"All things are difficult before they are easy." —Thomas Fuller, African Slave 1710-1790
Thomas Fuller was 14 years old when he was taken from his native West African home and sold to a Virginia planter. We have no record of what he experienced during this time, outside of the sure knowledge that his life of freedom had turned to one of suffering and difficulty. But, Thomas had a gift...
"Members of Congress serving on [Senate and House Finance committees] have collectively received over $3.4 million from the payday lending industry." —OpenSecrets
For many years we have worked with other groups who fight for fair treatment of those who need small short-term loans. "Payday" loans unfairly punish those with few resources in general, but...
"Prisons are woefully ill-equipped for their current role as the nation's primary mental health facilities." —Jamie Fellner
Jamie Fellner is senior counsel for the United States Program of Human Rights Watch, which often deals with issues of the maltreatment of prisoners in the U.S.These are generally episodes against an incarcerated individual in a singular situation. But today with U.S. prisons and jails overflowing with a growing population of people with mental illness...
"Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell." —Charles Thomas Studd
Charles Thomas Studd was born in Great Britain in 1860, and as he grew, he became a star cricket player in a game that was the premier sport in England. They called him C.T. and he was not only famous, he became in that era, a kind of a sports rock star, like Manning, Mantle, or Brady...
"Ruin is the road to transformation." —Elizabeth Gilbert
Do we park at the point of our pain? Or do we try again? When Larry Bird's father committed suicide, he was lost. He tried college but couldn't deal with it, so he went back home and became a garbage collector. When Oprah Winfrey was sexually assaulted at age 10 and pregnant at 14, losing the child shortly after birth, the pain and hopelessness were overwhelming...
"There's a difference between remorse and repentance. Remorse is being sorry for being caught. Repentance is being sorry enough to stop." —Greg Laurie, Author, The Jesus Revolution
Who among us could not apply this statement to our own lives? Greg Laurie, who wrote about his life in the book and new movie, The Jesus Revolution, is pastor of one of the largest churches in the U.S. It was a small production effort that became a blockbuster at the box office. Laurie was raised by an alcoholic mother who married seven times...
"I got 16 years to life." —Pastor Jeff Osborne
Jeff Osborn is a pastor who talks candidly about surviving prison and turning his life around. He was a kid, an army brat in a loving family who went to church, believed in God, and was brought up to come under authority. But one day, when he was about 11, "Some men came to our house and told us we had two hours to get out...
"There was a time in my life when I thought I had everything – millions of dollars, mansions, cars, nice clothes, beautiful women, and every other materialistic thing... Now I struggle for peace." —Comedian Richard Pryor
I was in college when I became aware of Richard Pryor. He was raw, funny and hugely popular. As one of the most influential and controversial comedians ever, he seemed to have it all. Even then, I knew that comedians are not usually the jovial cut-ups in private that they are on stage, but none of his fans knew how much of his comedy was based on his dark youth...
"Hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will toward men." —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In 1861 Fanny Longfellow, died after her dress was set ablaze by a falling candle. Her adoring husband, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, rushed to smother the flames, covering her with his body, but was too late to save...
"You oughta be thankful, a whole heaping lot, for the places and people you're lucky you're not." —Dr. Seuss
Cute. It rhymes. But the truth is—it's the truth. Most of us are the lucky products of the grace and blessings we were handed in this world. We are the "lucky ones." For the most part, lucky ones had a loving mom and dad who raised their children in a safe home, with enough food, an emphasis on education, and an understanding of their Maker...
