Much of the world these days is talking about peace. A few are talking about war, but almost everybody is talking about peace. The dictionary I have at hand says that peace means "freedom from war."

That’s an interesting definition, mainly because the word "peace" used to mean lots of other things besides just the absence of war. Go all the way back 4,000 years ago to the Hebrew word "shalom," which is translated "peace," and you’ll find it’s a much broader word. Basically the word meant "completeness" or "wholeness." So when the Hebrews used it in reference to political states, the word did mean "peace" or "the absence of war." But when they used it in reference, say, to the human body, shalom, peace, meant health or wellness. When they talked about a person’s emotional state, shalom or peace, pictured the person who—as we say—"has it all together," the person who is assured, peaceful, serene.

Day before yesterday I was talking with a man—let’s call him Sam—whom most people would call one of the very successful people of this life. He has a good job, a wonderful family, great friends, lots of the fine "things" like cars and a beautiful house that make people happy. Anybody would look at him and say, "There’s a picture of peace."

But late at night in an empty restaurant Sam confided in me that his spirit is far from peaceful. He is torn up with anger and bitterness because he’s in a job that he considers beneath his dignity, and he’s an emotional wreck because of it. Why, he wonders, can’t he land the big job, the one with all the prestige and fame? Have you heard the phrase in English, "to run with the big dogs"? It means to keep company with all the most important people in your job or profession. Well, Sam wonders why he can’t "run with the big dogs," and he’s miserable inside because he’s having to settle for a lower position.

I left the restaurant that night very sad. Many people look up to Sam, and yet here’s this secret side that nobody knows about—this attitude, this spirit, that’s keeping him from knowing real peace in his life. I’m sad because I know this kind of attitude will keep Sam from being the very best he could be in the job he does have . . . it will keep him from finding full enjoyment in his family and his friends . . . and it will rob him of the inner peace that could be his otherwise.

The Bible says this: "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." That is to say, when we invite Jesus to a place of influence in our lives, we will find ourselves at peace – at peace, in fact, not only with God, but also with other people and with ourselves as well. Do you have a Bible? Take your Bible and turn to the book of Luke. You’ll find stories there about Jesus, the prince of peace. Read these stories, think about them, and your life may never be the same!

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Have you heard about Robert Tools? Mr. Tools was 59 years old when he died last month. People die all the time, of course, so that’s not why you would have heard about him. What is unusual about Robert Tools is that he lived the last five months of his life with a self-contained, artificial heart.

Have you heard the phrase, "to be a guinea pig"? The phrase comes from the world of science, as researchers would try out new drugs and procedures on guinea pigs before trying them out on humans. So to be a guinea pig means to be the first one to try something, to be the experiment for some untested, untried project.

That means Robert Tools was, in a sense, a guinea pig for the new self-contained, artificial heart. It was risky, but he had nothing to lose. Numerous heart attacks had left him just a shell of the strong, agile Marine he had been in younger days. He would have died very soon, so when the opportunity came for him to be given a new, artificial heart, he signed up willingly.

After he was given his new heart, Mr. Tools did fantastically. Much better, in fact, than the doctors expected. He regained some weight and muscle, he could get out of bed and walk around, he could eat and talk with people and do many of the things he used to do.

But then things began to go wrong, and finally his body gave up the battle.

I’ve thought often about Robert Tools ever since I heard he was given a new heart several months ago. I think many of us would like to be given a new heart. Oh, not the kind Mr. Tools was given, not the kind that fits in your chest, but the other kind, the heart that reflects who you are at your emotional center. Many hearts have been damaged. Our world, you know, is filled with wars and atrocities, not to speak of natural disasters like tornados and floods and famine. For many people, life has been tough. Disappointments have come, tragedies have struck, important people in their lives have failed them. All those things combined have left them resentful and bitter. Or if not resentful and bitter, maybe they have come to the point that they don’t feel anything anymore. Do you know anybody like that? Perhaps that describes you?

