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There's just something about the Titanic, that ship that sank, but it seems like our fascination with it is unsinkable. But in the many moving stories of that horrible haunting night, there's one that just blows me away. One passenger - John Harper: A man whose life and choices during those three fateful hours still give me goosebumps.
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They're some of the best of the best in America's military. They're known as the Navy Seals. And when there's a mission that's almost impossible, they send the Seals behind enemy lines, or maybe it's a highly sensitive covert mission, against enormous odds. They're trained in just about any military skill you can think of. In fact, their training was the subject of a cover story in a national magazine a while back; especially that brutal final week that decides who will and will not be a Navy Seal.
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"Should I call her, dad?" My then teenage son used to say that. And like all boys his age, he was unsure of what kind of response he would get from a girl. "Should I call her?" Well, I'll tell you, it seems like just yesterday I was asking that question when I was a teenage boy. I'd stare at the phone for about 45 minutes, wondering if I dared to call. And, man, sometimes no matter how suave I tried to be, all of a sudden I'd get on that phone and I'd go, "Hello." It's amazing how intimidating a girl can be. There were a couple of girls, though, that I didn't even have to think twice about calling. I just picked up the phone and started talking naturally. But, you know, it was because they made me feel safe. It is amazing the power of a woman to make a man feel safe or unsafe.
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It was a real joy that day to participate in the baptism of some young people in the waters of a beautiful lake. It was a really sacred moment for all of us in spite of the speedboat. Yeah, at one point it went blazing across the lake behind us. It was there. It was gone in a flash, but its wake wasn't. No, for some time after that boat had disappeared, the waves it created kept rolling in on us. And, for a time, it actually interrupted the proceedings. Mr. Boat Guy probably never thought about the wake he was leaving long after he left. Oh, he was just passing through.
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One of the most frequent visitors at our house is a fellow called "bill." Yeah, every month lots of bills come to our home. You probably have bills that you see coming to your house frequently too. But there's one bill I'll never forget. One of our children had needed the attention of a medical specialist, and it cost a lot and the bills were coming.
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I had taken a carload of team members from our reservation outreach team to see a scenic canyon a couple of hours from where we were staying. Someone forgot to tell me that the station wagon they loaned me had a broken gas gauge. It said three-quarters of a tank. That wasn't true! It was getting dark, and I decided to take a shortcut across the reservation to get back to our place. It was a pretty deserted dirt road that traversed a very remote part of the reservation, and about halfway back we ran out of gas, 40 miles from the nearest gas station. Those who understand some of what the Bible says about spiritual warfare will understand that ceremonies that summon the spirit world can bring an invasion of spiritual darkness. And apparently, we were stranded in an area that was known for a lot of that kind of supernatural activity. When we got back, a tribal man who grew up on this reservation and knew the area well, said with a look of really deep concern, "If I had known where you were, I would have come after you immediately."
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I recently heard a story about a farmer who was suing for damages that he had incurred in an automobile accident. A truck hit his pickup truck, and his pickup was totaled. Well, he was being cross-examined in court by the insurance company attorney who said, "Sir, the report that was taken at the scene said you told the officer you were fine. Can you explain that?" In other words, why was he suing? And I understand the farmer said, "Me and my old cow, Bessy, was driving down the road in my pickup truck."
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Summer heat time is not when you want your car air conditioner to go out on you. No, especially when you're driving a long trip. That's tough! That's when the A.C. decided to die on us. Yeah. Now I know that brave people survived without air conditioning for centuries. I'm not one of them. Somehow that philosophical observation doesn't make me feel any better. No, not as we're speeding along with our windows open and hot air slowly putting the driver to sleep. Oh, but wait! There's more. More than once, belching black exhaust smoke came blowing in our open windows. Then there was the discarded cigarette butt that bounced off the window, narrowly missing the driver. (I wish I was making this up.) We really enjoyed that spider that came in too. Yeah, and the clumps of pollen. They were great. Probably our favorite thing of all was what came flying at us from two tractor trailers that passed us. Now, I'm not going to give you all the gory details but I will tell you that those trucks were carrying cattle. Open window: kind of a nasty trip.
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Usually Presidential debates will command quite a viewing audience. Well, unless there's a baseball series going on, especially World Series. And that happened one year. It came on the last day of the regular baseball season; the first Presidential debate that year. And there were still decisive games being played. One of which gave my Yankees (no booing - I can hear it anyway) - they get the division championship. But in the midst of some of these cliffhanger baseball dramas being played out, there was another baseball story that really captured people's attention about one guy having his one time at-bat.
