Friday, December 24, 2004

With two teenage boys who love football, one Christmas gift is sure to be a hit - a new leather football. And when it's a rare 60-degree Christmas morning, you're not just going to sit around the Christmas tree and admire that ball - you're going to go right outside and do what you're supposed to do with a football. So the three men of the house were quickly out of the house and in the middle of the street, passing that football back and forth. I was back for a long one - the pass was right to me. And I caught it - right on the end of my little finger, like the Christmas klutz. The emergency room is not where you want to spend a chunk of your Christmas, but that's where I was - with a special souvenir of that Christmas - a broken finger.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

It may well be the favorite song of the Christmas season - a lullaby written to the Christ Child many years ago in a little mountain village in Austria. A village pastor was desperate for some music for his Christmas Eve service since the church organ wasn't working, thanks to a mouse eating through parts of the organ! His composition didn't stay in that village. It spread from the Alps around the world, and you can't have a Christmas season without hearing it - probably multiple times. The signature song of celebrating Christmas - "Silent Night." Every verse ends with those beautiful calming words, "Sleep in heavenly peace." Nice words. Not always the way it is.

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

It's been used by many a parent to intimidate their children into being good for at least one month of the year. It's that list - you know, the one immortalized in the song, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." You know the line: "He's making a list, checking it twice. Gonna find out who's naughty and nice." I never wanted to be on that naughty list. (Warning: Cover your child's ears at this point.) Then I found out there's no such list.

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

The Christmas season isn't complete for my friend Brian if he doesn't sing in that wonderful combined choir presentation of one of the most glorious musical compositions of all time - Handel's "Messiah" - with its unforgettable "Hallelujah Chorus." For many, it's a special part of their Christmas season. When George Friedrich Handel wrote that "Hallelujah Chorus," it was hardly a hallelujah time in his life. He was broke, indigent, and almost despondent. Then an acquaintance contacted him about writing an oratorio for a benefit concert to raise money to help some people get out of debtors' prison. In those days, if you couldn't pay your debts, you got thrown into prison. Maybe you're especially glad they don't still do that today! Well, in less than a month, Handel composed that masterpiece that would end up inspiring millions for centuries to come. Its first performance was life changing for him and for many people. Because of that night of "Hallelujah Chorus" for the "Messiah," 142 prisoners went free!

Monday, December 20, 2004

Over the years, our family has had the chance to see Christmas from many different perspectives - Christmas in Manhattan, Christmas in Chicago's Loop, a mountain Christmas, a colonial Christmas, a white Christmas, a warm Christmas, and a one horse open sleigh Christmas. But it's a man named Nate Saint who, better than anyone else I know, may have captured Christmas from heaven's perspective. He was one of five American missionaries, called by God to go to the jungles of Ecuador to introduce the Gospel to one of the "lostest" people on earth, the primitive Auca (Waorani) Indians. Once they found the Aucas in the dense jungles, it was Nate who, as a seasoned pilot, landed them on a narrow beach by the Curaray River. I've stood on that beach where Nate Saint, Jim Elliott, and the others died at the hands of the Aucas. But today the men who murdered them are leaders of the Auca Church, and many, including me, were inspired by their example to serve Christ. On the eve of his last Christmas on earth, Nate Saint wrote his perspective on Christmas, and I can't get it out of my mind. I hope you won't either.

Thursday, December 16, 2004

In some ways I'm glad the three little Hutchcrafts aren't little anymore. When they were, the day before Christmas always meant assembling some "easy-to-assemble" toys. Yeah! And the day after? That usually meant fixing what was not easy-to-assemble in the first place. It seems the day after Christmas there was always something that was broken. Maybe there's some fixing that needs to happen in your life before Christmas.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

We were trying to teach some young leaders the importance of teamwork and how each of us has a piece that the other needs. Here was my bright idea: Tear up a page of a magazine into pieces, dump it into the middle of each small group, and see who could put their picture together first! It didn't work too well. I had forgotten one little thing. I forgot to give them a copy of the complete picture so they could see what it should look like when it was all together! I've tried to work on one of those big puzzles myself and I had the same frustration because I didn't know where the puzzle box top was. It was very hard to put the pieces together when the complete picture wasn't there.

