Wednesday, January 18, 2012

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Shades of the '60s: lots of angry, discontented young people, occupying public places, trying to call attention to their cause. Haven't we seen this before?

The '60s demonstrations were about a war, and they turned more violent. The 2011 crowds? Well, they were occupying high-profile public areas like Wall Street, for example, around the world, and with a different cause; claiming that their protest was about jobs, and corporate greed, concentrated wealth, economic injustice. Of course, only time will tell whether this is a game-changer or just a loud blip on the screen.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

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Years ago a friend of mine told me this, "If people who don't know Jesus want to know the difference Jesus makes, let them come to our funerals."

Well, I thought of that again this week as I joined one of our dear friends in mourning the loss of his precious wife and our precious friend. They've poured out their lives for other people in one of the world's most troubled places. And because of the violence around them, one of their little daughter's first words was "rocket." But a year ago the bomb that changed everything was a word that they heard in the doctor's office - "cancer." Last week, after a brave fight against that killer, Nancy breathed her last. And that little daughter, who is now a beautiful young woman who really mirrors her mother, and she sang at Nancy's memorial service. And she had this glow that defied the grief. The song said:

Monday, January 16, 2012

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This is not going to really come as a news flash to anybody who's been around very long, but the differences between men and women aren't just biological. For example, the difference between how a man and woman tell a story or relate an incident. The man sort of skims the surface; kind of does the from 30,000 feet view of things, and usually he can't even remember a lot of details. I often have to ask my wife, "When did that happen? Where were we? Who were we with?"

Thursday, January 12, 2012

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Every summer we used to take a large delegation to a great youth conference in Ocean City, New Jersey. One of our veteran staff was in charge of that delegation, and it was a big responsibility at the shore. When my son was old enough to go to that conference, he commented on Greg's leadership. He said, "You know, Greg's really serious." Well my wife and I kind of laughed. We said, "Oh, you should hear some of the crazy things he's done down at Ocean City." And then my son said, "Not any more. He's in charge now." Well, my son was making a pretty valid observation. As your authority increases, so does your responsibility. Followers, I guess, can goof off, but leadership; oh, that's serious business.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

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I've frequently visited the beaches on the East coast with my family. Oh, we love them! One visit, it wasn't just another day with the family at the beach. No. No, see, the lifeguards at Ocean City, N.J. suddenly made everyone get out of the water - fast! And you know what I'm thinking. I'm thinking "Jaws"! So I was really cooperative. I got out real fast! Well, instead, it was all about these two children, and they had to plunge in and rescue them because they were in trouble out by a jetty there.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

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I was speaking at a youth conference, and we all had breakfast in the cafeteria together. And then when we got together for our morning session I said, "Now, I want you guys to imagine that somebody who was at breakfast with us comes in the room and his cheeks are all puffy and you ask him what's wrong, and he just goes, "uh...uh... uh..." And you go, "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Here's a piece of paper." And you give him a piece of paper and he writes down, "I'm starved." Now I ask him, "Did you eat breakfast?" "Uh-huh." "And you're still hungry?" "Uh-huh." And then I would ask him, "Did you swallow it?" "Huh-uh." "Oh, maybe that's why you're still hungry." See, it isn't enough just to ingest your food; you've got to swallow it for it to do anything for you.

Friday, December 30, 2011

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Mystery rides were part of growing up at our house. Usually it was a Sunday afternoon, and I'd pile our three kids, who were little then and never will be again, into our car for a ride. I think we explored every corner of our area. And as we did, we discovered over the years, a lot of great things. But I've got one son who's a lot like me. He wants to know the plan before we leave.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

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So who needs an alarm clock in our neighborhood? We've got ravens! Yeah, those big black birds discovered our backyard. Now, ravens apparently are early risers, a little earlier than most people are. And they are also, shall we say, active conversationalists. Which makes them wonderful alarm clocks for those early morning hours whether you want them or not! Frankly I don't mind it. It's great to have all the birds singing their little spring concert in our yard. Actually, they do more than sing, they preach!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

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An air band - that's probably the only kind of band I'll ever play in. Now, if you're around teenagers for a while, you might have the thrill of seeing an air band in action. What will happen is they'll turn on a favorite song, and then they go through all the motions of banging it out of the guitar, beating it out on the drums, belting it out as the lead singer, but there's no guitar, there's no drum. Since they have no instruments, you know what they're playing. They're playing the air - thus air band. It's a lot of activity, but there's nothing coming out.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

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We took one of our granddaughters to the Christmas Festival at a theme park when she was two. And she loved it! There were lights everywhere, exciting music performances and a great Christmas parade. But there was one thing that impressed her so much, and she talked about it all year long - the Living Nativity. We got to see a portrayal of the angels' appearance to the shepherds, the visit of the Wise Men, and best of all, Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus in the Manger. From that night on through the year, when we would mention that theme park, the first thing she associated with it was "Jesus" no matter what time of year it was.