Heading home to California … a friend and I passed through the Dallas–Fort Worth airport. On the way to the connecting gate, we heard loud patriotic music playing and saw a group, mostly women, wearing colorful hats, cheering, and waving American flags. The troops were coming home, and here was their welcoming committee.

Two women encouraged us to grab flags and join in. We were early for our ...

In Cremona, Italy, where most experts believe history's best violins were made, Andrea Mosconi has the tall task of keeping the precious instruments in shape. For the past 30 years, six days a week, the old musician has gone to the museum in Cremona's city hall where the 300-year-old violins are stored in display cases. Each morning, before the museum opens to the public, Mosconi plays each violin ...

I made my pastoral calls in the county hospital and walked back to my car in the parking lot. Just as I reached out to the car door to get inside, I heard, "Go see Bob." Bob was a retired fireman, seriously ill with heart problems and confined to a bed because of his ailment. He had recently made a decision to accept Christ and was making wonderful spiritual progress. I took what I heard to be the ...

You've probably never heard of Wilbert Williams. He's not famous or rich. Still, Williams received an honor normally reserved for the connected, powerful, and wealthy. On December 2, 2004, the city of Chicago designated a street as Wilbert Williams Way. The honor is in celebration of his upcoming retirement.

What did someone as unknown as Williams do to deserve such a tribute? The question becomes ...

On July 23, 1992, the local police chief in Beattyville, Kentucky, told Rosemary Smith and her husband, Luther, that two of their sons—Jeremiah, 15, and Drew, 18—were dead. The brothers were returning from a concert in Indianapolis, Indiana, when they crashed their vehicle.

Darkness like nothing she had ever known settled over Rosemary. Yet, she found solace in her faith. While following ...

In November 1964, anarchy broke out in the Belgian Congo. Assemblies of God missionary J. W. Tucker knew he was at risk, but he stayed where God had placed him. One day, a mob attacked and killed him with sticks, clubs, fists, and broken bottles. They took his body, threw it in the back of a truck, drove a good distance, and then tossed his corpse to the crocodiles in the Bomokande River in what is ...

Fathers Day 2005 was not a joyful day for Toby Hawkins of Bountiful, Utah. His 11-year-old son Brennan Hawkins had been missing for two days. A much-anticipated excursion at a Boy Scout camp in the rugged Uinta Mountains had turned tragic. Somewhere between the camp's artificial climbing wall and the chow hall, Brennan had become separated from the others.

In spite of 3,000 volunteers joining with ...

On a flight from Atlanta to Chicago in July 2004, nine U.S. soldiers—home from Iraq on a two-week leave—were among the passengers. Before one of the soldiers boarded, a passenger traded his first class ticket for the soldier's coach ticket. As the plane was boarding, other passengers asked to trade their first class seats for the coach seats occupied by the remaining soldiers.

Devilla Evans, ...

This letter was written by Southern Baptist Missionary to Iraq, Karen Watson, prior to leaving for the Middle East. The letter was dated March 7, 2003. Karen was killed, along with four other missionaries, on March 15, 2004.

Dear Pastor Phil and Pastor Roger:

You should only be opening this letter in the event of my death.

When God calls there are no regrets. I tried to share my heart with you as much ...

I surveyed my church to see if people saw a relationship between ministering to others and spiritual growth.

When asked, "To what extent has your ministry or service to others affected your spiritual growth?," 92 percent answered positively. None responded that ministry had a negative effect on their spiritual growth.

Sixty-three percent indicated that service was equally significant in their spiritual ...