What one sees depends on where one sets up one's shop. Mine is at the entrance of the empty tomb.

—W. Paul Jones, Roman Catholic priest

While writing about the Nativity in his book The Faces of Jesus, author and pastor Frederick Buechner reflects on an early scene in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Three characters—Horatio, Marcellus, and Barnardo—are keeping watch at night, discussing the possibility of having seen a ghost. In the midst of their conversation, they briefly stumble into a discussion about the night of Christ's birth. ...

Yellow is not my favorite color. But now that I know the story of Vincent van Gogh, I have come to value yellow differently. This famous Dutch painter, sadly, tossed away the truth imparted him in his Christian home and sank into depression and destruction. By the grace of God, as he later began to embrace the truth again, his life took on hope, and he gave that hope color.

The best-kept secret of ...

As our plane ascended out of San Antonio, it passed an enclave of mansions. These homes had to contain at least seven to ten thousand square feet of space, with immaculate lawns and gardens, large pools, and huge garages. But from two thousand feet in the air, it's amazing how small these homes looked. Another few thousand feet, and they became mere playhouses.

And then it hit me: not a home on this ...

Pentecost, the day on which we are indwelt by the Spirit, sweeps us up into the dance of the Trinity. We are summoned to the dance floor, [and] the music is grace and love and holiness and peace… The music is supplied by God, and his people are invited to sing and dance along.

Pentecost, my friends, is an invitation to a dance. And it gives us the energy and power to pull it off.

It is an image of the Trinity as a plant, with the Father as a deep root, the Son as the shoot that breaks forth into the world, and the Spirit as that which spreads beauty and fragrance.

— Tertullian, Church Father (c. 155–230)

In a 2007 edition of Newsweek magazine, author and radio personality Garrison Keillor was asked to choose what he considered to be the five most important books. Some readers were probably surprised to find that he ranked the Book of Acts at the top of his list. When describing the Book of Acts, Keillor offered this concise but potent summation: "The flames lit on their little heads and bravely and ...

In the fall of 2006, researchers from the United States and England achieved what had only been dreamed of in science fiction: they created and tested a cloaking device. And it worked. In their first attempt, the scientists were able to cloak a copper can from microwave radiation. Microwaves operate in a similar manner to visible light and radar, in that the waves bounce off of objects, making them ...

One of the more humorous quirks of scientific history is the debate over who should get the credit for discovering oxygen. Joseph Priestley, an English scientist and clergyman, is often given that honor because he was the first to publish his findings, doing so in 1774. Interestingly, Priestley originally called the gas, "dephlogisticated air."

However, in 1772, two years prior to Priestly's find, ...

The main evidence that we are growing in Christ is not exhilarating prayer experiences, but steadily increasing, humble love for other people.