Clair Auker

For the disciples in the upper room, feet washing was not new. They knew the old custom of welcoming travelers by providing water to wash their feet. They had read the Bible stories of Abraham, Lot, Laban, Joseph’s steward, and the old man in Gibeah offering this service to their guests (Gen 18:4; 19:2; 24:32; 43:24; Jude 19:21). They knew that the job of washing feet was often assigned to slaves and was considered very lowly.

The Question
Recently a brother, whom we’ll call Andrew, decided to have a new well drilled, as his old one was repeatedly running dry. When the drilling rig arrived, the driver (“George”) jumped out, holding two wires in his hands.
“What are they for?” asked Andrew. “To find water?”
“Yes,” George replied. “Aren’t you comfortable with that?”
What should Andrew have said?

What Is Dowsing?
Dowsing for water, or water smelling, is a method of searching for underground water. The custom is hundreds of years old, if not thousands.

“The Power of Pride.” So proclaimed the bumper stickers that popped up around the United States after the September 11 attacks and stuck around for years since. Adorned with an American flag, they appealed to the patriotic fervor that swept the nation. “We are the best,” they seemed to say. “Believe in ourselves, and we will come out on top.”

Only two passages in the KJV Bible (Php 1:1; 1Tim 3:8-13) contain the word deacon or deacons. However, the Greek word so translated, diakonos, occurs more than thirty times, and is also translated minister and servant. It can mean “an attendant, a servant” or “a waiter (at table or in other menial duties).” Sometimes, as in the above passages, it means “a male Christian serving in a specific function and post (i.e. tending the widows and the poor, teaching, pastoring, etc).”

Every day, millions of well-fed individuals sit down to enjoy another hearty meal. How many of them consider the retailer, distributor, packer, processor, or shipper back through the food chain links that connect the plate to the farmer's field? Beyond the farmer do they consider the One who gave the increase?

In 2004, a car accident critically injured 6-year-old Alex Malarkey. After two months he emerged from a coma, permanently paralyzed but with stories of out-of-body experiences and several trips to heaven. A few years later, in 2010, a major evangelical publisher released his story, The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven: A True Story, listing Alex and his father as co-authors. The book rose quickly to the bestseller list and sold over a million copies.