My first cycle ride last summer was meant to be challenging and exhilarating. Instead, it had one too many scary moments. First, a man driving by honked, yelled, pulled over (almost getting out of his car), and swore at my friend and me just because we were biking on the road, preventing him...
A 27-year-old nobleman from Saxony (in present-day Germany), Nicholaus von Zinzendorf was the key figure in a spiritual revival in 1727. Early in life he chose as his motto: “I have but one passion – it is Jesus, Jesus only.” At age 16 he had formed seven praying societies at college. Count Zinzendorf’s...
“The poor in spirit . . . have made peace with their flawed existence.” I remember reading this quote from Brennan Manning when I was barely out of college. I felt uncomfortable. Poor in spirit? Doesn’t sound fun. Flawed existence? Eesh. But he spent a lot of time talking about being poor in...
When I was a child growing up in New Zealand, my mother knit colorful sweaters for me. She used brightly-colored wool to create warm sweaters, which we call jumpers. Perhaps not the greatest fashion statement as I got older, but in many photos, I’m wearing one! I believe there are three main...
Trials are inevitable, Jesus warned us. “In this world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). We feel the burdens and struggles of this life, but as a friend challenged me to remember: when we are tempted to say, “Poor me,” instead say, “Pour me, Lord!” Rather than giving way to self-pity, let...
In the early morning hours, having risked hyena attacks and rape in order to reach the river, young girls and women kneel at the river’s edge. They fill their buckets with dirty water for drinking, cooking, and bathing — water that will plague the people with parasite-borne illnesses. Near other villages...