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Thursday, November 23, 2006

During holiday seasons in America, and especially at Thanksgiving, you can actually call the Butterball Turkey Hotline. And, yes, you can get an answer to whatever turkey questions you may have. A famous news commentator said that they had monitored that hotline last Thanksgiving, and one lady called and she said, "I've had this turkey in my freezer for 23 years. Can I use it?" This is a true story! The man on the hotline said, "Well, if your freezer has been set on zero degrees the whole time and it hasn't been defrosted, then the turkey is probably okay. Maybe the taste isn't, though." Well, the lady decided she wouldn't use the turkey after all. She gave it to her church.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

One of our common send-offs to people is, "Hey, keep in touch!" Well, today we can do that better than ever. Just take telephones, for example. We've got them everywhere - for better or worse. Many of us have phones in several rooms at home or wireless phones so we can take a call or make a call anywhere from the backyard to the bathroom. When I get on the plane, there's a phone in front of me. And, of course, with cell phones we can be in contact with people, and they with us, virtually anywhere. Take a businessperson or an investor, for example. He or she can be in contact from home, in their car, at their office, or as they're walking into the grocery store. Actually, one of the secrets of successful people is doing a good job of keeping in touch.

Friday, November 3, 2006

I know men are never lost. We just find alternative routes, right - scenic routes. I've found more than my share, but my choice of a wrong road has never led to deadly consequences. It did for Comair Flight 5191 out of Lexington, Kentucky. Somehow, the pilot went down the wrong runway; one-half the length of the runway from which he'd been cleared to take off. He ran out of runway and hit a row of trees. Tragically, 49 of the 50 people aboard died in that crash. As the investigation of the crash unfolded, we found out that the one flight controller in the tower wasn't looking when the plane turned onto that fatal runway. He had what was described as "administrative duties" to tend to, and he turned his back, and moments later - disaster.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

When you've got a God like ours, even a parade can turn out to be a place for Him to amaze you. What I'm about to tell you is not Uncle Ronnie's Story Time. It's really a story about a God that you may really need right now. I was scheduled to speak at a Native camp in Canada this past summer, and our hosts wanted me to bring a few of the Native young people that God used so mightily on our reservation teams all summer. They'd been so excited about being spiritual rescuers that they asked me if there was a reservation near the camp. They wanted to continue the outreach of the summer. There was a reservation, but we knew no one there who could help us. My wife and I got to the area a couple days early, and we decided to take in a parade in the nearby town. We prayed about God directing us where to sit. Basically, we just wanted a shady spot. Our neighbors in the spot we chose turned out to be a Native family.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

You may not remember much from your World History class, but you probably at least remember that the nations of Europe fought it out for a long time to see who was going to be Number One. For many years, their biggest way to fight it out was with their big navies. So, if a ship from England saw a ship from France, you could expect some fireworks. Of course, the way you knew what country a ship was from was that flag they flew from the top of the mast - their colors. When they would see a ship approaching on the horizon, they usually lowered their colors until they could see whether that other guy was a friend or an enemy. But occasionally there was a ship that approached those encounters in a radically different way. There were a few courageous captains who would give a simple six-word order to their crew, "Nail our colors to the mast!" But you could just hear the first mate saying, "Captain, that means we can't lower our colors, no matter what." To which the captain would say something like this - "That's right."

Thursday, October 12, 2006

When I was new to this business of wearing glasses, it took me a while to adjust to those new things on my face. But I had to get them. It was easier to get glasses than to get longer arms, and the glasses were cheaper. Sometimes when I'm real busy, I start noticing clouds developing between me and what I'm trying to read, and I see strange little spots. Then I remember I'm wearing my glasses which I have neglected to clean for a few days. When I hold them up to the light, I can see the source of the fog and the spots: dirty glasses. It's amazing how much better you can see when you clean your glasses! The world looks so much clearer!

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Commercial flying can be a real adventure. Like the day I booked a last-minute flight to the Northwest to support some Native American friends of ours who had just lost their young son. I was supposed to fly into Spokane, Washington, but fog shut it down and we were diverted to another airport for the night. So, the airline put us up in a hotel overnight and promised us they would do their best to get us to Spokane the next morning. I knew if I didn't get to the reservation that next day, I would have missed what I was going for. I really needed the real scoop on whether or not our plane was going to get into Spokane.

Friday, September 22, 2006

There have been a number of airplane crashes over the years. A few of them are the kind you just don't forget. One was the crash of United Flight 232. Captain Al Haynes and his crew were desperately trying to control a plane that was almost out of control due to an equipment failure. They were diverted from Chicago to Sioux City, Iowa. There was no way they were able to maneuver that plane to the airport. Their best hope of saving at least some lives was to try to bring it down in a nearby cornfield. Captain Haynes became a national hero when he somehow managed to do just that. Tragically, some lives were lost in the crash landing and the subsequent fire, but there were many survivors from a crash that could have easily killed all aboard. Captain Haynes said he had a hero that day. His crew had checked every procedure book to see what to do in an emergency like they were facing. They found no procedure. So Captain Haynes' hero was the flight controller that talked him through that terrifying crisis. Here's what the captain said: "There's nothing like a calm, soothing voice talking to you, telling you everything you need to know."

Thursday, September 7, 2006

The power was out this morning when some of our neighbors woke up. In fact, several hundred customers were without electricity. Now, it wasn't the power company's fault. It was the fault of a driver who ran his car into an electric pole. Oh, not on purpose, of course. See it was a grandfather returning from an all-night hunting expedition with his grandson. Unfortunately, his body didn't want to wait until it got home to sleep. So the driver fell asleep at the wheel. Now, he was injured, his car was damaged, and lots of folks had no power.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

We had been working on our production for our college's Junior-Senior Banquet for months. It was an original musical drama, written and directed by my roommate and me, based on the book of Esther. The orchestra had rehearsed night after night, the chorus had rehearsed, the actors, the light crew, the sound crew; we had prepared as much as we could. The night before, we had the dress rehearsal. But all those months of preparation and practice came down to one evening - the night of the big performance, and it was show time!

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