Wednesday, February 11, 2004

It may have been the most memorable - maybe even the most defining moment in the history of our generation - the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Most of us were marked indelibly by just watching it on television. My friend Nathan lived it. It was his first visit to New York, and his business took him high up in one of the Twin Towers. After the attacks, while there was still great confusion as to whether to evacuate or to stay in the building, Nathan disregarded the announcement to "return to your offices." That decision saved his life. He made his way down the long stairwell until he neared the bottom. There rescuers guided him and many others with him to a safe exit, not long before the tower collapsed in those few horrific seconds. I'll never forget when Nathan told me about the firefighters he saw as he neared the main floor: he said, "I looked in their eyes and thought, 'They must be as frightened as I am.' Except I was going down, and they were going up." Is it any wonder we call them heroes?

Wednesday, February 4, 2004

There are not too many TV shows that you remember for 30 years. But I still remember a TV documentary that was filmed during the Vietnam War - it was called, "Same Mud, Same Blood." The correspondent traveled with this infantry company that was made up mostly of white soldiers from the Deep South with a few others who were Black - a unit commanded by a Black sergeant. Now, we're talking a time when America was being convulsed with civil rights conflicts. But the documentary told the amazing story of how a company that started out with huge racial walls between them became molded into a group of guys who would die for each other - after all, they were "same mud, same blood." There was something about being in war together that brought people close together who might otherwise have never have had anything in common.

Tuesday, February 3, 2004

It's sad, but we - like a lot of people - have had to institute a lot of safety precautions to protect our computers. Things like not opening any e-mail attachments or putting foreign diskettes in each other's computers. There's this dreaded word for anyone who owns a computer - virus. Now, this is not "take two aspirin and call me in the morning" stuff. No, we're talking technical viruses that can get into your systems and wreak havoc with your data and your equipment. That's why the first display I see when I turn my computer on says "Virus Scan." There are plenty of horror stories of what happened when one of these little alien invaders got into a computer system. We're talking total meltdown in some cases. It really does pay to go to extra effort to keep those invaders out!

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

For many years, J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy, Lord of The Rings, has fascinated thoughtful readers. Like C.S. Lewis (who was helped to Christ by Tolkien actually), Tolkien communicated spiritual truths through allegorical myths in a world called "Middle Earth." His works have now captured the imagination of people who had never heard of his books through three epic motion pictures based on them. At the heart of Lord of The Rings and its epic battles is the ring. It's a gold ring that is the key to enormous power - but a power that inevitably addicts the possessor to its power. That power ultimately corrupts and destroys the one who holds it so tenaciously. It is, in fact, called by one main character, not the ring, but "The Precious."

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

During our Mission Alaska trip to young Native Alaskans, I spent a lot of time in a little missionary aircraft. It's the only way to get to villages that are 400 miles from the nearest road! One day when the weather wasn't much fun, our pilot asked me to keep an eye on the wing on my side. He said, "Let me know if you see any icing." Of course, I hear "icing" and I think of a birthday cake. A pilot hears icing, and he thinks danger in the air. Amazingly, a little ice on the wings adds just enough weight to endanger the plane. It interrupts the airflow that keeps the plane airborne, and it starts losing altitude. So that day over Alaska, I really kept my eyes open for ice!

Monday, January 12, 2004

I don't get sick very often, but I managed to pick up last season's special flu bug. Which, of course, meant my wife soon followed suit. We believe in sharing everything. Our friend Janice got a similar flu - sick for four or five days. Then her husband got it - sick for four or five days. Then their lucky daughter took her turn - sick for four or five days. Their teenage son was the only one who didn't get it. His mom said he was the one walking around the house with a can of Lysol all the time! You can almost count on it - when one person is infected with a germ, it will probably end up infecting the people closest to them.

Friday, January 9, 2004

My friend Rich has just come through a major battle with cancer with heavy radiation therapy which has helped him win. The only problem is that the radiation left Rich pretty weak and depleted. So, he would work a short week at his business and then he'd retreat to this little cabin he and his wife have way back in the woods. One day Rich was down by the stream, and he was feeling pretty tired. So, he lay down right there by the water and fell asleep. When he woke up, he was startled by what he saw. There above him, a vulture was circling him! Now, you wouldn't believe how quickly Rich got up! I can just imagine him telling that hopeful vulture, "Hey, bird, I may look dead to you, but I'm still alive!"

Thursday, January 8, 2004

A little word association exercise for today. What's the first word that comes to your mind when I say this name? Linus. Let me guess - blanket. Well, of course. Unless somehow in your life you've missed cartoondom's classic, "Peanuts" and the world of Charlie Brown and friends. And Linus is the little philosopher of the group, known most of all for his ever-present security blanket. And I mean ever-present. Everywhere this boy goes, he's dragging his precious blanket. Trying to separate him from his blanket is a hopeless cause. It's like, "Who am I without it?"

Wednesday, January 7, 2004

We tend to know the TV shows that were big when our children were growing up. So, I happen to know something about a program called "The A-Team." Our guys had a must-not-miss date each week with Hannibal Smith and B. A. Baracus, and the rest of this team of fugitive Vietnam vets who took on the causes of people victimized by the bad guys. The basic plot of each show was fairly predictable - bad guys pick on person, person hires A-Team, bad guys are about to win, A-Team comes up with a brilliant, and usually unlikely, plan, A-Team wins. These elaborate plans were hatched by the leader of the team - Col. Hannibal Smith. And he never seemed to tell anybody, including his team, why he was doing what he was doing, or asking them to do. But at the end, when the strategy finally unfolded victoriously, Hannibal would always smile and say those trademark words, "I love it when a plan comes together."

Tuesday, January 6, 2004

There is no way we could have taken our "On Eagles' Wings" team of young Native Americans across Alaska without the help of our wonderful missionary partner Grant. He made the arrangements for us in village after village and helped fly us across the area, and took on much of the follow-up. Now, Grant is a pilot. You almost have to be when the villages you serve are often hundreds of miles from the nearest road. You can imagine how hard it hit us when we heard that another pilot had crashed and totaled the plane that Grant's ministry depends on. Miraculously, no one was seriously injured, but Grant was without a plane and without any funds to replace it.

Well, we joined Grant and his really dedicated family in fervent prayer for God's provision. And God really provided! The plane Grant lost was a four-seater - not big enough to even transport his whole family in one trip. The plane God replaced it with? A better aircraft, a bigger aircraft - a six-place plane that now enables him to take his whole family - or, in our case, many young Native missionaries - in one load.