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It was the moment this young man had waited for and had prepared for over many months. It was his premiere appearance as a concert pianist. The audience had heard a lot about his amazing talent, so they packed out this prestigious concert hall to hear him. They weren't disappointed. In fact, his masterful playing brought them to their feet for a thunderous standing ovation at the end of the concert. Backstage, the young man's manager said, "They want an encore, man! Get out there!" The pianist looked strangely dejected, and he said, "No, I'm not going to go back out there." And the manager said, "But they love you, man! Look at them! They're all on their feet!" "Not all. Look in the balcony." The manager peeked around the curtain and he saw one white-haired old man in the balcony who wasn't standing or applauding. "Hey, come on! One old guy? So what?" The pianist looked down at the floor and he said, "That's not one old man. That's my teacher."
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There's a little boy or girl inside of you. Yeah, and you don't want to lose that little person no matter how many birthdays you have. Oh, the little boy in me, well, he's brought out by - well, let's say maybe three life experiences. The first snowfall - that's one.
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Okay, let's get the controversial part out of the way first. I'm a New York Yankees baseball fan. All right, "Boo!" Okay, good, got that out of the way. Now, I remember a very heated time when the Toronto Blue Jays came to town to play the Yankees. Some years ago actually.
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There was a time in my life when I had once a month responsibilities in Chicago. I was living in New Jersey. Well, that gave me an opportunity to see what weather was going to be in New Jersey when I got back. Of course, the weather in our country usually moves from West to East. So, usually, in New Jersey we got Chicago's yesterday; well, that was our today.
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I spoke at a conference where the director decided to take me backstage by means of a route worthy of the Secret Service. The meeting was at a hotel conference room, and the director guided me through a back hallway, into a kitchen area, through a series of twists and turns that are usually navigated only by their waiters I think. I don't usually expect to find great wisdom at times like this. This time I did. It was a sign on the wall, obviously designed to minimize employee injuries. Five little words that struck me as great advice for my everyday life: "Bend knees for heavy lifting."
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When you're a kid, you're wet cement. Impressions, well, they get written on you so easily and so deeply. And then they harden into beliefs or un-beliefs, and that kid becomes an adult. You know, the late Steve Jobs was no exception.
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When you travel a lot, you eat in restaurants a lot. And so I've seen my share of waiters and waitresses - some who do a good job, some whose service leaves something to be desired, and a few who are outstanding at what they do. You try to say a special thank you with a special tip for that kind of server, right? One example of stellar service: those servers who check regularly to see if you need more water, without being asked for it; who automatically check to see if you want ketchup or steak sauce or more bread or more anything. It just feels good when someone cares enough to anticipate what you might need.
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You know, some of God's most impressive artwork is under the water or under the ground. I was reminded of God's extravagant beauty when our family toured some caverns. You know, there were a few touches from man there; walkways, lights. But all that did was help us see this rare beauty of soaring stalagmites and underground canyons and rock formations of every conceivable texture and shape.
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I could tell that our first grandson was going to be a busy little guy when he was just a little guy. He wasn't even in school yet, and he was already immersed in a project of some kind. And when I mean he got immersed, he got immersed. One day he was involved first in a detailed coloring project where he was intently working to have it just right, you know. And then there was a large puzzle he was focused on completing. And what he hadn't taken time for recently, well, was what a lot of little boys don't take time for...a bathroom stop. Too busy you know. Knowing this boy understood video functions very well, his Dad just said, "Time for a bathroom break. Don't you think it's time to hit 'pause'?" Without looking up from his current project, our grandson said in all sincerity, "I don't have a 'pause.'"
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It seems like every spring, every summer we hear about those raging wildfires! It's like on the news every day sometimes. When I hear about it, my ears perk up. I mean, we've had friends who lost their home in one of those wildfires. We know Native American friends who are sometimes on the front lines fighting those fires. I hate it when we hear about a firefighter who has been lost.
Now, when there were some major fires raging in Washington State a few years ago, my mind flashed back to another Washington fire that they called the Thirty-Mile Fire. It was one of those that just exploded suddenly. It forced the firefighters to stop fighting the fire and start fighting for their lives. Most of them deployed those survival tents that can save lives in a sudden emergency like this.
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His name is Shadrach. No, not a Bible character in a fiery furnace. He's a dog; a black poodle, to be specific. A while back, we were provided some great live entertainment in an otherwise intense day of ministry. My wife and I were staying with friends in St. Louis rather than the conference hotel there, and Shadrach belongs to our friends. I was ready to run out the door one day, our friend said, "Wait! You need to take two minutes for my dog tricks." Then she started to show off what she had taught Shadrach. She started with the basics, "Sit" and the poodle did. "Stay"..."roll over"..."lie down." Shadrach responded immediately. Then "go look out the window." The poodle darted over to the window. "Jump" and Shadrach leaped about three feet in the air. Then she pulled out a hoop and just said, "Hoop." Sure enough, black poodle flying through hoop. I was amazed!
