Signs of the Times

January / February 2007

Chad Reed: Committed Champion

This proud but humble Aussie supercross champion is a superstar in the United States with a legion of fans. He’s also one of Australia’s highest paid sportsmen. Reed, of Aboriginal heritage, grew up in Kurri Kurri, near Newcastle, New South Wales, and as a three-year-old, he received his own bike and from that day on dreamed of becoming the world’s best.

Healthy Farm for Healthy Food

Fresh produce has its hidden dangers. A study of 15,000 people in Hawaii revealed that the more fruit and juice people consumed over time, the greater their risk of Parkinson’s disease. The culprit was not the fruit, but the pesticides on them.

Circle of Courage: Learning From the Past

Jonathan Duffy, leader of the “Circle of courage” rides in Australia and New Zealand, travelled to South Dakota to connect with the descendants of the original practitioners of the philosophy of child-rearing and youth development that has come to be known as the “Circle of courage."

Jesus, the Transparent Man

Perhaps it’s time to blow the cobwebs off your microscope and take another look at Jesus Christ.

Greater Love

Having a healthy level of love for self is important—self-esteem is vital to being able to make the most of life and maintain a positive attitude. However, current culture tells us to be focused on ourselves to the point of narcissism. . .

Meeting Your Deepest Needs

Clara Anderson, a gentle, conscientious woman, worked as a maid in San Francisco. One day, after serving the same employer for 15 years, she disappeared. Her employer had no idea where she’d gone. She just dropped out. Then, after days of searching, she was found.

Cappadocia: Turkey’s Hidden City

Visitors to the land of Turkey report it is a “must-see” area—the fabulous, almost fairytale area of Cappadocia. One of the planet’s most unique landscapes is also the home of much early church history.

Who Do You Worship?

My friend Harry told me those last words of the daughter he loved stabbed like a knife into his heart. And why? Because he knew the power of love to hurt. Love leaves us vulnerable as nothing else can. And Harry was terrified to see her place herself in the hands of someone who could hurt her so much.

Blessings Unexpected

Some hours had passed since I climbed from my bed in my remote tropical island home to begin the day’s activities in the Bible school. Everything was normal, but something gnawed within me. Attempting to understand my disquiet, I realised I was experiencing a craving for tomatoes.

When I Met God

Unanswered questions flooded my mind. How could I find inner peace? Where is life’s true meaning? When would I find answers to life’s big questions? Were there answers? If so, was it possible to discover them? I was a confused 17-year-old, desperately seeking to discover why I was here at all.

Raising a Family—Twice

Seventy-one-year-old Manuel, a rural subsistence farmer from the African country of Mozambique, has so far raised twelve children. For part of that time, Manuel and his family lived through a seventeenyear civil war, which forced him into the city where he found it even more difficult to earn an income.

My Valentine, Melvin

February 14 had always been a bleak day of empty mailboxes and broken dreams for me. My very first Valentine’s Day after moving to a new town, I found a tremendous bouquet of flowers waiting for me at my front door.I galloped up the steps and tore at the green wrapping paper to find the card that would tell me that someone I’d met in my new home town actually loved me.