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Thursday, November 14, 2013

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Over the years I've been placed in positions where I was supposed to motivate people to do something. Obviously that word motivate comes from the same word as motion - get people moving in some area. And I have to say my greatest motivational challenges have not come with large groups or with small groups; well one small group especially - my family. How do you motivate two boys to clean their room? If someone ever wrote an effective book on this, oh I would have bought it. It could have been a best seller. I won't be writing it, so go ahead.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

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I'm on the road a lot, and the phone in my room is still a very important tool (especially when I'm in those areas when I don't have cell signal). But years ago, even before cell phones, it was even more frustrating. I was staying in this campus guest room provided by the school where I was ministering. I appreciated the room; I just didn't appreciate the phone. See, I couldn't call out, even collect or with a credit card. The school had programmed the phone so it blocked any outgoing calls, because I guess they didn't want to get stuck with long distance bills.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

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For many years Americans were not very quick to catch on to soccer. It's been the world's game; not so much America's game. We did have the World Cup finals here, and for many Americans they began to understand most of what the world already knew. It's the greatest sports obsession in the world. Obsession may seem a little strong, but consider what happened in Thailand. One night during the World Cup games there the streets were empty in this particular Thai city. "Hey, the World Cup is on. Why would I be out on the street?" In fact, even the security guard at the bank left to watch the game. And while the guard and the city lost themselves in a soccer game, you guessed it. Some thief cleaned out the bank. Now, I don't know who won the match, but I know who lost their money.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

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Some of our greatest ministry times have been among the wonderful Navajo people in Arizona and New Mexico. While we were there we had a chance to explore this majestic canyon known as Canyon De Chelly. Actually our son was there first. He and his friend, Michael, went there a year before us to do some youth outreach and later he brought his pictures out of his visit to the canyon. Here are these beautiful rock ledges and outcroppings that hover high above the canyon below. And we were enjoying these scenic photos until we got to the ones where my son and his friend Michael were acting like the college students that they were.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

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No one could have ever guessed the outcome. It was the first round of the playoffs for Illinois' high school football championship. There was this one team, we'll call them Goliath. They were ranked sixth in the nation; first in the state of course. When they beat teams they didn't just defeat them, they buried them. In the first round they were matched up with the team most likely to be eliminated in the state playoffs. This team had lost three games; they had just squeaked into the playoffs. We'll call them David. Final score: 14 to 13. Yeah, you guessed it! The number sixth team in the nation was defeated that day by a team few people had ever heard of. The sports writers seemed to agree that the problem with the champions had been overconfidence. Well, that's happened to number one ranked teams in college football and many other sports. It really can be dangerous to be a winner.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

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You know, handmade gifts are always the most special. Well, there are better crafted doll houses than the one my daughter got when she was a little girl. But we made it; it's handmade. My wife and I, for better or worse, did it with our own hands. One December we closed the basement and we started hammering and sawing away to build that doll house. There was a sign on the door that said Do Not Open Till Christmas. That meant the basement. That drove the kids crazy, but we were having a great time doing it. Frankly, my month was crammed. But even though the work we did was often very late and it took quite a few hours, especially since I'm not the neighborhood handyman, I enjoyed every minute of working on it. Did I get tired? Yes. Was I too busy to do that doll house? Yes. Was it outside the things I do well? Yes. Was it a pleasure? Yes. Why? Because it was for a little girl I loved very much.

Monday, August 19, 2013

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There's not much amusing, of course, about an automobile accident, but my friend Jean's accident did have a little smile at the end; at least in retrospect. This car came charging into her right rear door all of a sudden, and "boom" there was one of those discouraging days when your car doesn't quite look the same as when you left home.

Friday, August 16, 2013

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My wife and I will take turns at the wheel on a long trip, and we have two different approaches to observing the speed limit. In her case, she likes to set it on cruise control, and that's a great invention. You can set your speed, and stay at that speed indefinitely. Not so much me. You see, I'd rather be able to really accelerate for a hill and keep up with the traffic sometimes as they say; to vary my speed. I know I can just break and reset the cruise control, but I'd rather not bother with it. In a sense, not so much about driving, but I just want to discourage you from setting your own cruise control.

Monday, August 12, 2013

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It's a nice deal when your auto mechanic is also your good friend. And I've had that opportunity – Christian brothers. What I've really appreciated about my friend, the auto mechanic, was the fact that he worked long, and hard, and professionally.

Monday, July 29, 2013

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Sometimes speaking outside my home area, I could end up in a different motel each night. And sometimes, my wife went with me and we drove. That was nice. We had to take a few pieces of luggage with us because we had to dress for a change in temperatures (Often we were going to two or three climates it seems like.), and we had different kinds of meetings to go to. So we were a little over-"luggaged". But my wife prepared us very well for the madness of being in and out of motels. She packed everything we would need for overnight and the next morning in one little carry-in bag. That's pretty smart! We didn't need to carry everything in. We weren't planning to stay.

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