Friday, December 19, 2003

It's time to wash the bathrobes again - for the boys to wear in the Christmas pageant. Like thousands of boys at Christmastime, I, too, was drafted into being one of those shepherds. I'm not sure my bathrobe got washed any other time of the year actually. Not to be petty, but I always thought the guys playing the wise men had a better deal. They got to wear some fancy clothes, and they had something to give to Baby Jesus when they came - I think we used to call it gold, frankenstein, and myyrh. But not us shepherds. Oh, no! Since the Bible doesn't describe any specific gift the shepherds brought, we came empty handed. I thought we looked a little cheap. But I've learned something since then.

Thursday, November 20, 2003

Actor Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion," has broken new ground for Hollywood - and triggered a firestorm of controversy. "The Passion" tells the story of the day of Jesus' death with an attempt at Biblical accuracy that is seemingly unprecedented in movie-making history. The dialog is even spoken in the languages spoken at that time. And the portrayal of the crucifixion of Christ is said to be intensely realistic, following as closely as possible the Bible's description of what happened that day on a place called Skull Hill. The controversy revolves around the portrayal of the role of the Jewish leaders on that day in conspiring to have Jesus crucified by the Romans and their statement inviting His blood to be "upon us and our children." So, for centuries, Jews have been wrongly persecuted as "Christ-killers," allegedly guilty of "deicide." What a tragic mistake! The truth of why Jesus died so brutally on that cross is far more shocking.

Tuesday, November 18, 2003

Hurricane Isabel was roaring up the East Coast, bringing with her 100 mile-an-hour winds, flooding deluges of rain, and a trail of destruction. As the storm moved from North Carolina toward Virginia and Washington D.C., something unprecedented happened at one of America's most hallowed sights. At Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place of many of the nation's honored dead, there stands the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, guarded proudly by military sentinels, day and night. For some seventy years, the guards have been there, marching with impressive precision, their rifle on their shoulder. But with a violent storm headed that way, the guards were given the unprecedented option of leaving their post long enough to seek shelter. They refused.

Friday, November 14, 2003

Recently I met a man from St. Joseph, Missouri, and I surprised him with my trivia knowledge when I said, "Pony Express country, right?" He confirmed my recollection that his town was the beginning of the famous Pony Express. Those guys rode their way right into the history books. They're practically legends of the Old West - riding endless hours through hostile territory, risking their lives to deliver the mail to the West Coast. You probably know that part. What you may not know is how many guys we're talking about here in this legendary operation - just 80 riders, and only one mail delivery was ever lost. How long did the Pony Express run? Only 18 months! It only took a few people a short time to make a great impact!

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

Well, I'm not much of photographer, but I'm married to one. So, a few years ago I was able to open doors to minister to our local football team by being on the sidelines and shooting slides of them in action. Now, my wife gave me this crash course in photography, and one thing I had to learn fast was how to focus my lens. See, I was shooting from all different angles, all different distances. If I said, "Well, I'll just focus my lens on this first photo, and then I'll leave it like that," I would have had a pile of blurry pictures and not many friends on the football team. See, the picture kept changing, and I had to constantly refocus for each new situation.

Tuesday, November 11, 2003

If I ever want to know anything about gardening, I ask the man in my world who is the master gardener - my friend, Mel. He doesn't ever need to shop in the produce department - he has his own produce department in his backyard in this fabulous garden of his. Not long ago he was telling me about these incredible raspberries he saw growing in the woods near his home. But why have to go hunting for them in the woods, huh, when you can just transplant those raspberries and grow them in your own garden, right?

Well, Mel was sorry he did that. In the woods, where God planted them, the berries had been big and many. In Mel's garden, where he planted them, those same bushes produced berries that were small and few.

