Thursday, May 25, 2017

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There's a bridge in a park not too far from here; they take carriage rides there. It's just a bridge to most folks, but not to our son and daughter-in-law. That will always be a very special spot to them. It's where he asked her to marry him. It's interesting how a plain old piece of geography becomes forever special when something special in your life happens there: the place you were born, or maybe where you had your first date or your first kiss, or where you were married, or where some significant "first" in your life took place. When a certain place is where something important started, it will always be a special place.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

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I'm not sure if it's harder for a baby to have major surgery or adults like us. At least the baby has no idea of what's going on – which might make it easier. We know too much. We worry a lot. Little Jamie? He was not even a year old, but he had to undergo heart surgery; which I associate kind of with older people. Jamie was the nephew of one of our team members, and she was from Australia. The miles made it pretty tough on her, so we all joined her in praying for this little guy so far away. And thankfully, Jamie came through with flying colors. His heart was fixed. It was a tough operation, but it had to be done. You see, Jamie, they said, had a hole in his heart, and you can't just leave it that way!

Monday, May 22, 2017

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Spock, Scotty, a doctor called "Bones", the Starship Enterprise, the transporter, the Klingons: they're all part of a universe millions of people know as Star Trek. And if the oft-repeated TV shows weren't enough, the Star Trek crew became the stars of several major movies. And then came the new crew, set even farther ahead in our future. It was called "Star Trek - The Next Generation." They were still boldly going where no one had gone on the Starship Enterprise. But "Star Trek version I" and "Star Trek version II" had something more than a ship in common. They both had a strong captain in command. First, Captain Kirk, who always seemed to have things under control. But then along came the "Next Generation" skipper, Captain Picard. He had a lot less hair than Capt. Kirk, but he seemed to be even more in charge. There was never a question as to who was in charge of the ship, the crew, or the situation. And when Capt. Picard would give an order, he would follow it with three "no argument" words that were always the bottom line, "Make it so." "Yes, Sir!"

Friday, May 19, 2017

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We didn't have a lot of money, but who cared? We had each other. We is my wife Karen and me, and we were on our honeymoon! Now someone has defined a honeymoon as the period between "I do" and "You'd better!", but that definition doesn't work for me. Most of us married people look back with fond memories on our honeymoon. Karen and I were married in Chicago, and we drove up to Wisconsin and Michigan for our first week as man and wife. It was a lot of years ago, but it was a week I will never forget; the tandem bike rides, where I ended up doing most of the pedaling, the chili dogs and onion rings, and the smooching as our kids later called it, the horseback ride, the boat ride. But the best part of the honeymoon wasn't the sights or the activities. It was that glorious feeling that, for one week, there was nobody else on earth but Ron and Karen. We just totally focused on each other.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

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You may not be able to tell it over the radio, but I'm not a very big guy. Oh, I'm big inside. But outside, I'm more of like a Volkswagen than a semi. Which makes it amazing that both my sons ended up playing line in football. That's usually where they put the monsters. But we used to joke that the linemen wore their IQs on their jerseys - you know, like 75. But it was brawn more than brains they needed anyway to either hold the line while their opponents were trying to move them or to break through those gorillas on the other side of the line. There are just a few simple instructions that every coach wants every lineman to learn and live by. In fact, our guys heard this one all the time, "Keep your feet moving. No matter what." Even if it feels like you're going nowhere. Even if you're getting hammered. Even if you think it's doing no good. As long as you keep driving, as long as you keep your feet moving, you're making a difference. There is an alternative. It's called getting knocked down maybe by one of those gorillas on the other side.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

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I think we all do it at times. We walk past a store window, and we look at more than the merchandise. We look at our own reflection, or we glance in every convenient mirror. "How am I doing?" "How am I looking?" It's just natural - checking yourself out, want to impress, want to look good. It's natural to talk up our wins, our good stuff. And then I read these show-stopping words in the Bible. They challenge our whole image-driven "How do I look" way of living. Actually I think I understand these words now in a way I could not have only months ago.

