excuse your behaviors. Every time you act out, that is on you. C.S. Lewis said, “Every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature.”…
2 Samuel 9:13: “Mephibosheth always ate at the king’s table, but he was lame in both feet.” Mephibosheth was a son of Jonathan, which made him a grandson of King Saul, who had treated David like dirt. But when David became king, he made good on an old promise. He welcomed Saul’s descendant to the…
In 1970, Arnold Palmer played golf with the king of Saudi Arabia. After their time together, the king wished to express his appreciation to the golfing legend. He asked Palmer if there was anything he could give him as a token of his appreciation. Palmer said, “I guess if you really want to, you can…
In Genesis 37, Jacob had a funeral for a son who was not dead. Yes, Joseph had been taken and abused. But he was not dead. His captors faked the man’s death, but he was not dead. They even brought a bloody robe to their father. But Joseph was not dead. “He [Jacob] recognized it…