A new heart! Yes, that’s what we need! A heart like a child’s, a heart that’s alive with warmth and tenderness and compassion. For that kind of heart you can’t check into a hospital and have them open you up and insert a new one. No, for that kind of heart you have to check in with the Great Physician, God, who specializes in giving people new hearts. If you’re looking for that kind of heart, one that will last forever, write this station, KNLS, and just say, "I want a new heart." We’ll be in touch with you as soon as we can. That’s KNLS, Anchor Point, Alaska 99556. Or you can e-mail us at KNLS@aol.com.

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This broadcast is coming to you from Anchor Point, Alaska. One of Alaska’s closest neighbors is Russia. The Bering Strait connects Russia and Alaska, but don’t get visions of people just walking across a bridge between the two. The Bering Strait is 56 miles wide, impassible in the winter because it’s a combination of land, freezing waters, and ice floes.

Two adventuresome British guys—Steve Brooks and Graham Stratford—decided they wanted to be the first to cross the frozen Bering Strait. People from both Britain and other countries have tried it before, but nobody has been successful. The hazards are many: the ice floes are constantly moving. Gaps can open up between them and drop vehicles into the water, or icebergs can collide and cause ice mountains to rise up. Temperatures can be 40 below. Besides that, hungry polar bears roam the Bering Strait just looking for dinner.

But all that wouldn’t deter Steve Brooks and Graham Stratford. They knew they had to design and build an amphibious vehicle which can travel on anything—land, water, and ice floes. So they did. They built the SnowBird 6. It looks like a military tank with treads that allow it to drive across the ice. But it also has flotation devices to allow it to cross water and pull itself out of the water back onto land or icebergs. Last month they were ready to test it out in London.

So they drove it down a ramp and into the Thames River. Yes, it’s cold in London in the winter, but the Thames wasn’t frozen. They started out on a little ride across the calm waters of the Thames to test out some of their systems. That’s what they thought. But suddenly, out in the middle of the river one of the flotation devices began to fill with water. They were sinking! And what was worse, they were sinking not up there in the wilds of the Bering Strait, but at home, with no icebergs, no 40 below temperatures, no polar bears – they were sinking right there at home in ideal conditions. Fortunately they were able to make it to land before they sank.

You know, that sounds a lot like some of the things we confront in our lives. I can think of days where I’ve faced some tough challenges—issues on the job, moral challenges, financial decisions, people problems—I spend all day dealing with those and actually do a pretty good job. But then on the way home someone in the car ahead of me does something I didn’t expect, and I suddenly erupt in anger. I’m just like the SnowBird 6 – I can handle all the big stuff, but the little things, the insignificant things, these trip me up.

Fortunately, I worship a God who understands and who forgives. When I’m sinking in the waters of my own pride, the forgiving God reaches down and catches me before I drown. Do you have that kind of relationship with God? Would you like to talk about it? Write this station, KNLS, and say, "I want to know about forgiveness." We’ll be in touch with you as soon as we can. That’s KNLS, Anchor Point, Alaska 99556. Or you can e-mail us at KNLS@aol.com.

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Isn’t it amazing how you look at things differently as time goes by? I used to think being a grandparent was something for old people. Now I’ve realized that being a grandfather is for young men, too – but of course, that’s because I’ve become a grandfather myself.

Last week my granddaughter, Claire, learned a new word: uh-oh. She uses it all the time. Uh-oh. That’s the word: uh-oh. She falls down, uh-oh. She knocks a cup off the table, uh-oh. Sitting in her high chair she dangles a cracker over the edge of the tray, lets it drop, and when it hits the floor, uh-oh.

Claire is only a year old, but already she’s raising some important issues that theologians and philosophers have argued about for centuries. Simply put, what’s the difference between something bad you do accidentally, and something bad you do on purpose? Or, as the theologians discuss it, what’s the dividing line between unintentional sin and intentional sin? Spill the milk, uh-oh. Intentionally drop the cracker, uh-oh. Of course, nobody is going to claim that my one-year-old granddaughter is sinning when she drops a cracker off the edge of her tray. But even at that age there’s a difference between accidentally knocking a cup off the table, and doing it on purpose.

