Take your pick . . . According to Cults in Our Midst, 3,000-5,000 cults exist in America, with 2 to 5 million involved at any one time An estimated 60 million are in occultism. But not all cults are religious. According to Margaret Thaler Singer and Janja Lalich in Cults in our Midst, a cult…
Author: nowwhat
No Substitutes
When it comes to soul satisfaction,nothing else will satisfy but Jesus. by John Vaughn as told to Muriel Larson “Something is radically wrong with your baby’s head,” the doctor told my wife, Brenda, and me. “He has a rare problem called cranio-synostosis. The two plates in his head that are supposed to float freely…
Playing Games With God
Despite how we act or how much we hope,it is impossible to outwit God. by Bob Hostetler Two men leaned over a kitchen table one Saturday afternoon playing Scrabble. It was mid-December 1979 and, so the story goes, one of them wondered aloud, “Think how many Scrabble games have been sold.” The other added,…
Religion Couldn’t Save Me
It’s not what you do but who you are — in Christ. by Hart Smith as told to Muriel Larson Lightning struck a tree outside the house as a dying Korean told me about Jesus Christ. Fear struck my heart: Where would I go if I died? Even though I was a baptized Protestant…
My Favorite Icon
Eternal protection from the most evil hacker of all time. by Gary B. Swanson Looking over the wide variety of commands in a word processing program is always kind of fun. You ask yourself, Who in the world would ever need all this stuff? Even with a copy of Webster’s Standard Collegiate close at…
My Life in Prison Gangs
A prisoner in the soul finds freedom in Christ. by Henry Smedley In many ways, I am living proof that anyone can come to prison. I did not come from a broken home. I was not raised in poverty. I did not fail in the public school system. I went through a private Catholic…
Mercy Finds Kelli Weed
Broken body, healed heart. by Kelli Weed as told to Terry Murphy A beautiful April day, 1998. Relieved to be done with work, my boyfriend and I were loosening up at a friend’s house. “Want a drink, Kelli?” my friend asked. “No, Tad and I are going to the bar. I’ll wait till we…
Lessons on the Mountain
A journey with an unexpected twist. by Debra Tash I raised my children in the age of the “liberated woman.” Being a stay-at-home mommy in the early 80’s was considered a waste of female brain power. At least, that’s what I gathered from the talk shows of the time. There I was with a…
In Crime’s Way
by Perry B. Warthan Prison. Not a place you’d expect to feel truly free. Freedom from the pain of my past and from my life of crime did come one day. But it took me awhile to accept it. Painful Past My mother was sixteen years old when I was born; my father was…
Just As I Am
God’s way or our way: It’s our choice. by Elaine Hardt “Just as I am is pretty good.” “Take me or leave me.” “I’m not changing for you or for anybody.” Good self-esteem means self-acceptance, doesn’t it? Like precocious two-year-olds, many of us have designated ourselves as head cheerleaders and CEOs of our own…