Monday, May 15, 2017

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My son bought an old Mustang when he was in high school. No, not the kind with four legs. The kind with four wheels. He actually used money he got from selling some of his valuable baseball card collection. Some years later, he wanted to sell it and put the proceeds into the work he was going to be doing with Native Americans. He was home for a little while and that's where the Mustang was, so he put an ad in the paper about it. First day – no calls. Second day – no calls. He wasn't expecting a line at the door exactly, but he thought he'd get a little more response than that. Then he found out why the phone was silent. He checked the ad and found that the newspaper had goofed and published a phone number that was a wrong number. But what a difference that one little number made! When we dialed the number in the paper, there never was any answer. And since it takes a couple of days to change the error, the wrong number made more encore appearances in the newspaper. You gotta feel bad for some guy who's looking in the paper, sees a car he wants at a price he likes, and dials the magic number that cannot possibly reach the person who has what he's interested in.

Friday, May 12, 2017

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At first I thought some apocalyptic event had hit our town. Schools were all empty, wasn't a school bus in sight, lots of people suddenly disappeared. Not to worry. It was just Spring Break.

Of course, for many of America's young people, Spring Break is code for "party like there's no tomorrow, baby." Well, after downing lots of booze and sometimes drugs, your internal censors just go off duty. So a lot of folks come back from break with little memory of some big mistakes. Partying that lasts for a night; regrets and scars that can last a lifetime. Going for "break" and coming back broken.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

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The first time I heard someone talking about an invisible airplane, my reaction was, "I don't think so." But, in a sense, there is such a thing. Not exactly an airplane that people can't see-but it's an airplane radar can't see. It's called the "Stealth" bomber. Of course, if a bomber is headed for you, you want to know it. And radar has always been what alerted defenders to that bomber. But the "Stealth" is able to come in under the range of radar-and invade air space undetected-and do damage it might never have been able to do if it had been detected. Nobody realizes they're in danger until it's too late.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

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Because we've spent so much time on Indian reservations over the years, the story I heard about one little Native American boy is especially meaningful to me. He lived with his Mom in a little hut on a reservation in the Southwest. His Dad had died, and that meant the boy had to take responsibility for their sheep at a pretty young age. One day a missionary passed through their village and he explained to the little boy how Jesus Christ died for him and wanted to be his Shepherd. And that day this little shepherd invited Jesus into his heart.

Monday, May 8, 2017

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If you're a little kid and there's a big tree, it's there for you to climb, right? At least that's the way my wife Karen approached it when she was a little girl on the farm. They had this big maple tree - BIG maple tree! It took three people to get their arms all the way around the trunk. Well, little Karen started to climb that old maple one day, working her way through those big, thick old branches near the bottom. She got almost to the top when she suddenly realized something - the branches at the top are a lot skinnier than the branches at the bottom. Suddenly she was out on a very slim limb, on the verge of falling. That's when she started yelling for help - which, thankfully, her father provided. Karen found out in that old maple tree that the risks of falling are a lot greater at the top than they are at the bottom.

Friday, May 5, 2017

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If you don’t know how to swim, it’s not cool to let your friends know that, right? Well, let me tell you, it’s just not smart not to tell them, especially if you’re going into the lake with them to swim. The scene was Lake Michigan. This 10-year-old boy was me. I couldn’t swim and I was too proud to tell my friends. Suddenly, as I waded deeper and deeper, I lost my footing and I began drinking the lake. I can remember the terror of it to this day. My friends thought it was funny. They were just laughing and going, "Oh, look at Ronnie. He’s such a clown!" I was dying. I'd gone under for the second time, and man, how I remember! I was helpless. I could not contribute a thing to getting back to shore. Thankfully, someone saw me, jumped in and that rescuer did it all!

Thursday, May 4, 2017

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Maybe you’re like me; you're one of those people who lives in a climate where there are four seasons, where the fall and spring are spectacularly beautiful and where winter is really winter, and summer is really summer. There’s probably one change of seasons that is probably anticipated by you more than any other-the end of winter! I’ve always lived with four seasons, and I like them all. I just think one of them lasts a month or two too long. That’s why I was so excited during a February ministry trip to South Carolina. I was living up north at the time, and so we had this serious winter. Now February is still winter a little while longer, but in South Carolina, the trees were starting to bloom! Not only were the flowers out on the trees, the shorts were even out on the humans! I don’t remember seeing dogwood blooming in February! That was early even for the mid-South, but there had been a string of days in the 70’s with temperatures that were still mild at night. So those little flowers said to themselves, "Hey, it’s warm, guys! I guess it’s time to bloom! You think they might have said that?