Monday, November 3, 2003

Missionary pilots are my personal heroes - especially since the incredible job they did moving our Native American team across Alaska recently. Often there really wasn't much of a runway to land on or good weather to fly in, but they always got us there safely. Now, on one flight, I was in the co-pilot seat in our little six-seater aircraft, and our pilot, Gary, was flying us to a Yukon River village through some low visibility, low ceilings - just generally lousy weather. And as we neared our destination, he said, "I hate this part. We're in the dead zone." Now "dead zone" isn't exactly what I want to hear from a pilot when I'm flying with him, so I asked Gary what he meant by that. He described that part of a flight where you cannot communicate with the tower or with any other aircraft. You're kind of all alone. It doesn't last long, he explained, but if you're in trouble or you're going down, nobody knows. It's a lonely stretch. Well, after a couple more minutes, Gary broke into a big smile and he said, "Good. We're back." I smiled, too.

Friday, October 31, 2003

Movies wouldn't be nearly as exciting without those stunt men. You know those high-priced stars aren't going to take all the risks that give the viewer those big thrills. Every once in a while, a script will call for a man to fall off a building or a cliff. And that star says, "I'm outta here, folks." But later the viewer will see a man hurtling through the air backwards, and you know it isn't a dummy because his arms are flailing. Or maybe some might argue that the stunt man is a dummy for taking a plunge like that. But it sure looks like we won't be seeing that falling man again. Oh, but appearances aren't everything. No! It looks like he's headed for a crash, but he's actually headed for a net!

I had the TV on while I was getting ready to go somewhere, and I caught a snatch of a TV talk show. The host was interviewing a former FBI agent - a man who had successfully infiltrated the Mafia and had been responsible for some major indictments. Now, in his underground life, he was, as you might expect, surrounded by cocaine. The talk show host asked the FBI man, "Did you ever have to use cocaine to maintain your cover?" Good question - after all, his life depended on his fitting in. But he answered that question with a firm "No." The host said, "Then how did you avoid having to use cocaine?" I liked his answer. It might even help you where you're feeling the pressure to fit in.

Monday, October 27, 2003

I used to just be concerned about me or someone I love picking up a virus. Now I have to be concerned about my computer picking up a virus! And more and more of them are infecting various computer systems. Now, if one of those viruses contaminates your computer, it can cause you to lose valuable data. It can even cause your computer to crash. But, thankfully, I have this special software feature that's called a virus scan. When I turn on my computer, basically the virus scan checks to see if any of those destructive little bugs have gotten in, and it warns me if they have. And that's a good thing. You want to get it before it infects everything.

Friday, October 24, 2003

The first hijackers I remember in the headlines were terrorists who kidnapped airplanes and their passengers and released them if and when their demands were met. But since the events of September 11, 2001, the word "hijacker" has taken on a new and more deadly significance. Now we know it can mean someone who takes over a plane and its passengers with the intent of using that plane as a deadly weapon. On a smaller scale, some of our big cities have had to deal with the relatively new threat of carjacking, where a criminal forcibly takes over the car of some unfortunate driver. I think most of us would agree, hijacking in any form is wrong, and it should be punished with serious penalties.

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

It drove our kids crazy. In the countdown to Christmas, the basement door had a sign on it, banning our children from going down there. And every night, Mommy and Daddy would disappear downstairs. And, off and on, the kids would hear hammering sounds in the basement. They knew some kind of "Christmas business" was going on, but they didn't know what. The first year, the surprise turned out to be a doll house that our daughter discovered on Christmas morning under the tree. We'd built it for her. The next year, same scenario - closed basement, vanished parents, building sounds. Man, did they bug us, wanting to come down there, wanting to know what was going on. Hey, not until Christmas, kids. That's when our oldest son got the barn that we had built for him. Following year - they were frustrated again by the waiting and the not knowing. And on Christmas morning, our youngest son got his general store. They loved - and still love - what we made for them. But the waiting drove them crazy!

Friday, September 26, 2003

It's amazing what a difference a camera can make, isn't it? Allan Funt, the creator of "Candid Camera" sure proved that over and over, and now his son is proving it on an updated show based on the same idea. People do these dumb little things, and they're totally unaware that the camera is rolling and the nation is watching. If they knew, they'd never do what that show tricks them into doing. Of course, the results of unknown cameras aren't always humorous, like incriminating photos being taken of a Presidential candidate or a Christian leader - and they have been. How many times has the subject of an incriminating photo said, "If I'd only known they were recording this"? Maybe you should assume they are.

