ODJ: pocketful of rocks
Something about my 4 year old daughter’s outfit looked odd. Taking a closer look, I noticed that her pockets were packed with stones. While our family had been roaming an outdoor area, she had been picking up pebbles and saving them. I had to empty her pockets; it was making it hard for her to walk!We sometimes save up past offences until it becomes hard for us to move forward in life. Unkin
ODJ: the power of kindness
One Saturday last year, my family rode our bikes to a city market. Each weekend the market takes over a car park and presents a diverse group of vendors’ booths. The place overflows with organic produce, baked goods and every imaginable artisan craft creation (jewellery, paintings, woodwork and more).My son set his eyes on a colossal-sized muffin. Preparing to pay for it, I stood in line beh
ODJ: enemy to family
In 1943, Charles Brown was piloting a crippled aircraft when he saw another plane off his wingtip. The other pilot made eye contact with Brown and escorted his plane to safety before saluting and flying away. The story gets better—for Charles Brown was piloting a US bomber over the skies of Germany, and the other pilot was a German flying ace named Franz Stigler! Stigler treated Brown as a f
ODJ: faith full
Rather than use the closing “Faithfully yours,” many Ugandans end their correspondence with “Faith full,” followed by their name. Each time I’m the recipient of a letter with that closing (which is often in a country where many people still communicate with pen and paper), I ponder what it truly looks like to be “faith full”—to have
ODJ: our culture’s idol
The story of King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue always puzzled me. How was it possible for a king to erect a statue and then demand that everyone bow down to it? (Daniel 3:1,5). The whole story seemed silly. And that was before the Veggie Tales video version, which substituted the statue with a chocolate bunny!A struggle we all face is to seek God and His ways instead of our own ways
ODJ: trouble in town
A 2013 article in Unfinished magazine details the exciting growth of Christianity in the “new India”. With more than 71 million believers in Jesus, the country is now the 8th largest Christian nation in the world. But even though faith in Christ is spreading “at a rapid rate among middle and high caste Indians and young people”, there are challenges for the new b
ODJ: the perfect lie
My name is Regina, and I’m a recovering perfection addict. What’s funny is that I willingly—and ironically—cover the mistakes and failures of others. But when it comes to the standards I set for myself, I can be ruthless.Prophesying to the nation of Israel, Ezekiel foretold of coming events to God’s chosen people but also to the surrounding nations. Ezekiel 27 recor
ODJ: of words and priests
My friend’s son loves building things. One time when he was just 10 years old, he tried to construct a treehouse from scratch. Although the structure looked pretty sound, upon close inspection its mounting wasn’t true. My friend’s son needed knowledge and instruction to create a wooden dwelling that was structurally solid and would last.The words we speak to one another also nee
ODJ: a dream
Cornelius was praying when he had a vision of an angel who told him to invite the apostle Peter to his home (Acts 10:2-6). The Roman officer sent his servants to find the apostle, making it clear that Cornelius and his family were ready to hear Peter’s message (v.22). Having had his own divine guidance (vv.9-21), Peter went with them, shared the gospel and Cornelius’ whole family becam