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As I approached my 27th birthday, I had this strange feeling that I was about to cross a definitive line—like when an explorer marks the place that is the farthest reach of the previous explorer and then takes one more step into new territory—off the map, over the edge and no turning back. There was nothing at all pleasant about this sensation: It was frightening and lonely and I was ...

We find it difficult to maintain a commitment to both this world and the next, to this life and the next.

A friend of mine uses the analogy of a busload of tourists en route to the Grand Canyon. On the long journey across the wheat fields of Kansas and through the glorious mountains of Colorado, the travelers inexplicably keep the shades down. Intent on the ultimate destination, they never even bother ...

Jennifer Tatum was teaching her daughter Ellie about the many different words that rhyme, when they had this conversation:

Jennifer: Head, bed, said. They all have the "ed" sound. Now Ellie, what rhymes with floor?

Ellie: Door and more and sore.

Jennifer: Very good! What other rhymes can we think of?

Ellie: Bear and chair and stair.

Jennifer: Very good! What else?

Ellie: Worm and butterfly.

Jennifer: Those ...

We will have eternity to celebrate the victories, but only a few hours before sunset to win them.

—Amy Carmichael, Irish missionary to India (1867-1951)

With the growth of the multinational church, mission is becoming multidirectional. The U.S. remains the largest single contributor of Protestant cross-cultural missionaries. But which country is the second largest? Not a Western nation, but India. And it is possible that India has overtaken the States in the number of those involved in truly cross-cultural mission—both within and beyond India. ...

The Institute for Jewish and Community Research surveyed 1,200 professors from a cross-section of colleges, seeking "their attitudes toward various religions." The research was originally aimed at gauging anti-Semitism, but something else was discovered. The professors stated they had positive feelings toward Jews and Catholics, but 53 percent said they possessed unfavorable feelings toward students ...

June 6, 1994, was the 50th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy, which began the historic World War II battle to liberate continental Europe from Nazi control. All the major television networks ran anniversary programs that included interviews with aging veterans.

One of the programs paired two contrasting interviews back to back. The first interview was with a marine who had landed on Omaha ...

Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter.

The detection in 1963 of cosmic microwave background in the universe was one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century because it is strong evidence that the universe had a definite beginning. Before this time many scientists and philosophers, including Aristotle, believed the universe was eternal and always existed.

The background noise of the universe is evidence of a "beginning" and is more ...

In his novel

Edge of Eternity

, Randy Alcorn compares our lives on earth to those of the characters in a novel. He writes:

Each character is placed in a setting by the novelist; each expands or contracts his part through the choices he makes. Play your part gladly, but do not waste your time trying to make your role more important. The more a player in the drama elevates his part, the less he fulfills ...