by Randy Zempel It seemed my words, like bullets, were ricocheting off the walls before I even knew what was happening. It seemed no matter what I said, they just kept coming back at me. The story takes place one normal, uneventful day (so I thought) until I walked into that hospital room for a visit. I asked the first patient nearest the door to my left, “Hello, are you Bob?” The man lying in bed said, “Yes.” I looked [...]
We all know the story. The Titanic, a British passenger liner, struck an iceberg off Newfoundland on the night of April 14-15, 1912, and sank. There is part of that story, however, that is not widely known. One of the passengers on the Titanic was a godly pastor from Scotland by the name of John Harper. Harper had recently spent three months ministering at the Moody Church in Chicago, during which time the church had experienced one of the most [...]
by Shawn Laughlin If you have never ventured into northern Minnesota in the month of January, you may not be aware that on weekends, thousands of people converge on the frozen lakes to engage in one the most enjoyable American pastimes—fishing, in this case, ice fishing. A group of men from our local church got away for a time of fellowship and fishing in rented “fish houses” from a local resort on one of these lakes. The fish houses are [...]
Years ago I was sitting in the Hibbing (Minnesota) Hospital with my wife, waiting for our third child to be born. A lady friend and fellow believer walked by the room and recognized my wife and me. She said she was just up in Hibbing visiting her dad who had just gotten out of prison for manslaughter. She asked me if I would drive to her dad’s home to witness to him. I said, “Yes,” but I had known about [...]
by Nick Kerr It started as an average day of deer hunting. I parked my car at an old friend’s house. He and his son, Junior, joined the hunt that day. When that day ended I had to drive my four wheeler past Junior’s deer stand. He stopped me and said that he had shot a deer and asked if I could help him take care of it because his carpal tunnel was very painful. He said he couldn’t even [...]
Author Unknown On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little lifesaving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat. The few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea; and with no thought for themselves, they went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved, and various other well-meaning people in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the [...]
By Deb Fetter Often we forget that our life is very fragile. After a biopsy revealed that I had cancer, I was reminded daily that life is very uncertain. As I navigated through pathology reports and treatment options, my mood fluctuated. Left to my own internal thoughts, I lost my hope, joy, peace, and at times, my trust in God. The only thing that helped me become stable was trusting in what the Bible said. Standing on the promises of [...]
Over the years the Duluth Bible Church has sought to spread the Gospel of God’s grace through many different and creative means. One of the most effective means of evangelism that we’ve employed is the use of a relatively simple spiritual viewpoint survey with an accompanying visual diagram of John 3:16. This approach was developed years ago in the laboratory and proving ground of our local church and has been used to share the Gospel with thousands of people in [...]
By JoLeen Miller I was surprised by the 7th grader standing calmly on the pitcher’s mound outside of the community center we rented for Vacation Bible School. The children had just started singing in the building when I peeked outside and noticed the boy wearing a crumpled, stained t-shirt, stringy long hair, and mud encased shoes. When I greeted him, he said, “I wasn’t sure where to go for VBS, but I figured someone would find me out here.” Before [...]