Center for Informed Faith

One of my favorite cartoons pictures two men walking out of church wearing nothing but their underwear. One says to the other, "That's the best sermon on money I've ever heard."

William Borden was heir to the Borden dairy fortune, but he abandoned immeasurable wealth to serve God as a foreign missionary. Tragically, he contracted meningitis before reaching his destination and died. Among his possessions was found this scribbled note, summarizing his life's passion: No reserve, no retreat, no regrets. His story and motto captured the heart of a generation, and galvanized thousands for mission service.

Elton Trueblood, the great Christian philosopher, said that every successful organization must have a passion, a philosophy, and a program. What are to be ours?

King David had an affair with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. She became pregnant. To cover his sin, eventually he had Uriah killed and took his widow as his own wife. But God knew what he had done. And David's story would never be the same.

Blaise Pascal, the mathematical and spiritual genius, believed that "all the troubles of life come upon us because we refuse to sit quietly for a while each day in our rooms." Oswald Chambers agreed: "Prayer is the way the life of God is nourished. We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible's idea of prayer is that we may get to know God himself." How can we know our Father more fully, by praying more effectively?

Football is America's favorite spectator sport. An English visitor described the game as 22 men in desperate need of rest, being watched by 70,000 people in desperate need of exercise. And the math only gets worse.

In 1870 the Methodists in Indiana were holding their Annual Conference. At one point in the proceedings, the president of the college where they were meeting said, "I think we are living in a very exciting age." The presiding bishop asked him, "What do you see for the future?" The college president responded, "I believe we are coming into a time of great inventions. I believe, for example, that men will fly through the air like birds." The bishop said, "That's heresy! The Bible says that flight is reserved for the angels. We'll have no more such talk here."