Today's Christian articles from March 2004

Today's Christian archives from March 2004

Dude, where's my magazine?(The FinePrint)(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... I know what some of you are thinking: There must be a mistake. What's this TODAY'S CHRISTIAN business? What happened to my CHRISTIAN READER? If you were with us last issue, you read about our big decision to rename the magazine. The...

I found the secret to looking younger.(Advertisement)
March 1, 2004... When I turned 50, several years ago, it was a real shock to me! I not only noticed that my body was changing but I couldn't believe how quickly my face was drying out. Practically overnight, I began to see those dreaded lines and wrinkles....

Remembering Iran's quake victims.(Quick Takes on People, News & Reviews)
March 1, 2004... Iran continues to reel from the deadly earthquake that devastated the ancient city of Bam late last year. When the final body is unearthed, the official death toll could exceed 30,000. The horrific catastrophe, which registered 6.7 on the...

The surfer girl's faith.(Bethany Hamilton)
March 1, 2004... Thirteen-year-old Bethany Hamilton, a top-ranked amateur surfer, was catching waves off the coast of Kilauea, Hawaii, one morning last October when the attack happened. As she took a breather, dangling her arm in the Pacific waters, a "gray...

Breakthrough prayer.(Good Books)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Breakthrough Prayer by Jim Cymbala (Zondervan, $19.99) Best-selling author Jim Cymbala's pursuit of the blessing of God, previously examined in his books The Church God Blesses and The Life God Blesses, now extends to the realm of...

Sing me to heaven: the story of a marriage.(Good Books)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Sing Me To Heaven: The Story of a Marriage by Margaret Kim Peterson (Brazos Press, $19.99) Love and Death, two topics that seem to be forever intertwined, are examined in detail in this poignant and passionate memoir. Peterson, a...

The Faith of George W. Bush.(Good Books)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... The Faith of George W. Bush by Stephen Mansfield (CharismaHouse, $19.99) George W. Bush, during his first presidential bid, was asked who his favorite philosopher was. Bush unhesitatingly answered, "Christ, because He changed my...

Revelation.(Sound Choices)(Sound Recording Review)
March 1, 2004... Revelation by David Phelps (Word) Revelation will come as no great, well, revelation to the legion of fans that has scarfed up millions of Gaither Vocal Band records during the past four years. While this latest solo venture for the...

Glorious.(Sound Choices)(Sound Recording Review)
March 1, 2004... Glorious by Parachute Band (Worship Extreme) From the thoroughly urban-infused opener, "So Sing," through powerful, modern worship ballads like "Amazing God" and "High Above," to the peace-evoking, high-church aria "King of Love,"...

Wrestling The Angels.(Sound Choices)(Sound Recording Review)
March 1, 2004... Wrestling The Angels by Kelly Minter (CrossDriven Records) Forget the grit and gravel vocals that dominated her earlier work. On Wrestling The Angels, Minter instead relies on a sweet-voiced delivery that sounds distinctly feminine...

Think About That.(Sound Choices)(Sound Recording Review)
March 1, 2004... Think About That by George Rowe (Rocketown Records) The debut CD from newcomer George Rowe is smooth, poptinged R & B with a twist of playfulness. Rowe, a law-school graduate who sang backup for Michael W. Smith on his recent...

When two's a crowd.(Everyday Theology)
March 1, 2004... Q. How can I encourage a young Christian woman that it is not right to share an apartment with a man, even though their relationship is non-romantic? --name withheld A. I notice that it happens to be the young woman you're trying to...

Bored with the lord?(Everyday Theology)
March 1, 2004... Q. How can a person deal with boredom and laziness in their spiritual and personal life? --David Ko, via e-mail A. David, put down this magazine this instant and go read your Bible! Okay, that's one way to deal with...

Anna Bartlett Warner (1827-1915): "jesus loves me".(Story BehindTheSong)
March 1, 2004... Anna Bartlett Warner and her sister Susan were the unmarried daughters of a prominent New York lawyer who lost his fortune during the 1837 depression. After Mr. Warner moved the family to an old house across the Hudson River from West Point,...

Kids of the Kingdom.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... When a new child visited our Sunday school, the teacher greeted him and asked his age. The little boy held up four fingers. "Oh, you're 4," said the teacher. "And when will you be 5?" The child stared at her and after a few seconds...

