Most people avoided George Chase. He lived in a twelve-foot-square shack in the woods where New England’s Pawcatuck River meets Little Narragansett Bay. To the locals, it was obvious George didn’t have a bathtub. They could smell the eviden…

My friend Butch Briggs has been the beloved coach for the swim teams at a local high school for fifty-one years. Out of curiosity, I asked him how many state championships he’d won during his five decades. In his trademark gentle tone he quipped,…

Woody Cooper stood in the loud mob the day Dorothy Counts, a Black girl, enrolled in his all-White high school in North Carolina. Taunting her, some boys yelled racial slurs and threw trash at Dorothy, but Woody didn’t rebuke them, even staying s…

Author Richard Mouw tells of a black theologian from South Africa who struggled with dark memories of life under apartheid. Mouw wrote, “He told a story about an African child whose teacher asked her to define ‘memory.’ After thinking…

In 2023, Kenyan police intervened to end to what’s being called the “Shakahola Massacre”—in which hundreds died after following a cult leader’s directions to starve themselves to meet Jesus. The leader had allegedly promis…

Todd invited his younger brother Alex, a recent college graduate, to come live with him in the house he’d built. He wanted to help his sibling gain some financial footing by allowing him to live rent-free for a while. After six months, Todd asked…

My heart sank. My mind started to swirl. A friend who’d been helping set up my new laptop accidentally deleted all the photos and videos I’d transferred to it. Years of precious memories with family and friends were all gone in an instant. …

Belle wanted nothing to do with her parents’ faith in Jesus. In college, she proclaimed herself an agnostic and sought to live without God. But a breakup with her boyfriend and growing depression sent her on a downward spiral. She thought of endi…

My cousins, who lived only two miles away when we were growing up, weren’t allowed to interact with my family. They never came to reunions or talked to us at the local grocery store. Their parents said it was because we didn’t attend church…

Stradivarius violins, cellos, and guitars are among the most treasured musical instruments in the world. Crafted during the 17th and 18th centuries, the pieces are rare and invaluable. Something so precious deserves the utmost care. So, when a Stradiva…