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July 13, 2021

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One sure way to get our whole family together in one room at one time was to turn down the heat a little on a cold night and then build a fire in the fireplace. Slowly but surely, the kids' rooms upstairs would empty out as they made their way downstairs and said, "Man, it's cold up there, Dad! You've got a fire in here?" Always worked. We all loved those fires. Building a good one involved several key steps, of course. First, you roll some newspapers into logs and put them into the fireplace. Then those little sticks that burn easily; they're the kindling, of course. Then the logs stacked alternately on the kindling, leaving plenty of room, of course, for air to circulate around the wood. It looked nice, but it wasn't a fire yet. There was a missing ingredient. It took that match to make it a fire. But a match all alone did not a fire make.

July 12, 2021

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It was a big youth event. And, one of the top contemporary Christian bands was performing that night in a major arena, and I was part of the program, too. I offered to be a backup singer, but apparently they had that covered. I'm actually a good backup singer. I mean, when I sing, people back up! Actually, I was there to speak that night, and not to do comedy, obviously, and it's a good thing. And I had some Native young people from our summer team there with me. One of them was accompanying me as we tried to connect with some of the team at another entrance. We went through the tunnels that connect the backstage part of the arena, and everywhere we went, we met those big, beefy security guys. They'd look at my all-access security pass and they'd wave me on. But they weren't quite as friendly to the young team member who was with me. They stopped her and asked her if she had a pass. She didn't. None of the team members did because they weren't on the program. And that's where the magic words came in. They worked for the girl who was with me; they worked every time for the young people who joined me. I would just say, "She's with me. He's with me."

July 9, 2021

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We were zipping along Interstate 80 one afternoon, heading home through Pennsylvania on this beautiful day. I was really enjoying the view as I drove, until that semi pulled out onto the highway in front of us. The truck was belching this heavy black smoke out of its smokestack. Immediately the car in front of us swung into the left lane to pass him. As he was passing, he suddenly turned on his windshield wipers, and we noticed that they immediately began smearing this oily film across his windshield.

July 8, 2021

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It might be the dirtiest car I've ever driven. Someone asked me if I wanted to take a picture of our filthy chariot, and I said, "No, I don't want to remember him this way." We had spent weeks on drought-dry back roads. It was never a secret we were coming. You could see the dust long before you could see our car. It was, in the Bible's words, our own "pillar of cloud." Anywhere you rubbed against this car you picked up dirt from it. I wish more people had rubbed against it! Our car had been driven by several drivers during our summer outreach to reservations, and somewhere along the way, the rubber gasket around our trunk lid had been ripped out. One day I opened my trunk to get something, and I was greeted with a lovely blanket of chalky, white dust over everything. By the time we got to a city with a car wash, the automatic windows wouldn't even open. We wondered if their mechanism could be choked with dust. By the way, I don't usually open my windows at car washes. But anyway, we managed to find a car wash that used these words to advertise their services - high-powered, and they weren't lying. No, the water from their hoses could be used in building demolition I think or riot control! They had this soapy spray that seemed to penetrate every filthy crevice of my "dirt mobile." When we drove out, there was no trace anywhere of the dirt that had covered everything only moments before. Oh, P.S. - the windows were working, too!

July 7, 2021

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Mount Luggage - that's what I remember about the day that our whole family was trapped at O'Hare Airport. We had taken our daughter to Chicago to get her to college. There was record rainfall that day. It was like nine and a half inches in a few hours, and O'Hare Airport literally had become an island. It was cut off from the rest of the world. It was like Camp O'Hare! And the overpass that people had to go through to get in was flooded with four feet of water. Well, needless to say, all the people were stranded there; everyone was running trying to get to a phone. This was pre cell phones. Every phone was taken; everybody was trying to find options, "How do I get out of here?" "How can I arrange for a ride if it ever does open up?" "Where can we stay tonight?"

July 6, 2021

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Our daughter might still be sucking on her binky if we hadn't negotiated a deal. She was very attached to that pacifier, long after she really didn't need it anymore. Then my wife struck that bargain - the doll that our girl really wanted in exchange for her binky. From that day on, the binky was no more. I kept it in a drawer for my tough days. Not long ago, our son and daughter-in-law had a similar crossroads moment with our granddaughter. She could not imagine life without her binky, until Mommy and Daddy announced her Bye-Bye Binky Party. Did you ever go to one of those? On that day, she would surrender her binky and there would be a party in her honor with cake, decorations and even little presents. And suddenly, she didn't need her binky anymore!

July 5, 2021

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Some years ago, my wife and I were at this couples' party at church, and they played a game that is sort of like that old TV show, "Let's Make a Deal." Everybody brought some "white elephant" gifts - they didn't bring white elephants but that's something you really wanted to get rid of. Of course, all these castaway gifts were nicely wrapped so no one knew what was inside. Then one person (maybe you've done this) has to go to the gift pile, pick one, and they open it. From that point on, each person has a choice when they go to the middle: take one of those unopened treasures, or give one of those unopened gifts in exchange for something that's already been opened that looks good to you - something that you know you want. Now, at this particular party, there was one particular object - this hand-carved lamp stand - that everybody wanted. It was one of the few things of value really. And it didn't matter what lengths a person went to in order to conceal that lamp stand, the next trader inevitably would remember where it was and they'd go for it. Actually, the dealing got pretty animated, in fact, I'd say almost dangerous at times. Everybody was up for grabs, except for one person - the woman who had opened the first gift. See, she remembered the rules of the game - that since the first person didn't get to make a trade, they get to make the last trade of the game. Through all the turmoil, she knew who was going home with that lamp stand all along!

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!"

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