Harold Hoehner unfolds the nature of adoption in the Roman world: "Under Roman law the procedure of adoption had two steps. In the first step, the son had to be released from the control of his natural father. This was done by a procedure whereby the father sold him as a slave three times

Gary Thomas, in his book Sacred Marriage, writes: "One of the reasons the trees of the western slope of the Cascades survive so long is quite simple: The Washington forests are so wet that lightning strikes cause relatively few fires. Whereas the traditional forest, if left alone, migh

"The early church father Tertullian wrote of the connection of Christ's love to the marriage relationship: How beautiful, then, the marriage of two Christians, two who are one in home, one in desire, one in the way of life they follow, one in the religion they practice. . . . No

Once when my parents were visiting our home in Indiana, we took them to Lake Michigan. It was a real delight, especially for my eleven-year-old sister, who had never seen such a large body of water before. As we visited that day about how relaxing it was to be in nature and enjoy the sound

The early American Indians had a unique practice of training young braves. On the night of a boy's thirteenth birthday, after learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills, he was put to one final test. He was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then, he had nev

The Puritan John Owen said: "Our forgiving of others will not procure forgiveness for ourselves; but our not forgiving others proves that we ourselves are not forgiven." And Thomas Watson said: "A man may as well go to hell for not forgiving as for not believing." Qu

"Perhaps the best caricature of the power of resentment was penned by the author Charles Dickens in his novel Great Expectations. There we meet the immortal character Miss Havisham, jilted at the altar many years before. Long ago, she was dressing for her wedding, waiting for the hour

"In April 1988 the evening news reported on a photographer who was a skydiver. He had jumped from a plane along with numerous other skydivers and filmed the group as they fell and opened their parachutes. On the film shown on the telecast, as the final skydiver opened his chute, the p

During the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, sentenced a soldier to be shot for his crimes. The execution was to take place at the ringing of the evening curfew bell. However, the bell did not sound. The soldier's fiancé had climbed into the belfry and clung to

Warren Wiersbe writes that "Years ago a traveling entertainer billed himself as 'The Human Fly.' He would climb up the sides of buildings or monuments without the aid of ropes or the protection of nets. Usually the whole neighborhood would turn out to watch him. During one