Salvation

The Ripley's Believe It Or Not column tells of a woman in England who received a heart transplant in June of 2007. She decided to go and visit her old heart when it was placed on display in London.

Pardon

There is a story from the history of Kentucky about a man named Sam Holmes who was in jail for the charge of murder. He was visited by a childhood friend named Lucien Young. Young was a man of bravery who had been honored for rescuing people from a wrecked ship. It was because of Young's pleading that the governor decided to reconsider the case and gave him a signed pardon for his friend.

Legacy

Elias Boudinot was the first president of the American Bible Society and was also the president of the United States Continental Congress in 1783. His gravestone in Burlington, New Jersey, refurbished by modern admirers, says of him, "His death was the triumph of the Christian faith, the consummation of hope, the dawn and pledge of endless felicity."

God

A missionary came up with a great strategy to share the gospel. He would go to a village, sit with the people around the fire and ask, "What has your god done for you?"

Giving

Recently the Charlotte Observer carried the story of one church's unusual beginning for a capital campaign. Instead of taking an offering, Elevation Church gave $40,000 to the congregation to spend on doing good deeds.

Courage

Many perhaps remember several poignant quotes from Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. We remember the opening words, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

Are You Ready for the New Year?

This past August, USA Today reported on the Beloit College Mindset List. Published at the beginning of each new school year, the Mindset List offers a quick peek into the hearts and minds of the entering students for the coming year. I must confess that this year's list got my attention in an unusual way because it brought me face-to- face with how this year's college freshman class views our world.

prchg I txt

I remember when e-mail was the coolest thing going. Now e-mail is for us old guys, as the millennial generation has stepped things up to communicating with each other via text-messaging. You've seen them - young men and women pounding away at their tiny cell phones with their thumbs, sending each other important messages like RUOK ("Are you OK?") and IBCNU ("I'll be seeing you") in an obscure code known only to people under the age of 25.