In the summer of 1942, two buses arrived at the French village of Le Chambon. The Vichy government, in service to the German occupation, had sent them to pick up the Jews who’d been sheltered in this largely Protestant town. When the police captain first demanded that the local pastor supply him a list of the resident Jews and then insisted that he sign a poster calling on the Jews to surrender themselves, he refused.

  29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore . . . 33 He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. 34 Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom. 1 Kings 4:29, 33-34 (NIV)

Pastor John Scripture Reference: II Timothy 4:1-22

Pastor John Scripture Reference: II Timothy 3:10-17

  Rashid Emmanuel and his brother Sajid Masih Emmanuel were arrested by Pakistani police in early July 2010, in Dawood Nagar, Faisalabad. They had been running United Ministries Pakistan in Dawood Nagar for the previous two years.

  16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:16-17 (ESV)

  On November 1, 1755, Lisbon was rocked by an earthquake estimated at over 8.5 on the Richter Scale, just short of the 9.1-9.3 registered during the 2004 Asian tsunami. Lisbon, one of Europe’s largest cities, was devastated, with as many as 100,000 dead.1 As one visitor observed, A far more melancholy abode than Lisbon cannot be conceived, nothing strikes the Eye in the City but ruin and Desolation; the Fire having completed what the Earthquake began: Heaps of Rubbish; broken walls; Fragments of Churches, with the Paintings and Ornaments in many parts remaining, form although a Scene of Horror […]

  Pastor Samuel Willard strode up the center aisle of Boston’s Third Church as the congregation sang a psalm. It was an official day of fasting and prayer for Bostonians. But for Samuel Sewall, it would also be a day of personal repentance. As Willard passed, he paused just long enough to receive a note from Sewall. Later in the service he unfolded the note and looked at Sewall, who rose to his feet. What happened next shocked the silent crowd: The minister read Sewall’s confession of guilt in the Salem witch trials five years earlier in 1692, at which […]

  Solomon Stoddard was the minister of the church in Northampton, Massachusetts, for over half a century and was succeeded by his grandson Jonathan Edwards. He enjoyed a fruitful ministry over many years, and in particular, he was used by God in the conversion of many people and the reform of the community in line with Christian principles. Yet as he himself testified, he needed encouragement because many who professed true religion lived contrary to their calling. He said, “We live in a corrupt age, and multitudes of men take a licentious liberty, in their drinking and apparel . . […]

  A wave of concern over fundraising practices in the non-profit sector prompted Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield to challenge evangelical leaders in 1977.1 An evangelical himself, he warned that Congress might pass legislation regulating the affairs of Christian ministries unless they found a way to police themselves with a “Christian Better Business Bureau.”2 In response, in 1979, a group of believers founded the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.3 Charter members included Campus Crusade for Christ, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and Dallas Theological Seminary. The ECFA holds members to seven standards of responsible stewardship: doctrinal orthodoxy; a board of directors […]