It can be an unsettling moment to realize that, whether you had set out to imitate them or not, you have somehow become just like your mother or your father.

The rules surrounding advertising for the tobacco industry have changed drastically in recent years. In years gone by, cigarettes were advertised as promoting good health and as the doorway to a glamorous lifestyle.

Do you ever feel a little hard up? Most of us end up feeling at some time like we could do with a little bit more—a bigger house, a newer car, etc. That feeling is not only confined to material things. Some will have a profound sense of missing out in other ways.

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus first speaks of “anyone who hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart” (v. 19). When there is no understanding, the Word does not take root.

Switzerland is a country that has managed to remain remarkably stable—the Swiss Franc is a byword for stability. It follows a formal policy of neutrality, established in 1815, and it has not been in a state of international conflict since that time.