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July 2, 2021

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Sometimes being a Christian comes with a pretty high price tag, especially if you're a believer on some of America's Native American reservations. My friend, who I'll call John, lives on a reservation where there are very few Jesus-followers and where some of the tribe is bitterly opposed to anything Christian. They were especially unhappy when John began a youth ministry there. He literally had telephoned death threats; he had slashed tires, dirty tricks, even attacks on his property. One day, he was making the five-hour drive from his reservation to a Native American conference where I was speaking. He got there a little late. His car engine started sputtering and missing - he lost power. Thankfully, it started as he approached the only gas station in the middle of a very long stretch. After a few minutes, the mechanic diagnosed the problem - someone had put sugar in his gas tank. Again, thankfully, they were able to correct the situation. And nothing has been able to stop John's ministry among his people, but impurities in his tank almost stopped his car that day!

July 1, 2021

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We think we know what mountains are out East, all 1,500 to 3,000 feet of them! Of course, those Western folks, oh, they have a superiority complex about their mountains - just because they're like 8,000-12,000 feet high! Now, I do love the majesty of those Western peaks, like the Tetons. I've been there a couple of times and they're impressive to look at, but they're apparently pretty tempting to climb too. Some local guides told me that folks from out East take an intensive two weeks summer mountaineering course, and of course, they are now expert mountain climbers! Well, they're not. The most demanding peak in the Tetons is the Grand Teton, and of course that's the one all these cocky rookies want to climb. One local guide told me very matter-of-factly, "We have to go up several times each summer to pick up the remains of some of those climbers." You see, the mountain beats the climber when the climber is over confident. One veteran local climber told me he's never even tried to climb the Grand! He said "I've got too much respect for it."

June 30, 2021

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Every wedding has its special challenges. Our friend Candace's was no exception, like getting the people in the wedding to the wedding. The groom's family, including the best man, had to come from Sweden. And it just so happened that the week of the wedding was part of the longest stretch of winter cold and a deadly covering of ice in 100 years. Literally, our whole region was glazed over with three layers of freeze, and it made even taking a step treacherous, let alone driving a vehicle. And there wasn't a trace of thawing. Well, it was a battle. I mean, storms closed the major airports around us. But after many hours of travel and waiting, the groom's family finally got a flight to an airport about four hours away from us. Then came a long and treacherous drive for the groom, to and from the airport. Oh, and the fun was only beginning when they arrived in town, because then just walking to or from your car was risking life and limb. But Friday night, right on schedule, with the entire starting cast, according to plan, the wedding happened.

June 29, 2021

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My first time in Hawaii, I was there for just one day in between legs of my trip. And since I only had a short time, there was one place I definitely wanted to make it a point to see - Pearl Harbor. I've got to tell you, that's one emotional place to visit, especially the Battleship Arizona Memorial where hundreds of American sailors are still entombed at the bottom of the harbor. One of the many intriguing facts about that Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was a transaction that took place well before that "day of infamy" - one that no one could have ever imagined would contribute to the awful losses of December 7, 1941. The United States made a deal to ship millions of tons of scrap metal to Japan - metal which was reportedly used to build some of the very airplanes that bombed Pearl Harbor!

June 28, 2021

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Okay, let's face it, I'm mechanically challenged. Now we've got that over with. I mean, I can take care of the basics on a car, but if it's beyond "A, B, C," I need outside help, I'm sorry. Sometimes your car starts talking to you, making those strange sounds, and doing strange things. I've noticed those things don't go away by themselves. Over time, those noises get louder; those strange things that it does come more often. Sometimes, it's just natural - just like us. You know, cars get old, parts start wearing out. But sometimes that noise and trouble can be avoided.

June 25, 2021

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Much of my life I've been interested in following politics. But even I'm sick of politics right now! And you know what? Maybe you've OD'd on it. You know, all those pundits on the news. You know, they start to sound like indistinct blather when adults speak out on a Charlie Brown special. You know?

June 24, 2021

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Nobody thought Gladys Aylward was good enough. During the 1920s, she had heard about the great spiritual need of China, and she sensed God's strong call on her life to go there. But she was only a chambermaid. When she applied to China Inland Mission in London, they rejected her because she wasn't educated enough and she was probably too old to learn the language they said. But Gladys Aylward made it to China and she made such a difference there that a number of books have been written about her life. Hollywood even based a movie on her life, "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" got an Academy Award winning actress in it too.

June 23, 2021

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I guess we got in the habit when our kids were little. Like night lights. Yeah, we put one in their room. Actually I heard it keeps the monsters in the closet. I hope that's true. Well, we always had one in the bathroom so you wouldn't fall in if you had to go there in the middle of the night. Actually, we always had a night light in the bathroom years later. The new and improved kind. It only went on when the lights went out. But, of course, that's when you need it, right, when it's dark.

June 22, 2021

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You always have to hold your breath when your little children are with other adults, because you never know what they might reveal about life at home. It pays to live with nothing to hide. Right? A friend was babysitting his three-year-old grandson not long ago, and this little guy kept the conversation active with a stream of consciousness, a series of comments on a lot of subjects. Suddenly the three-year-old brought up things he wanted to do when he was an adult. One of them was potentially a little revealing. He said, "I'm going to have an office in my house, and I'm going to tell my children not to bother me." Oooo! His daddy has an office in the house. I wonder if this little guy learned that script at home?