Thursday, September 25, 2003

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 have 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. She retreats when she sees people. She cowers, 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.

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

Roger was the father of a friend of mine, and he was a very successful businessman. That's probably why a neighbor approached Roger one day and asked him if he wanted to be involved in a new hamburger chain he was starting. It was a little outfit called McDonald's. Roger was offered the fourth franchise in this brand new venture and a founding share. Roger thought about it and then said, "No, thanks." Ouch! Later, another neighbor came to Roger and told him about this new business he was launching called Service Master. Would Roger like to get in the ground floor with an investment? Roger thought about it and then he said, "No, thanks." Double ouch! As McDonald's and Service Master grew to be some of the most successful companies in the world, I wonder what must have gone through Roger's mind. He had been on the brink of so much wealth, but he missed it because of one decision.

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

Every once in a while, my wife and I get to choose what we do with an evening. That's kind of rare because of our ministry responsibilities and being involved with the needs of a lot of people. But the other night was one of those nights to choose - we could be with some friends, someone suggested going to a movie. We decided just to stay home and talk. There are really three problems with a movie theater: the junk on the floor (I think it's called cinemuk), the junk that's often on the screen, and the fact that we can't talk with each other. Now a lot of couples are together more than we are - watching TV, going to social events, following the kids' schedules. And those things are all okay, but if that's all the time a couple has together, they may be missing what really keeps a relationship alive, including the ultimate relationship.

Friday, September 19, 2003

If you eat out occasionally, you know that the servers can range from helpful to rude to attentive to invisible. I guess customers can, too. But some of the women on our staff were really impressed the other night with the way their waiter went out of his way to take care of them. It was a Mexican restaurant, and every time their salsa was about half gone, he would notice and he'd quickly bring more; same with the chips. And when they asked for a special dressing for the chips, he made sure they had plenty all night. And later, when they tried to put their leftovers in the plastic container, he said, "Please, no. I'll do it. That's my job." He insisted on putting the containers in a bag for them! They were really impressed with his service. And then he brought the check with his name stamped on it - and they were blown away. It just said, "Thank you. Jesus."

Thursday, September 18, 2003

My wife and I had gone to a friend's house by the New Jersey Shore to start writing a book. For breaks, I wanted to go for walks on the beach, but my wife said she was feeling so fatigued she couldn't find the energy. As we returned home, that fatigue got worse. Then came the severe stomach upset and finally the fever that climbed to 105 degrees. We had no idea that one of mankind's most virulent diseases was taking over her body. It turned out she had hepatitis. We knew she had some terrible symptoms. We didn't know what was causing them, what ultimately almost cost my wife her life.

Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Some people really have the gift of sleeping. Yep. One of our young friends, Michael, recently stayed with us for several months. He definitely has the gift of sleeping - but not the gift of waking up. It became my job to wake him up every morning to get to work. Did somebody say "Mission Impossible"? It seemed like no matter what I tried, I couldn't get him to wake up - and if I could to get him to wake up, I couldn't get him to stay awake. No alarm clock we tried could do the job, no calling his name, no calling him very loudly, no shaking him violently. Somehow he always managed to stay asleep or go back to sleep ... until the pan. Yeah, see, one morning I marched upstairs, into his room, and right over his head, banging a metal pan with a metal spoon with everything I had. I had neighbors a block away waking up! And Michael woke up, and got up - and stayed up!

Monday, September 15, 2003

Some of our best family memories are from some of our camping vacations. See, we got real close - I mean, literally - sleeping together in our little tent. We enjoyed beautiful scenery, great outdoor-cooked meals, a peaceful environment, living by the sun. Of course, there were a few downsides - like those very dark nights in very dark campgrounds.

I can remember our boys' ambivalence to walk to the bathroom on nights like those. They had the need to use the facilities and that was undeniable, but the dark path and the dark woods ... well, they were scary, especially knowing there were bears in those woods. But one thing would unparalyze them - when they reached up in the dark and found my hand. Once they were holding their father's hand, they could keep walking into the darkness.