The course of religious history has been profoundly altered by great men like Luther, Calvin, Knox, Huss, and Jerome—men who were willing to put truth even before their own lives. But none gave more to the English Reformation than William Tyndale. Banished from his homeland and relentlessly persecuted, he left the English-speaking world a legacy […]
Manasseh’s feet burned from the stones and hot sand sifting into his sandals, and the ropes tore into his wrists as he struggled to maintain his balance against the compulsion of the barb that pierced his nose. Like so many conquered kings before him, Manasseh offered no resistance as his Assyrian captors marched him through […]
This story is based on 2 Kings 5. “Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper.” Ben-hadad, king of Syria, […]
“She stole my baby!” “No, I didn’t! This is my baby!” Suddenly Solomon’s throne room is filled with the screams and cries of two women—harlots. One clutches a wailing infant. Sobbing, the woman without the infant throws herself at the king’s feet and relates a heartbreaking story. “This woman and I share the same house, […]
History is chiefly the record of the character and exploits of men and women who exerted the greatest influence upon their generation and nation. We cannot think of the Babylonian Empire apart from Nebuchadnezzar, its greatest ruler, and Daniel, its greatest statesman. Cyrus, Darius Hystaspes, and Xerxes made Persian history. Greece revolved around a small […]
“How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21. He wasn’t a martyr. He never did anything heroic. He was no Luther, Huss, or Wycliffe. He was Jacob Hermanszoon, a pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church and a professor at the University […]
“Saul of Tarsus is on his way here!” The messenger’s announcement startled the crowd gathered in the narrow Damascus street. “He received letters from the high priest to find and arrest the followers of Jesus who live in this city. They will be taken to Jerusalem to be tried and sentenced.” Ananias listened with a […]
Zacchaeus is known to many as the little man who “climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see.” To his contemporaries, he was a big crook on a small chassis. Nature somehow forces little men to look more to their wits than to their muscle if they are to survive […]
Exhausted, Private Desmond T. Doss sank to his knees on the barracks floor next to his bunk and began talking to God like he always did before sleeping. The day had been overwhelming, and he needed strength to cope with his new, rough companions—their cursing, tempers, filthy jokes, and bullying. Thud! A military boot narrowly missed […]
In 1519, Martin Luther took the little German village of Grimma by storm. He had recently become somewhat of a national icon for having taken on the famous Dr. Eck in a seriously heavyweight theological disputation in Leipzig. The relatively unknown German monk was catapulted to stardom overnight and became the poster boy for a transformative new […]