The good news of the Christian faith is that God offers forgiveness for mistakes we make, for sins we commit. That’s really wonderful news. It means that we don’t have to go around continually burdened by the guilt of past mistakes. And that’s fantastic. We can have a clear conscience. We can pick ourselves up from the past and press on into a guilt-free future. Those are wonderful gifts from God.

But wait! What if we have dropped the cracker on purpose? What about intentional sins? If I deliberately throw a rock through my neighbor’s front window, will God forgive that, also? Hummm—that’s a bit of a problem. There is good news, however. 2700 years ago God was talking with Isaiah about the people’s sinfulness, and this is what he said:

Was there sin, even intentional sin? Yes. But the offender was not thrown into outer darkness at that moment. God continues to plead, to work for the offender’s healing and repentance. And when God sees a repentant heart, forgiveness happens in the twinkling of an eye.

Of course, it goes without saying that the best place for the cracker is in our mouths, not on the floor – if you get my drift. Unsure about all this? Write us at KNLS, Anchor Point, Alaska 99556. Or you can e-mail us at KNLS@aol.com.

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I have a friend whose name is Michael. I can go see Michael, but he can’t come see me. Michael, you see, is in prison. Not surprisingly, Michael wants out of prison. He’s doing everything in his power to shorten his sentence and walk out that prison door.

Everybody I’ve ever known who is in prison wants out. But let me tell you an absolutely amazing thing. Of the people who walk out prison doors, 66% are going to return. 66%! That’s incredible. Can’t anybody do anything about that?

In 1976 Charles W. Colson founded an organization to try to help prisoners not to return to prison. Mr. Colson knew first-hand what prison life was like. He served a prison sentence for a crime against the United States. During those months he was in prison, Mr. Colson realized that he absolutely never, never wanted to return to prison again. But he also found out some other things while he was behind bars. He discovered that the thing that makes the biggest difference in prisoners’ abilities to function well after they leave prison is not counseling, or therapy, or strict discipline, or any of the things most people thought would make a difference. What makes the biggest difference is what he calls "spiritual renewal." When people in prison get together and share messages of faith and God’s love with each other, this fortifies them and gives them energy to make dramatic changes in their lives. After Mr. Colson was released from prison, he founded an organization called Prison Fellowship to help other inmates like he had been helped.

Now, 25 years later, Prison Fellowship is in prisons in 88 countries of the world—places as diverse and far-flung as Singapore, Switzerland, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Hungary, Kenya, Liberia, Norway, Russia, Ecuador—88 countries around the world. So what difference has it made? Listen to this: when men and women become a part of Prison Fellowship, and enthusiastically participate in its meetings, the return rate drops from 66% to 16%! That’s right – 16%! And this statistic applies even to the most hardened, incorrigible criminals.

So what happens in Prison Fellowship meetings inside the prisons? They have Bible study classes, small group interaction, and prayer groups. They also have seminars on life skills—things like how to be a good husband, a good father, how to manage finances, how to treat other people in society, how to find and hold a job. Simple skills to many, but to these people, this is all new, fresh information.

My friend Michael probably won’t be released from prison for several years. But when he walks out the doors of that prison, I’m confident he’ll never walk back. He has developed a spiritual faith since he has entered prison, and it has made a different man out of him. But of course, in that way he’s not unique. God always makes a difference.

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The post office in Cairo, Egypt, is busy these days. Lots of packages are arriving from all over the world. Some big, some not so big. The Egyptians are happy to be receiving these packages, because they contain things that should never have left Egypt in the first place.

Through the years many of the priceless relics from Egypt’s past have been taken out of the country. Some were taken by the archaeologists who dug them up. Some were stolen from museums. But whatever route they took out of Egypt, they’re coming back now, little by little.

These things are old. I mean really, really old. One piece that was returned just last month is over 4,000 years old. Next year one treasure that will be returned to Egypt will be the mummy of Pharaoh Ramses I. Now that’s an absolutely priceless treasure!

