In 1570, Ivan the Terrible attacked Novgorod, which had been for centuries a successful Russian Republic on the Baltic Sea. Ivan’s first command was to subjugate the church. He stripped cathedrals and monasteries of their valuables; put priests and deacons in shackles and flogged them til they paid a ransom; and he ordered some 500 clergymen beaten to death. Ivan […]

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  1 Corinthians 12:4 Fifteen-year-old Wilson Bentley was captivated by the intricate beauty of snowflakes. He looked with fascination through an old microscope his mother had given him and made hundreds of sketches of their remarkable designs, but they melted too quickly to adequately capture their detail. Several years […]

February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 321 days remaining until the end of the year (322 in leap years). Holidays Children’s Day (Myanmar) Christian feast day: Absalom Jones (Episcopal Church (USA)) Beatrice of Ornacieux Castor of Karden Catherine of Ricci Ermenilda of Ely Fulcran Polyeuctus (Roman Catholic Church) February 13 (Eastern […]

“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, DL, FRS, RA (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of […]

“Man has forgotten God, that is why this has happened” was Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s response when questioned about the decline of modern culture. Solzhenitsyn continued: “Over a half century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of old people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: ‘Men have forgotten […]