KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Kneemail - Heart
AN INTERESTING NUMBER of antique leather-bound books are being purchased for their covers and not their content... Interior designers buy them by the linear yard and use them to create a warm, old-world atmosphere in the homes of affluent clients....
JAMES RECOGNIZED THE great destructive power and the danger of an uncontrolled tongue... He was not alone. Men and women in many cultures have warned us about the need to guard our speech. This bit of verse by an unknown...
SEVERAL YEARS AGO, the University of Chicago and the American Association for Adult education conducted a survey to determine what adults wanted to study above all things... This survey took two years and cost $25,000. It revealed that the subject...
DR. PAUL BRAND, who served as a medical missionary in India, told about lepers who had terrible deformities because their nerve endings could not feel pain... It didn’t hurt when they stepped in a fire or cut their finger with...
THE OPTIMIST FELL from the fourth floor sill And as he passed each window bar, He shouted to the folks below, “Doing all right so far...!” How ridiculous! Yet there are preachers across the land that advocate a lot of...
THE BOOK OF 3 John begins with Paul praying for the well-being of Gaius... But take a moment and let the words of his prayer sink in. John said, "I pray that you may prosper in all things and be...
I WANT TO write about the great and powerful thing that listening is... And how we forget it. And how we don't listen to our children, or those we love. And least of all -- which is so important too...
IT WAS DURING the war... His wages were low. He and mother wore old clothes, and tried to provide as best they could for our family. We were very poor; but frankly, I didn't know it then. Yet, while it...
WHEN THE PEOPLE came to their seats in the theater, they found a man sprawled across them... When the people told the man that he was occupying their seats, his only response was an inarticulate guttural sound. The people summoned...
MICHAEL HODGEN TELLS a rather humorous story about a man dressed in a devil outfit who was on his way to a costume party when suddenly he got caught in a rain storm. Searching for cover from the downpour, the...
GOD INSTRUCTED MOSES to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of bondage (Exo. 3)... The reason given by God for Moses' return to Egypt at this time was that God had "surely seen the oppression of My people...
WHEN I WAS a boy, I had a bike that I had grown tired of... There wasn't anything wrong with it, I just wanted something better...a 10-speed. So I took my fire-engine red, Huffy bicycle, with a white banana seat,...
ASIDE FROM CLOTHING, the Christian's standard of modesty, for both men and women, also differed from those of Roman society... This was particularly apparent in public and private baths. Few other societies, except for the Japanese, have had such a...
WORRY IS WIDESPREAD and is a universal problem... It is not limited to any one class. The poor and rich, the cultured and the unlearned and both the young and old worry. We worry about how to get money, and,...
DURING WORLD WAR I, a reporter was watching a Red Cross nurse swab the infected wound of a soldier... After watching the sickening sight for a few moments, the reporter said to the nurse, "I would not do what you...
LUKE TELLS US that this man appeared to be seriously deranged... He wore no clothes, lived in a cemetery, and frequently broke the ropes and chains that were used to subdue him. His was a hopeless case, it appeared. But...
IT IS NOT enough to be willing to listen... Jesus told His disciples to let His words sink down into their ears, i.e., lodge within their minds and take up permanent residence. In John 5, Jesus confronted the Jews who...
DOES YOUR HEART turn green with envy when a coworker or friend who doesn't know God buys a bigger house than yours or can afford to go to the best restaurant in town...? It shouldn't, because your coworker or friend...
SOLOMON IS A disturbing biblical character... He begins his reign wisely, blessed by God with an incredible wisdom. God allows him to build a glorious temple. Wealth and wisdom are his; what more could a man want? But instead of...
...SOME PEOPLE WORSHIP their bodies... People spend hours at the gym, sculpting their bodies, yet completely neglecting their spiritual lives. ...Some people think nothing of getting up at the crack of dawn and heading to the gym for that hour-and-a-half...
SHORTLY BEFORE HIS death, the Duke of Burgundy was presiding over the Cabinet Council of France... A proposal was made by the ministers that would violate a treaty but would secure important advantages for the country. Many reasons were offered...
YEARS AGO, A radio station received a letter from a shepherd who lived on an isolated ranch in the western part of the United States... Never before had the station received such an unusual request. It read, "Will you please...
WALKING PAST MY barn one day, I heard a frantic chirping inside, and upon investigation I found a bluejay beating its wings against the glass pane of the window... Had it not cried and squawked, I would not have heard...
THERE'S A STORY about a farmer who was known for his negative attitude... One day a neighbor stopped by and commented on the farmer's wonderful crop. "You must be extremely happy with this year's harvest," he said. The farmer grudgingly...
IMAGINE THE SCENE: You like to fish, so you crank up the motor on your old boat and head out into Lake Ontario, near Olcott, New York... You get several nice walleyes and clean them right away. That night you...
A PRINCE WAS running for his life from revolutionaries who were out to kill him... He ran into town and knocked on the door of a peasant and asked to hide inside his house. The man agreed and hid the...
...THE HIGHER UP we find ourselves in terms of power, influence, and wealth -- the more people look up to us -- the more vulnerable we are to pride and self-deceit, and the more prone we are to be blind...
TWO WOMEN WORK in the same office and receive the same pay... Anne complains that she is underpaid. She feels she's asked to handle too many things for someone on her salary level. She arrives dreading the day ahead and...