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

It's amazing how quickly you can get 300 college men to change their plans on a moment's notice. It happened several times when I was in school. Okay, it's late at night. We're all up in our rooms studying, or sleeping, or goofing off (that was the other guys), and we're certainly not planning to go out. Yet, within a matter of minutes all 300 men are out of their rooms - out of the dorm. It is amazing what one fire bell can do, isn't it? There was no fire, just an occasional fire drill. But the call summoned us from whatever we were buried in, brought us out of our rooms and out into the night.

Thursday, December 9, 2004

You know something's up when a friend offers you a piece of candy and then stands there to watch you eat it. It happened in our office when my administrative assistant offered me a piece of sour apple candy with the interesting name "Warheads." That should have been my second clue, besides her standing there and watching me. The third clue should have been the drawing on the wrapper. It's this cartoon guy with his head sort of blowing up. Well, being the good sport that I am, I went for it. The first minute was awful! Bitter doesn't describe the taste. It was just bad bitter! It made my mouth pucker and it even made my eyes water! And then, as suddenly as that sharp bitter taste had invaded my mouth, the taste changed to a really enjoyable, sweet fruit taste. Which, I am happy to report, lasted considerably longer than the bad taste.

Tuesday, December 7, 2004

Frankly, I've never understood how a biologist could be an atheist. The human body is just too amazing to explain without a brilliant designer being behind it. There are thousands of examples of the Creator's skill. Just take the human kidney for example. Literally, I mean, if they had to take one of your kidneys, something amazing happens. The one that is left - suddenly burdened with doing the work of two kidneys - starts to grow until its capacity enlarges to the point where one kidney is now miraculously able to do what it used to take two kidneys to do!

Monday, December 6, 2004

There's not much amusing about an automobile accident, but my friend Jean's accident - it had a little smile at the end of it at least. She got hit in the right rear door of her car, and her daughter's head actually broke the glass in the passenger side window. Jean's glasses went flying, and thank the Lord there was no serious injury. The police looked at the car, and they said, "Well, it's OK to drive." They knew that. She knew that, but apparently the computerized monitor in the dashboard didn't know that because all the way home this computer voice kept saying, "Right door is open. Fuel level is low." Actually, the right door was damaged, but no, it wasn't open. And the voice insisted, "Fuel level is low." She had just filled the car with gas! The gauge was on "F" for "Full." Poor Jean! She took a hit and then she started getting all kinds of wrong messages.

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

You hear a truck pull up in front of your house. You look out - it's a UPS truck. Most folks are interested to find out what is coming with this special attention and then they want to know who sent it. What most folks don't do is go to the door and gush all over the delivery person, "Oh! I'm so glad you came. Please come in for some lunch, sit down, tell me all about yourself." I'll bet you've never done that. In fact, it isn't the messenger that's the big deal; it's what's being delivered and who it's from.

Monday, November 29, 2004

Man! Going food shopping just isn't as simple as it used to be. We used to buy whatever looked interesting, or affordable, or yummy. Now we have to allow extra time for a shopping trip. We have to read all those labels. Actually, it's a good thing that they're telling us what's in that cereal or those cookies. We're realizing how much of what we eat has to do with how healthy we are, and maybe how long we live. A lot of damaging ingredients are hidden in some of that food, like fat grams! Before we buy something, we have to know how many fat grams are in it. Who needs that stuff keeping your blood from getting to your heart? Right? Yes, we smart shoppers who want to live a little longer realize the damage that the fat can do that's hiding in that food. So we don't buy that good-looking food because it looks good. Oh, no! First, we check for what's in that product that could do damage to us!

Friday, November 5, 2004

Driving is never more exciting than it is during a major snowstorm. In fact, it is so exciting you ought to avoid it. Sometimes you just can't. I was scheduled to speak at a retreat in the Pocono Mountains one January weekend and a major snowstorm moved in right on the Friday when everyone is supposed to be traveling to Pennsylvania from New Jersey. I waited all day for the call, "Sorry, it's been cancelled." I got the call. They were still going, and by that time it was dark. It was snowing very impressively, so I traveled at a very reduced speed and it looked almost impossible to make it until I spotted my friend up ahead - my friend the snow plow. He was clearing a lane as he went. I just fell in right behind Mr. Snow Plow and followed him through the storm all the way to the state line.

