They’re in the headlines a lot this time of years—tornadoes and floods and hurricanes. Actually, our family’s been through all three of those. We know how disastrous and tragic they can be, but they’re more than that. They can be life’s ultimate values clarifier.
Well, there are often dysfunctional escapades; seems like they’re in the news almost every week. You know who I’m talking about—Britney Spears. They used to joke about her. Now they’re worried about her. Here’s what her mother said about her daughter’s struggles, “This all just exploded in my face, and big dreams became big headaches.”
Rocky and Rambo are 60! They’re AARP guys!!! What’s happening here? Well, Sylvester Stallone is 60 plus, and he’s brought the mature Rocky and Rambo to the screen again and they’re still fighting. Sylvester Stallone talked recently about one battle that a lot of folks are having a hard time winning. Here’s what he said, “You see billionaires who have everything, yet inside they’re the same lonely, insecure people. You think you’ve got it all figures out, but then you turn 60, and there’s this little hole inside you. You realize we’re always going to be somewhat half full.”
In the newest Narnia movie, Prince Caspian, there are some incredible battles to be fought between these huge armies of darkness and this little army of Narnia's King, the lion Aslan.
The second of the Narnia movies, Prince Caspian's coming out, and there's a lot of attention again on C. S. Lewis's great books The Chronicles of Narnia. The king in Narnia is this seldom seen but all powerful majestic lion, Aslan. He's really the Christ figure in the story. Now, in Prince Caspian, Peter - who is the oldest of the children who discovered Narnia - is leading his little band of warriors and he's trying to find the enemies who threatened them all. And he passes up this fleeting chance to go with Aslan. The journey really gets to be tough, and he's not finding what he's looking for until he encounters face-to-face that lion king, Aslan. He drops to his knees, and in the book he says, "I am so sorry. I've been leading them wrong ever since we started."
It's really a neat time of year in our yard, because the flowers are blooming. Now, I don't know what they're all called. I have to ask my wife about that, but they really are good for the soul.
When we sold our house of 25 years, my grown sons and I went out to the backyard one last time and we stood reverently on this bare spot in the lawn. That had been home plate where I taught them how to play baseball. I gave them the basics like how to hit ... you know, keep your eye on the ball. Oh, and the important one: wait for it to come to you. Now I found out that rule is not just for baseball. It's important for a life that matters, and that's what God wants you to have.
Our two-year-old grandson really loves driving the car. Well, no, I mean pretending to drive the car. He just grabs the wheel; he turns it back and forth and laughs out loud. Now, we all know he might like to drive, but he really shouldn’t.
I think I was about 10 years old, and I got my Mom this corsage for Mother’s Day. I spent my whole allowance on it. They took two little carnations, put this little bumble bee on it, and I thought it was cute and it would tell my Mom I loved her. And on the way home, wouldn’t you know, Mr. Klutz here…it went over the top of my handle bars. I ran over it; I crushed the thing that I was going to give my Mom to show her that I loved her.
Well it’s that season when you see all those red boxes on the weather map. Get ready to brace for wild weather that can hit like a hammer from the sky at any time. You know, Job had an interesting perspective on the weather in the Old Testament. He said, “God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways. He says to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour’ so that all men he has made may know his work. He stops every man from his labor.” I read in Newsweek, a guy who said after some great weather event, he said, “It’s God’s reminder that we’re not in charge.” Hello! I think he’s right.
You know, we may have to rewrite that old song "Take Me Out To the Ballgame." Now it’s give me some steroids and watch me hit, and I’ll be a champ though I don’t deserve it. Actually it’s pretty sad, there are more sluggers and pitchers with a secret. They’ve used illegal growth hormones and drugs that will make them unnaturally strong, and it’s put a cloud over baseball. Look at this big, strong star out there, and you’ve got to ask yourself, “Yeah, but is he for real?” It’s the “anything to win” approach to life, and that’s not just in sports.
Terry Bradshaw is kind of a legendary quarterback, and he called the ’08 Super Bowl the greatest Super Bowl he’s ever seen. The Giants were a 12-point underdog vs. the 18-0 New England Patriots, and the Giants stunned the sports world. The Las Vegas bookies lost two and a half million dollars on it. Now, the Giants Coach, Tom Coughlin, explained one secret of his under-rated players’ success. He said they took the name off the back of their jerseys and they checked their egos at the door.
Simon Fuller is the inventor of the blockbuster TV show "American Idol," and he said, "Only one person can be the American Idol.” Well, maybe so, but it seems like hundreds of people who audition for this blockbuster talent competition think it’s going to be them. They have to face Paula, Randy and Simon -- the judges. And they decide how good you are. For a lot of people, it’s brutal…it’s devastating actually.
Well, another comic book hero has hit the big screen! They call him Iron Man; real name Tony Stark. He’s just another everyday guy who suddenly acquires amazing powers. Now in Iron Man’s case, he’s got the ability to generate this covering of iron armor and it gives him super-human strength, and powerful weapons, and fly-ability too. But he’s got some problems, like life threatening health issues and battles with alcohol. One write up describes him as a hero with iron but feet of clay.
Hey, “Lost” is back! You know, it’s that TV show that’s been hailed as one of TV’s best and most creative series. It’s about these people that are stranded on this island by an airplane crash, and slowly we learn of their often kind of like dark pasts. They’re figuring out who they are, they’re figuring out where they are, they’re figuring out who they can trust and how to get un-lost…which is a lot like us.
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