Why are we here? Just what is the purpose and meaning of life? That question has intrigued and baffled scientists, philosophers, and theologians—even ordinary men and women—for hundreds and thousands of years. Yes, the answer to what is arguably life’s ultimate question has eluded the world’s most brilliant and learned minds. Most of the 6.7 billion people living today are clueless about the right answer. In fact, USA Today once published the results of a poll listing significant questions on most people’s minds. At the top of the list was the question: “What is the purpose of life?”
If you will do a search on Wikipedia, under the heading Meaning of Life, you will find that the answers proposed are as varied and as diverse as the entire ideological landscape. Clearly, many have opinions, but few have conclusive or authoritative answers. [click to continue…]
Have you ever looked closely at a diamond? Nothing quite compares to its dazzling beauty, sheer elegance and fiery brilliance! It is the hardest natural substance on earth. It is, in fact, 40 times harder than a sapphire or a ruby, the next hardest minerals. Only another diamond can scratch a diamond.
A diamond is the greatest conductor of heat, is transparent over the greatest number of wavelengths, has the highest melting point (4,090 degrees Celsius—2 1/2 times greater than that of steel!) and has a refractive index greater than any naturally occurring gemstone—giving it its characteristic fire and brilliance. Diamonds are among the rarest and costliest of gemstones. [click to continue…]
I don’t know exactly how far away You are—how many light years Your throne is from where I am. I just know you are somewhere behind those brilliant, beautiful stars in the sky tonight. Maybe farther…
The gentle wind blows cold out here in the open. It is so quiet, I cannot hear a sound but the chirping notes of the crickets. [click to continue…]
Miners toil night and some toil the day
To seek out the gold from sand, soil, and clay
Emeralds, rubies, and diamonds, most even say
Are precious by far, a huge price you’ll pay.
As for me, I don’t need the treasures of earth
So long as I have from the day of my birth
Some people who care, who love, and who share
Life’s joys and life’s sorrows with cheer and a pray’r. [click to continue…]
January 16, 1987, San Pedro (Laguna), Philippines — “Close your eyes! Nobody moves, screams or looks at us—or I’ll blow his head off!”
My family had barely finished asking the blessing on a Friday evening meal when we were faced with four masked, shabby-looking men brandishing handguns, an M-16 rifle and a dagger.
How did these people get in here? What do they want?
“I said shut your eyes!” the leader barked, pointing a revolver straight at Dad. [click to continue…]
“Thank you for that kind introduction; good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Being from a third-world country, I liken coming to America, much less studying at Ambassador College, to winning a million dollars in a sweepstake. Distance was a problem, money was a big problem, immigration was a big, big problem. But I had a dream—a dream to span the Pacific and come to this college.
Like many of you here tonight, I was excited to learn about my acceptance to AC. Little did I know what was to befall me within 12 weeks: three nightmares—three humongous pitch-black monsters—that would threaten to snuff my dream from existence. [click to continue…]
