Monday, September 29, 2014

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My wife and I were out for a Sunday afternoon drive, and we saw a very strange contradiction. There was this church, and there were long stairs leading up to the entrance, and one lone lady at the door. She was trying every door to get in that church and they were all locked. She was frustrated. Now, what was the contradiction? Well, the name on the church-Our Lady of Perpetual Help. My wife said, "You know, this reminds me of a scene I saw when I was in Haiti." She said, "I was right near a church and there was this very gaunt woman, maybe starving to death woman and weeping at the door of this church. And she looked like she was desperate to get in and every door was locked. She literally was beating her fists bloody on the door and there was no response."

Friday, September 19, 2014

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Something very interesting happens at night when I'm sleeping. There are people all over the world making news! The world's different from the time I close my eyes till the time I wake up, and I want to know what's happened in the night. I think a lot of people do. That's probably one of the first things some of us do is make sure we check in with one of the news channels, or maybe we get a paper, and maybe check the Internet. I have a newspaper that arrives early in the morning, and I like that because I can quickly check out the headlines! Of course, I like it better when it's good news, which isn't nearly often enough.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

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I was flying into another city one early Saturday morning, and as I'm getting off in the lounge I see the TV crew. I thought, "Oh, somebody important must be on the plane." I looked around and wondered who I'd missed in first class as I went through. And suddenly there was a microphone in my face. Obviously it had nothing to do with somebody important, so why are they talking to me?

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

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Our daughter was driving through town with our four-year-old grandson in the back seat. As she passed a local senior housing facility, she said, "Honey, that's where my grandfather lived until he died." At that point, our four-year-old jumped in with a respectful correction of his Mommy's choice of words. "Until Jesus called him home," he said. There was a pause – and then our grandson added – "Someday Jesus will call me home, too."

Friday, August 29, 2014

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Sometimes it's just fun to surprise people. But not when you're trying to check into a hotel. It didn't work out so well for me in Houston. Chuck had contacted me on behalf of an organization to fly to Houston and film a training video. He told me what hotel to go to, and I strolled in with my suitcase. I was confident I'd be greeted with a room number and a key. Instead I was greeted with, "Uh, I never heard of you." They had no record of me! Well, finally, after some frustration I tried one more thing. I gave them Chuck's name. Bingo! The reservation was not in my name; it was in the name of the one who was paying for it.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

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"We may never know why this happened." That's the usual reaction when another "senseless" shooting leaves its trail of death and heartbreak. Not this time.
This vengeful gunman in the horrific rampage near Santa Barbara, California left this hate-filled, 141-page manifesto to explain it. As one student's
self-described "day of retribution" he called it.

Friday, August 22, 2014

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Some friends said, "How would you like to use our condominium down by the ocean in Florida?" It was a very hard decision, but it took us ten seconds. I'll tell you what, it was really a great place. I never thought I'd stay in a place like that. It had some very distinctive furnishings. Well, yeah, the mirrors! They were everywhere. And they were very strategically placed so you could see the ocean from almost any spot in the house.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

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I love high tide! It's when you can see and hear the ocean at its maximum power. It just takes over everything. I distinctly remember one powerful moment at the Jersey shore during a summer visit. It happened to be high tide and I walked out on a jetty; these huge boulders. What an experience! Everything in front of me and behind me was just covered by this surging surf, but I was standing in the middle of those rocks and in the middle of that high tide. And something fascinating occurred to me, that the tide and the ocean and the storms had beat on that for centuries, but the rocks never moved.

Friday, August 8, 2014

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I'll tell you, even the hard-core reporters were having a hard time talking about it. Apparently, that Ground Zero Museum where the Twin Towers once stood is one powerful experience. As you walk in, you hear the last "I love you" messages people sent from the towers or from the doomed planes. It's a heart-rending walk through this nation's darkest hour I guess, and the heroism and hope that lit up that darkness.

Friday, August 1, 2014

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We met this couple at a conference we were attending. They were telling us about how just the day before, a storm had blown in across the lake while they were down at the beach.

All of a sudden they noticed all these Monarch butterflies that were unable to go against that wind.