Singing a new song: can a veteran Christian singer become jaded by life in the fickle music biz? You bet. But CeCe Winans and three of her sister artists have discovered purpose beyond the spotlight.
March 1, 2004... The late American journalist Helen Rowland once wrote, "Life begins at 40--but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times." But Rowland, who died in 1950,...

A rebel finds peace: Randy Travis went from drugs and lawbreaking to country-music stardom. But his life wasn't whole 'til he got right with his maker.
March 1, 2004... Seventeen and wild, I hit the bottle, Doin' anything I dang well pleased, Burning down life's highway at full throttle. --from "When Mama Prayed" by Randy Travis To country music star Randy Travis, the song "When Mama Prayed," from...

Life after Columbine: five years ago, two teenage boys embarked on the deadliest high school shooting spree this country has ever seen. Now, one young woman looks back and recognizes God's presence amid the chaos.
March 1, 2004... April 20, 1999--the day that changed Sarah Dodrill's life forever. Anyone who's seen the security video footage from inside Columbine High School's cafeteria has seen Sarah. A mass of students dashes up the stairs, exiting the cafeteria. When...

Mel Gibson's 'Passion' for Christ: when it comes to telling the story of the cross, even a Hollywood megastar can get himself into hot water.(Movie Review)
March 1, 2004... When talking about making The Passion of the Christ, actor and director Mel Gibson often sounds like his character Graham Hess in the 2002 thriller Signs. The two-time Oscar winner played a disgruntled priest who described two groups of...

Down deep from heaven: why we'll never get to the bottom of God's love.
March 1, 2004... Several hundred feet beneath my chair is a lake, an underground cavern of crystalline water known as the Edwards Aquifer. We South Texans know much about this aquifer. We know its length (175 miles). We know its layout (west to east, except...

Big courage: as one of Oprah's right-hand women, Michelle Burford is at the top of the media world. But she'll never forget her Christian roots.(Michelle Burford)
March 1, 2004... Michelle Burford helps shape the written voice of Oprah Winfrey, one of the most influential people in popular culture, but she can't imagine where she'd be today without her Christian education. Growing up in Arizona in a family of nine...

Faithful under fire: amid the threat of hostile attacks, Christian chaplains provide spiritual support to soldiers on Iraq's frontlines.
March 1, 2004... The toughest thing Chaplain (Colonel) Doug Carver has faced since arriving in Baghdad less than a year ago was seeing the dead body of a soldier he had just shaken hands with less than 30 minutes before. The sight of 18 black body bags,...

Baptized in Babylon: an American soldier's spiritual journey in Iraq.
March 1, 2004... My name is Specialist Charles Seelaus, and my Army Reserve unit, the 2/228th Aviation Regiment, is currently stationed in Iraq. I got here last June. This long journey has felt surreal, because the men and women in my unit, like a lot of...

God's word for 'up and outers'.
March 1, 2004... "Let me get this straight," said a confused Garry Kinder to the Bent Tree Country Club manager. "You want me to teach the Bible study... in a bar?" The manager had explained that the ballroom, which Garry had requested, was in use every...

An Easter encounter: embracing Christ's pain helps us appreciate the joy of his resurrection.
March 1, 2004... "They're hurting him. Make them stop," cried my 4-year-old daughter Caitlin as she watched the Easter cantata. She stared with wide eyes as Jesus was beaten, mocked, and crucified. Earlier in the service she had danced and sang as Christ...

The singles challenge: it's not easy being single in a couples' world, but God has better things for unmarried believers to do than obsess over finding a mate.
March 1, 2004... Theresa became a Christian when she was 18. She says she assumed that God would present her with a fine Christian man, complete with a shiny red bow, and that meeting him would be just around the corner. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I'm...

Chiapas, Mexico: where Christians are bad for business.(Persecution Report)
March 1, 2004... Before his conversion to evangelical Christianity 17 years ago, Domingo Lopez dedicated his time to producing "posh," the potent homemade liquor that indigenous Indians in Chiapas drink at religious festivals. Domingo's faith led him to...

The Bible in worship.(Bible IQ)
March 1, 2004... You expect any Christian worship service to include reading from the Bible (and it should), but the Bible manifests itself in many other ways in our worship. Test your knowledge of just how our worship words and practices are rooted in the...

True confessions: *or "why I'm thankful for longer worship times".(The LastLaugh)
March 1, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]