Wednesday, November 3, 2004

You never know what your kid's memories are going to be. Our son was 20 years old, he was in college, and they asked him to write about a childhood memory. That's when they're in college in these family classes and you get to pay for them analyzing you. He picked the day that he and I played wiffle ball together for the first time. He couldn't have been more than four or five years old. You know, that's that little plastic ball, it's got enough holes in it to keep it from going far, and he had this little yellow plastic bat, and I was pitching to him from a few feet away in the backyard. The first time he ever tried to hit a ball, strike one - he chopped it instead of hitting it right and he missed it. It's hard to remember all the things that daddy just told you. Right? Then I threw it again, real gently - strike two. So I stopped and I went over and I reviewed with him, you know, keep your eye on the ball, don't chop, swing evenly, and then I said one more thing that I hadn't said the first two times. I said, "Hey, son, I really believe you can hit it this time!" Next time, bam! He hit it way over daddy's head and into the neighbor's yard.

Monday, November 1, 2004

Anne had ridden her mountain bike through a California wilderness park many times before. But the ride this day would change her life. She was attacked by a mountain lion that hours earlier had killed another biker. As the cat held her in his jaws by the back of her neck, all she could do was pray. Humanly speaking, her friend Debi was her only hope. Debi jumped off her bike, grabbed onto Anne's leg, screaming for help and kicking at the mountain lion. She fought so hard for her friend she actually pulled Anne and the cat into the nearby brush. Thankfully, Debi's screams brought the help of some men who had been biking with them. Debi continued to hang on as the men pelted that lion with rocks. Suddenly the animal released his victim, and Anne's life was saved. Debi gave everything she had to keep the promise she made to her friend in the middle of that struggle: "I'll never let go of you!"

Friday, October 29, 2004

I'm sort of a news junkie. I really like to watch a national news cast sometime before the day is over. But there are some words I cringe at when I hear them in the news, like "hostage." As soon as you hear the word "hostage" you know that there is a potential life-or-death stand off going on between some angry desperate assailant and the police. The law enforcement people are trying to save the hostages that he's holding. Recently I talked with a police officer friend of mine about how they handle those dangerous rescues. He said, "First, you want to use something like tear gas, or fatigue, or a marksman - anything that will immobilize the hostage taker."

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

My plane had just landed in a Midwestern city during a record breaking cold spell, and the pilot welcomed us to the city with a temperature reading that made you want to divert the flight to Florida. At least I had checked the Weather Channel and I was able to anticipate that I was about to enter the ice age, so I had the appropriate coat, scarf, gloves and layers. As I was waiting for my suitcase in the baggage claim area, I heard someone yell, "Grab those pineapples." Excuse me? Sure enough, there were two couples just returning from Hawaii with beautiful live flowers around their necks, and they were wearing short sleeve shirts and carrying their box of fresh pineapples. When I hit the wind outside, I was cold but I was prepared. I can't imagine what happened to the Luau bunch! When they woke up that morning, they probably just said, "Well, I'll just dress for where I am." They were totally unprepared for where they were going!

Monday, October 25, 2004

I've never been in a storm at sea and that's just fine! I've heard the stories, and that's enough. Like the ship some years ago that was making a transatlantic voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York. One night, at a time when most of the passengers were sleeping, the ship was hit by this mega Atlantic storm. The wind and the waves were so violent, that at one point they tipped the ship almost on its side, and down below passengers were thrown out of their bunks! That is what you call a rude awakening!

In one cabin, a little girl was thrown out of her bed, like everyone else, and her mother had already been awakened by the intensity of the storm. There was one thing different, though, about this particular passenger - her Daddy was the captain! Bleary eyed, she asked her Mom the only thing she really wanted to know about the situation, "Is Daddy on deck?" Her Mom said, "Well, yes he is, honey." The little girl's response was right to the point, "Then I'm going back to bed."

Friday, October 22, 2004

My friend Tom has a taste for some of the beautiful things in life like great food for example. In face, he's a wonderful chef. I think I'm still wearing some of his culinary creations on my body. Tom also really appreciates nature, including plants. Actually, I've been fascinated to hear him tell of some of the incredible creations of God that live in that world of plants and flowers that I don't know much about. The last time we saw him, he told us about a flower called the Night Blooming Cyrus, which he said he's only seen bloom once. That's because they don't do much when folks are awake. In fact, they only bloom for two hours a day, and that's from midnight till 2:00 A.M. But for those who stay up late or set their alarm, there's the splendor of a richly colored flower that measures about six inches in bloom. It's beautiful late at night.