Wednesday, May 24, 2017

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I admire my friends who are marathon runners. I don't want to be one of them, but I admire them. I actually did have a bit of a running program going when my kids were little. Every morning, I used to run around the block twenty times, until my son moved the block! Sorry. I've never run a marathon. I've watched some, and I've talked to my friends who have done the whole 26-mile distance. If you've ever watched or run a marathon, you've seen those volunteers, probably, that are stationed all along the way-the ones with the orange slices and water. As the miles become more and more grueling, the body can actually begin to shut down. Water is desperately needed to avoid dehydration. The potassium in those orange slices replenishes an important deficit in your body. I think it's probably questionable if many runners could make it if it weren't for those little like refreshment stands.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

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I'm not sure if it's harder for a baby to have major surgery or adults like us. At least the baby has no idea of what's going on – which might make it easier. We know too much. We worry a lot. Little Jamie? He was not even a year old, but he had to undergo heart surgery; which I associate kind of with older people. Jamie was the nephew of one of our team members, and she was from Australia. The miles made it pretty tough on her, so we all joined her in praying for this little guy so far away. And thankfully, Jamie came through with flying colors. His heart was fixed. It was a tough operation, but it had to be done. You see, Jamie, they said, had a hole in his heart, and you can't just leave it that way!

Monday, May 22, 2017

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Spock, Scotty, a doctor called "Bones", the Starship Enterprise, the transporter, the Klingons: they're all part of a universe millions of people know as Star Trek. And if the oft-repeated TV shows weren't enough, the Star Trek crew became the stars of several major movies. And then came the new crew, set even farther ahead in our future. It was called "Star Trek - The Next Generation." They were still boldly going where no one had gone on the Starship Enterprise. But "Star Trek version I" and "Star Trek version II" had something more than a ship in common. They both had a strong captain in command. First, Captain Kirk, who always seemed to have things under control. But then along came the "Next Generation" skipper, Captain Picard. He had a lot less hair than Capt. Kirk, but he seemed to be even more in charge. There was never a question as to who was in charge of the ship, the crew, or the situation. And when Capt. Picard would give an order, he would follow it with three "no argument" words that were always the bottom line, "Make it so." "Yes, Sir!"

Friday, May 19, 2017

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We didn't have a lot of money, but who cared? We had each other. We is my wife Karen and me, and we were on our honeymoon! Now someone has defined a honeymoon as the period between "I do" and "You'd better!", but that definition doesn't work for me. Most of us married people look back with fond memories on our honeymoon. Karen and I were married in Chicago, and we drove up to Wisconsin and Michigan for our first week as man and wife. It was a lot of years ago, but it was a week I will never forget; the tandem bike rides, where I ended up doing most of the pedaling, the chili dogs and onion rings, and the smooching as our kids later called it, the horseback ride, the boat ride. But the best part of the honeymoon wasn't the sights or the activities. It was that glorious feeling that, for one week, there was nobody else on earth but Ron and Karen. We just totally focused on each other.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

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You may not be able to tell it over the radio, but I'm not a very big guy. Oh, I'm big inside. But outside, I'm more of like a Volkswagen than a semi. Which makes it amazing that both my sons ended up playing line in football. That's usually where they put the monsters. But we used to joke that the linemen wore their IQs on their jerseys - you know, like 75. But it was brawn more than brains they needed anyway to either hold the line while their opponents were trying to move them or to break through those gorillas on the other side of the line. There are just a few simple instructions that every coach wants every lineman to learn and live by. In fact, our guys heard this one all the time, "Keep your feet moving. No matter what." Even if it feels like you're going nowhere. Even if you're getting hammered. Even if you think it's doing no good. As long as you keep driving, as long as you keep your feet moving, you're making a difference. There is an alternative. It's called getting knocked down maybe by one of those gorillas on the other side.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

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He was one of the outstanding place kickers in the National Football League, and he actually helping his team win some memorable games with his field goal accuracy. But he had a spiritual hole in his heart. As he tells his story-which he did before tens of thousands of people at a Billy Graham Mission - it was a sudden, debilitating disease that got his attention. He began to be aware how desperately he needed the God who could do what he could never do. He points to the man who was his ball - holder as the one who really showed him Jesus. Of course, when that football is snapped to the holder for that field goal attempt, it's the sure hands of the ball holder that the kicker depends on completely. But this former star, now a highly visible ambassador for Christ in his community, tells insightfully how much his Christian teammate really meant in his life. He explains it this way: "He wasn't just holding the football in his hands, he was holding my eternal future in his hands!"

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

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I think we all do it at times. We walk past a store window, and we look at more than the merchandise. We look at our own reflection, or we glance in every convenient mirror. "How am I doing?" "How am I looking?" It's just natural - checking yourself out, want to impress, want to look good. It's natural to talk up our wins, our good stuff. And then I read these show-stopping words in the Bible. They challenge our whole image-driven "How do I look" way of living. Actually I think I understand these words now in a way I could not have only months ago.

Monday, May 15, 2017

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My son bought an old Mustang when he was in high school. No, not the kind with four legs. The kind with four wheels. He actually used money he got from selling some of his valuable baseball card collection. Some years later, he wanted to sell it and put the proceeds into the work he was going to be doing with Native Americans. He was home for a little while and that's where the Mustang was, so he put an ad in the paper about it. First day – no calls. Second day – no calls. He wasn't expecting a line at the door exactly, but he thought he'd get a little more response than that. Then he found out why the phone was silent. He checked the ad and found that the newspaper had goofed and published a phone number that was a wrong number. But what a difference that one little number made! When we dialed the number in the paper, there never was any answer. And since it takes a couple of days to change the error, the wrong number made more encore appearances in the newspaper. You gotta feel bad for some guy who's looking in the paper, sees a car he wants at a price he likes, and dials the magic number that cannot possibly reach the person who has what he's interested in.

Friday, May 12, 2017

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At first I thought some apocalyptic event had hit our town. Schools were all empty, wasn't a school bus in sight, lots of people suddenly disappeared. Not to worry. It was just Spring Break.

Of course, for many of America's young people, Spring Break is code for "party like there's no tomorrow, baby." Well, after downing lots of booze and sometimes drugs, your internal censors just go off duty. So a lot of folks come back from break with little memory of some big mistakes. Partying that lasts for a night; regrets and scars that can last a lifetime. Going for "break" and coming back broken.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

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The first time I heard someone talking about an invisible airplane, my reaction was, "I don't think so." But, in a sense, there is such a thing. Not exactly an airplane that people can't see-but it's an airplane radar can't see. It's called the "Stealth" bomber. Of course, if a bomber is headed for you, you want to know it. And radar has always been what alerted defenders to that bomber. But the "Stealth" is able to come in under the range of radar-and invade air space undetected-and do damage it might never have been able to do if it had been detected. Nobody realizes they're in danger until it's too late.