June 21, 2021

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My oldest son had saved up for this baseball card show for months. He was about nine at the time, and he was already good at knowing which cards to buy; he was really a sharp investor. One of his biggest frustrations was that all of my '50s vintage baseball cards had been thrown out when we moved during my childhood, so he never quite forgave his grandmother for that. But imagine what they could have been worth by now! But I shared with him that when I was a kid I liked to turn in Coke bottles and get deposit money, and I'd get baseball cards with that myself.

June 18, 2021

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I saw this precious sight at the airport. There were a hundred bleary-eyed travelers waiting for luggage at the carousel. Maybe you've been one of those. That wasn't the precious sight I saw; nothing precious about that. But I heard this little exclamation behind me. It was a little boy barely old enough to be walking, and he was standing next to his Daddy. Now, his Dad had apparently just returned from a business trip, and next to him on the floor was his big old briefcase. Well, the little guy, using all his strength, fully extending his body is trying to push his Dad's big briefcase. The briefcase was just about bigger than the little boy was. There was no way he could pick it up, but he was trying; pushing and pulling with everything he had. It was something I'm sure his father could handle easily, but the little guy? He was just too weak to push it.

June 17, 2021

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I fell in love with a girl from Arkansas, and she informed me that the largest religion in the state was football; especially the University of Arkansas kind of football - the Razorbacks. So, guess who the most important man in the state would be? Not the governor. No, he'd be maybe number two. Probably the most important man is the football coach of the University of Arkansas. Now, years ago back in the '80s it was a man named Ken Hatfield; in this particular case, a follower of Jesus Christ.

June 16, 2021

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When I was a little guy in Sunday School, we used to sing a little song that says, "I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery." (Okay, it's a Sunday School song...come on, give me a break.) "I may never fly o'er the enemy, but I'm in the Lord's army." And you had to sing it like that. "I'm in the Lord's army!"

June 15, 2021

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Sometimes you've got to wonder whoever thought up cell phone cameras? Oh, they're nice. You know, if something suddenly pops up that you want to capture. But how many times have I been looking goofy or just plain ol' ugly and some smart aleck quietly "permanent-tizes" that moment with his cute little camera? Is there somewhere where we are safe from the lens that never forgets?

June 14, 2021

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While I was with one of my grandchildren, I saw a frog. She loved it! Then I picked up that little bug-eyed green fellow and held him close so she could get a better look at him. It was one of Kermit's cousins, you know. I didn't have any second thoughts about picking up a frog. No, they're harmless! Well, most of the time - unless it's what they call a poisonous dart frog. I don't think we have those, but they're about one and one-half inches long, and they live in tropical rainforests in Central and South America. And they are the good-lookers of the frog kingdom. They're not some boring ole' green. The dart frog is really very brightly colored. He looks very interesting, but he can be carrying enough poison to kill 20,000 mice. Or more important to you and me - ten people!

June 11, 2021

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Teenagers are chronic procrastinators. It really shows up when you're trying to get them to register for a camp or a retreat, which I've done plenty of. Oh, they're planning to go, but you wouldn't know it by their registration. They'll wait until they hear the bus to start signing up. That happened at a retreat we had. There was this deadline, but many of the kids we most wanted to go, particularly for spiritual reasons, missed the deadline. Oh, we still had room. So did we take their registrations late? You bet we did. But you know, deadlines are often flexible, and it seems like you can usually get an extension. But don't count on that extension when it really, really counts.

June 10, 2021

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I was a little psycho about grades in school. Maybe it's a firstborn thing. I don't know. But from early grade school, I always wanted to get really good grades. I worked hard, made sure I was on good terms with the teacher, and I usually made the honor roll. When my wife and I were going to college together, I used to drive her nuts with my concern over getting a "B." I'm sorry, I know you hate me. But, you know, I told you I was psycho. It's a problem. Now, you probably hated guys like me, but just consider it a condition and cut me some slack, OK? I'm probably not the only person in the world who has this "gotta get a good grade" thing!

June 9, 2021

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I never saw the movie Jaws, but I know it's about this shark that keeps snacking on people who are in the ocean. And that's why the lifeguard at Ocean City, New Jersey got my attention that summer day when he ordered all of us out of the water. Oh, I cooperated. I didn't even ask any questions. In moments, there were hundreds of people out of the water and lined up on the beach. But the shark was just in my imagination. The real problem was three children had gone out too far in high tide, and they were too close to the jetty in spite of a lifeguard's warning. So now they were in very serious trouble; they're going down.

June 8, 2021

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I really think my wife could have been a missionary about anywhere in the world. So resourceful! And that's what missionaries need to be. I mean, we were together missionaries in the United States over many years of ministry to teenagers and then to Native Americans for many years. And our ministry budget - like most ministry budgets - has always been somewhat limited over the years. That's where my wife's resourcefulness came into play.

June 7, 2021

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These days when parents are expecting a baby, they put some care usually into picking a name. And one of the places they go is to these books where you find hundreds and hundreds of names and what is the meaning of that child's name. Now, my parents, I don't know if they didn't have books like that or they didn't care. But, well, when they were on the way to the hospital, I guess they had a name picked out for a girl. They didn't think about a boy, but I was. So, as they're going, they go, "What if we have a boy? What should we name him?" And they passed - now, listen, I hate to tell you this, because you're going to use it against me someday. I know you are - here we go, Ronnie's Used Car Lot. Okay, go ahead, laugh. Get that over with. So they named me after a used car salesman (don't say it!). And some of you who listen all the time go, "The way you talk, I believe it. I understand it was predestination that you should be named after a used car salesman." Well, listen. Picking a name? Put some thought into it please. I'll tell you this, there was one name that God came up with, and it just so happens it became the most powerful word in the world.

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