August 31
Who has heard of “engineer missionary” to Uganda Alexander Mackay? Against tremendous obstacles, he built 230 miles of road to Uganda from the coast, built several boats to traverse Lake Victoria, and translated Matthew’s Gospel into Luganda. He lived constantly under the threat of violence from Arab slave traders whom he resisted at every turn. He died in 1890 at the age of 41, having spent fourteen years of unbroken efforts in Africa without returning to his native Scotland. A few months before Mackay’s death, he was visited by explorer Henry Stanley who called him “the best missionary...
Read MoreAugust 30
Can the remarkable fine tuning of the universe be scientifically explained by the concept of a “multiverse,” worlds upon unperceived worlds with an endless variety of conditions that leaves our world as simply “the right one” for life to exist? Not according to Cambridge physicist John Polkinghorne. In one lecture, he wryly quipped about the exacting standards of the world, “There is no free lunch. Somebody had to pay, and only God has the resources to put in what was needed to get what we’ve got.” In his book, One World (pp. 79-80), he writes: “Let us recognize these speculations for what...
Read MoreAugust 29
Bob Brown began life February 12, 1944 as a throw-away child in an orphanage in South St. Paul, Minnesota. Purchased by a young couple for $55.50, Bob was raised in a nominally Christian home, but religion did nothing to fill the void. He studied at the university and then married his high school sweetheart. During time in the Navy, they had three daughters. But ten years later, the marriage collapsed and Bob ended up living in the Bachelor Chiefs Barracks at a naval station in Pennsylvania. Then God brought an old shipmate back into his life. Charlie and his wife had been saved. One day...
Read MoreAugust 28
Did religions evolve from polytheism to monotheism? Renowned Assyriologist Stephen Langdon writes: “In my opinion the history of the oldest civilization of man is a rapid decline from monotheism to extreme polytheism and widespread belief in evil spirits. It is in a very true sense the history of the fall of man.” And anthropologist Dr. Arthur C. Custance observes that scholars of antiquity “found themselves dealing with a tremendous number of gods and goddesses and other spiritual powers of a lesser sort which seemed to be always at war with one another and, much of the time, highly...
Read MoreAugust 27
“God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Lk 18:13). Only a person’s sins rightly introduces himself to God. This was graphically illustrated at the funeral of Empress Zita, the last of the Hapsburgs. The procession stopped at the closed church doors. A member of the funeral party knocked, and was asked from within, “Who goes there?” The titles were read out: Queen of Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia, etc. From within came the response, ““I do not know her.” A second knock and the repeated question, “Who goes there?” The response: “Zita, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary.”...
Read MoreAugust 26
“The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” (2 Cor 10:4). The believer has a fearsome enemy but remarkable weaponry. The word panoplia is used twice in the NT. In Luke 11:22, the Lord described His ability to defeat the strong man, taking away his panoply in which he trusted. Then in Ephesians 6:13-18, the same Lord gives us the panoply (“whole armor”) of God to prepare us for battle. What does it include? The belt: the strengthening influence of truth; the breastplate over our vitals: the protective influence of righteousness; the shoes: the...
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