Articles by Dr. David Jeremiah
If you’ve played in any ocean, you’ve probably done it—accidentally swallowed a mouthful of seawater. Yuck! Along with sharks and sunburn, swallowing seawater is one of the downsides of a day at the beach. Children learn this at an early age: “Mommy, this water tastes BAD!” Providentially, I assume, it tastes bad because it’s not good for humans to ingest. And yet seawater, in its natural, balanced state, contains all the chemical elements necessary to sustain life on planet earth. (Remember—ocean animals and plants do just fine living in seawater.) Seawater contains a perfect balance of around one hundred elements. Many of those elements we’re familiar with: oxygen, hydrogen, calcium, magnesium, iron, and so on. Other elements appear in only trace amounts—less than one hundred parts per million. And some elements have very unusual names: technetium, tantalum, samarium, yttrium, and others. Some, like arsenic, can be deadly in concentrated amounts.
In 1886, Florida was hit by a deep freeze that killed the oranges and damaged the groves. Two brothers with a farming supply business, Sydney and Joshua Chase, used the occasion to purchase some discounted land southwest of Orlando. The brothers called it “Isleworth,” but they could not have dreamed of its worth today. It’s now one of America’s most exclusive gated communities. Isleworth includes a private golf course designed by Arnold Palmer, tennis courts, a full-service spa, swimming pools, fishing in seven lakes, and boat ramps. The residents enjoy their homes, but what if they never left? What if they forgot there was a real world outside their mansions and beyond their gates?
Don Cantelon grew up on the Canadian prairie amid the incredible poverty of the Great Depression. Nine years of drought, dust storms, and grasshopper plagues added to the misery. Don’s dad, a prairie preacher, continued as faithfully as he could, living on almost nothing; and inspired by his example, Don himself grew up to become a young pastor. But he, too, received little income from the impoverished congregations he served. Don met a girl named Ardena who he quickly fell in love with—the two became engaged. He was embarrassed that his fiancée’s left hand was bare, but there was no way he could afford a ring on his church salary, so he waited for an outside speaking engagement to provide a little extra money. Finally, he was asked to speak at a youth convention in Alberta. Arriving in Alberta, he counted ten cents in his pocket; and when he learned that his assigned accommodations were a long way from the meeting hall, he fretted about the bus fare. As Don ambled down the street, a prayer formed in his mind: “Lord, if I had just five dollars, I think I’d be all right until they give me my love offering at the end of the convention. You see, Lord, I need just enough money for bus fare, a little writing pad, and a cheap pen.” As Don continued walking, he stuck his hand in the breast pocket of his coat and pulled out a love letter from Ardena along with a paper giving information about his trip. Stuck between the two was a five-dollar bill. At the end of the meetings, Don was given a modest honorarium. After buying his train ticket and returning home, there was enough left for the tiniest of engagement rings. Don never knew how the money got into his pocket, but he said, “From that point in my life, I found it easier to believe that God would supply all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).[1] [1] Don Cantelon, The Day I Burned the Hotel Down and Other True Stories (Abbotsford, BC: CeeTeC Publishing, 2002), chapter 18: “The Five Dollar Miracle.”
The beautiful red-bricked church of St. Andrews in Easton, Maryland, was known for its open door. Generations had gathered at St. Andrews to enjoy food, fellowship, and Sunday worship. So it came as a jolt to most parishioners when the bank foreclosed on the building and sold the property at auction. Sadly, this is not a rare occurrence. There are thousands of houses of worship in America, and every week a few of them close their doors. The Christian Science Monitor ran a column a number of years ago entitled, “The Coming Evangelical Collapse,” which proclaimed, “We are on the verge—within 10 years—of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity.”[1] But not so fast! I’m not ready to accept defeat. These are exciting times to be a Christian. The Church around the world is growing at a pace unequalled since Pentecost, and this is the greatest harvest season in the history of Christianity. While I’m realistic about the challenges facing evangelism today, Christianity has a way of outliving its critics. News magazines and newspapers may soon be a thing of the past, but it’s a mistake to assume that Christianity is dead and buried. Don’t discount the power of God in the hearts of men and women.
Rain, wind, and fire—think what life on earth would be like without them. Pretty desperate if not ultimately, impossible. Rain. Water evaporates as a gas from the earth into the sky where it forms clouds, condenses, and falls to earth as a liquid. That liquid grows our crops, fills our rivers and lakes, cleanses the air and the planet from dirt and dust, and slakes our thirst. Life would not be good without rain. Wind. We take it for granted, but life would be difficult without it. Wind moves clouds through the sky, making it possible for arid regions to get rain. With the advent of mechanization, wind power fell out of primary use; but now wind has suddenly become a targeted tool for producing electrical energy. Think how different life would be without wind. Fire. No one knows when the first spark was intentionally struck by a human being, setting ablaze a fuel source, producing heat and light. Wherever fire began, life today would be impossible without it.
Our English word noise comes from the Latin word noxia, which means “injury or hurt.” The connection is easy to see. Noise pollution affects our physical and mental well-being, and it’s often detrimental to our spiritual health. Yet we’re surrounded by noise—blaring, jarring, clanging, clamoring commotion. Thank God for quiet gardens! Whether it is a balcony with a flower pot or a sprawling national park, a garden is a great place to relax all five senses. There is no gentler sound on earth than the rippling of water in a small fountain or brook, or the rustling of trees in the breeze. We can trace our origins back to a gorgeous garden planted “eastward in Eden” (Genesis 2:8). It was filled with bountiful fruit trees, irrigated by four rivers, scented by a million flowers, and studded with gold.