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

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It was my first Valentine's Day without the love of my life since I was 18. I found the Valentine card that I sent her a couple of years ago. In it, I wrote: "I have never loved you more. You never cease to amaze me, amuse me, and captivate me." As the sun came up on my first Valentine's Day alone, I realized I had a choice to make. I could either spend the day mourning what I had lost, or I could celebrate the decades I did have with this remarkable woman, and I chose that. I'm glad I did.

Monday, May 1, 2017

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It's been a long time since I've had a pregnant woman in our family. But years ago, my wife, Karen, handled it beautifully. I offered to take some of that load, but apparently some things just can't be delegated. Now, the time came around for our daughter to have her first child some years ago. She lived close to us, so we got to walk down Pregnant Avenue with her. It was exciting! It was amazing how things our daughter might have normally done without even giving it a thought she wouldn't let herself do while she was pregnant. I think she was kind of watching what her Mom did. You know, she knew what her Mom had done. She refused to eat anything with certain artificial ingredients in it, things she loved. But she wouldn't touch them while pregnant. She had some headaches, but she would not put pain relievers into her body. No antihistamines, no matter how frustrating her cold symptoms got. She added a powerful new factor in deciding what she would and wouldn't do: the passenger she was carrying - the baby!

Friday, April 28, 2017

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Ten more minutes and my wife would have never been born. The story that changed everything is hope for any of us who love someone who's making some very bad choices. My wife's grandfather, Bill, had given up on life. Trashing a profitable career for the alcohol and cocaine he could not resist. He was labeled with a prison record, he was penniless, he was hopeless and he was suicidal.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

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Ian is one of the more amazing people I've met. The people who knew him publicly, when they were with him privately it was a shock. He had been the leader of Youth for Christ's highly effective ministry in New Zealand. As you would converse with him, you would quickly learn that Ian had a stutter - which sometimes made it difficult just for him to get through a sentence. It was noticeable, but it wasn't important. I mean, Ian was a godly, magnetic person. But when you saw him in action before a crowd - as I did at a national youth convention with 3,000 teenagers - get ready for a shock. I mean, I felt bad, wonder-ing how he was going to communicate effectively to all these teenagers with a stutter like that. To my amazement, I discovered there suddenly was no stutter. His speech was perfect! He emceed, he preached flawlessly. That's what was so amazing about Ian - something happened to him when he had to speak well. And to you.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

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When I'm speaking for some event, my needs are pretty simple. Just get me a bottle of fresh water, and I'll be able to keep going like the Energizer Bunny. You know, I realized once that I was heading into a speaking session without my trusty bottle of water. Someone directed me to a hospitality room the host had set up for those on the program. I actually bypassed all the goodies and I reached for the first bottle of water I saw. As I sat on the front row of the auditorium, awaiting my time to go up on the platform, I mindlessly twisted open the cap on the bottle so I could get a swig. Well, much to my surprise and chagrin, the contents immediately began erupting out of the bottle! I hadn't read the label. I didn't know what was inside until I opened it. It was sparkling water, and it was sparkling all over me!

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

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If it's about the Revolutionary War, I'll probably try to go there. My poor family has been dragged to more historical houses, battlefields, and Colonial restorations. Fortunately, we lived in the town where George Washington actually had his headquarters at one point during the War. So when they had a special militia re-enactment, we went to see it. But it was more than just muskets and bayonets. They had Colonial craftsmen there, too. Including the old blacksmith. He was there in the barn, next to his blazing fire. When I walked in, he was working on these big iron nails - which my wife thought would look nice as hooks and hangers on our mantle at home. They're still there. It was intriguing to watch the blacksmith do his work. Actually, he took a shapeless piece of iron, he heated it in that fire until it was red hot - and it was soft enough to shape - and then he hammered it into something that hunk of metal had never been before - something useful. I know. They're on our mantle, remember?

Monday, April 24, 2017

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We met Dan and Rita and their dog when we took our Native American team to a reservation in South Dakota. They live in this dusty little village, doing their best to make a difference for the people there. They've got this little dog named Gal. Now most dogs are pretty aggressive in meeting strangers-they come right up to you, even on you. But not Gal. No, she retreats when she sees people. She cowers actually; she trembles. Dan and Rita explained why. Their dog had been severely abused by several previous owners before they got her. So she has a hard time trusting even people who want to treat her right, but she's missing a lot of loving that way.