So where are these things coming from as they’re being shipped back to Egypt? Ah, that’s the interesting part of the story. They’re coming from some of the finest museums in the world. So how did these stolen items get in those museums? They got there because the museums didn’t do their homework before they bought these pieces. Somebody came selling, the museum had some money and knew they were authentic, and the transaction was made. No questions asked. Now these museums are being forced to return the stolen artifacts, at considerable financial loss to themselves.

These museums would have stayed out of trouble if they had just asked some questions. You know, there’s a moral there. When I look back at my life I realize I would have stayed out of trouble at various times if I had just asked some questions. A new idea comes along – it sounds good – it looks good – go for it! Well, maybe I should have asked some questions. Like, for instance, where did this idea come from? Who are these people who are promoting it? Will I still think this was a good idea 20 years from now? Asking a few questions like that might save a lot of trouble.

Two thousand years ago a man named Jesus began preaching around the Sea of Galilee in what is now Israel. What he said sounded good. It made sense. But one of the things Jesus said every now and then was, "Check it out." He would go back and quote prophets from hundreds of years before to validate what he was saying. He compared what he was saying and doing with things that had happened to God’s holy people from as much as 1700 years before him. Jesus never said, "Just take my word for it." He said, "Check it out. See that what I’m doing fits the work of God through all the centuries."

Good advice for us today. Ideas come from all over. Some are good, some aren’t. How can we tell the difference? One test is, how does it fit the work God has done through the centuries. Want some help on this? Write us with your questions. We’ll be in touch with you as soon as we can. The address is KNLS, Anchor Point, Alaska 99556. Or you can e-mail us at KNLS@aol.com.

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How do you feel when things aren’t right? You know what ought to happen, but it’s not happening. People are slacking off. Some aren’t doing their job. There’s just a lot of bad stuff going on, and you want it fixed! Now!

Well, you have a friend in the Bible. He had the strange name of Habakkuk, and he was just as upset as you are – maybe even more. Habakkuk looked around and saw all kinds of things going wrong. Everywhere he looked was violence, strife, conflict, injustice. Habakkuk was at his wit’s end. So he talked to God (prophets back in the Bible could do that in those days). "God, when are you going to straighten out all those people?!"

God answered him. (That happened back in those days also!) God said, "You’re right – it’s a wretched situation. But I’m going to take care of it. I’m going to bring your enemies the Babylonians in, and they will wipe your little country off the face of the map. Thanks, Habakkuk, for reminding me."

Well, Habakkuk was stunned, to say the least. "Whoa, God, that’s not what I had in mind! You can’t do that! Yes, my own people are bad, but those Babylonians are a thousand times worse! You can’t let them come and wipe us out – you’re too pure a God for that! Tell me, God, that this isn’t so! I’m going to sit right here and wait until you answer me!"

So God did. His answer drew back the curtain a little and let Habakkuk see some of his plans for the world. He gave him some hints about how he operates. He told Habakkuk of some of the principles by which he governs the world. An amazing discourse from God about who He is and what He’s about!

When he stopped talking, Habakkuk started up again. His thoughts just danced as he thought about the power of God, and the wisdom of God. He talked and talked as he remembered the mighty deeds of God through the ages. God was so powerful, so majestic, he had done so many things—Habakkuk just couldn’t get the words out fast enough.

All of a sudden he stopped. There was silence. And then very quietly Habakkuk started talking—maybe whispering—again. He says, "I am weak, I am trembling, when I think of all this. I’m going to just wait on God to do whatever he wants to do. What I know now is this: whatever happens to us—even if our crops fail, even if the Babylonians destroy us, even if everything falls to pieces—that makes no difference. I will rejoice in God because I know He’s God."

That’s quite a story, isn’t it? I’m not yet where Habakkuk is. It’s easy for me to say, "God, I’ll be yours if you do good things for me." But like Habakkuk, I need to be able to say, "God, whatever happens, I’ll still trust you because I know that you are God."

What do you think? Write us with your thoughts. We’ll be in touch with you soon. The address is KNLS, Anchor Point, Alaska 99556. Or you can e-mail us at KNLS@aol.com.

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