Someone Must Play Second

Leonard Bernstein, the celebrated orchestra conductor, was once asked, "What is the hardest instrument to play?"

Without a moment's hesitation ...

A Noisy Horn

A Pharisee's trumpet shall be heard to the end of the town but simplicity walks through the town unseen.

The Power of Humble Clothing

Missionaries who dressed like the Chinese suffered a few snags. In the gossipy colonial enclaves of Shanghai and Hong Kong, "going native" caused ...

Making a Good Impression

When as a young man Robert Morrison had first sailed to China, he was asked, "Do you really expect to make an impression on the idolatry of the great ...

Peaceable Kingdom

Give me courage to show the dove in a world so full of serpents.

Acid Test of Servanthood

You can tell whether you are becoming a servant by how you act when people treat you like one.

The Real Alternative to Pharisaism

The Christian alternative to Pharisaism is not Publicanism but costly discipleship. The laxity of the Publican is just as repugnant to God as the self-righteousness ...

A Trip to the Bathroom

While serving with Operation Mobilization in India in 1967, tuberculosis forced me into a sanitarium for several months. I did not yet speak the language, ...

Where Is Calvin's Grave?

Nearing his journey's end, Calvin gave strict instructions that he be buried in the common cemetery with no tombstone. He wished to give no encouragement ...

Tested through Other People

It is no use pretending we are broken before God if we are not broken in our attitude to those around us. God nearly always tests us through other people. ...