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There is a hysteria level of concern over the world threat of Ebola. Here in America, it is dominating the press, broadcast and cable TV news, as well as radio, newspaper and web based outlets.How bad of a threat is it?Really bad if you live in East Africa. The first known case was discovered in 1976, but the most recent outbreak has taken thousands of lives in places like Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, just this year. And it is showing no signs of slowing. In fact, it is

Linda and I sat in our living room this morning praying together. We were asking the Lord for good weather next Sunday for the Chicago Marathon and his help and guidance with our upcoming trip to Israel, among a few other personal concerns.Then we began to pray for our brothers and sisters in Kobani, Syria, the Kurdish city just captured by Isis whose Christian population are in serious threat of mass killings and torture. We prayed also for little girls in third world countr

I haven’t read Psalm 119 in a while. And when I have, I don’t think I’ve read it carefully enough. If you’ve been following our church reading plan, we just went through Psalm 119, but we did it section by section, breaking it up. I think it’s the first time I’ve “thought” my way through reading it. A couple of days ago I read v. 131 in the New Living Translation. And a wonderful picture came to my mind. "I pant with expectation, longing for your commands.” – Psalm 119:131 If

I didn’t feel like it. It was one of those restless nights I didn’t sleep well. But my alarm went off at 6a this morning to get up and go running. After all, I’m in the late stages of Marathon training so every run is crucial. But I was dead tired. It was still dark outside. My legs were sore. I didn’t feel like it. I ran anyway. For some reason, I skipped breakfast. Normally, a small bowl of oatmeal gets me through a good workout, but I skipped it this morning. My schedule t

There’s nothing like being around an opinionated person. And I’ll have to admit, I was one of those people. And there are times that I catch myself still. Being opinionated is to be stubbornly stuck on an opinion that is not necessarily based on a proven ideal. It’s being dogmatic about things that are matters of judgement. And that’s why opinionated people are also often judgmental of those who do not hold their opinions.As I said, I used to be that way. Are you?Few of us wi

The viral ice bucket challenge is starting to wane. I’m wondering if that’s only because there are few people left who have not either been doused with ice water or have donated to ALS research.And then there have been the cynics. While I think it’s been one of the most positive things that happened in our country this summer, the blogosphere was also filled with detractors who found all kinds of reasons to criticize either those who participated, or the mechanisms of ALS res

Last Thursday evening I sat and watched my beloved Packers get overpowered by last year’s world champion Seattle Seahawks. I knew it would be a tough game, but I thought Aaron Rodgers and company would at least give a good showing.Nothin' doing. They were annihilated.And I sat there with a pit in my stomach and nerves on edge. I was sad and angry.And then I thought, “Why does this bother me? Why does it even matter?” I mean, this is a bunch of grown-up kids all dressed in cos

We live in a world of Terror, and it is on the rise. In recent weeks, we’ve all been horrified by the mass crucifixions of Christians in Iraq and their children being beheaded. These last two weeks, the sophisticated terror group ISIS has released two videos of American journalists being beheaded. But the real death toll of captured international journalists dying at the hands of ISIS numbers somewhere around 70.The threat may seem a long way away, but it’s become more real a

I’ve been digitizing our family videos so that they are on a more permanent and up-to-date media.

Ever hear of 'Market Myopia’? It’s a term used in marketing for the mistake that companies make when they are short-sighted and focus on their own wants and preferences as opposed to seeing the big picture and understanding what the purpose of their business is. For example, the railroad people didn’t realize they were in the transportation business; they thought they were in the railroad business. Had they realized they were in the transportation business they would have inv

There's a lot more going on in your heart and mind than what others see, right? It was certainly that way for Robin Williams. I remember the first time I experienced his comic genius. It was in the early days of Mork and Mindy and what made us laugh the hardest were his off-the-cuff shenanigans of this new young comedian that was improvising on the set. He was hilarious. He loved to make people laugh and even in his Academy Award winning serious dramas, seemed to have a perp

Most of you know that I'm on Sabbatical for the primary purpose of learning Spanish. We have about 150 people who attend our Spanish service at The Bridge and almost half of them speak very little if any English. They call me, "Pastor" but I've not been able to communicate with them. So the elders of our church have graciously given me leave for three months to pour myself into learning Spanish. It's hard. At least for a 53 year-old brain it is. I use Greek and Hebrew all the

With my planned trip to Israel this October, many are asking if we are still going and my thoughts on the current conflict. Yes, I plan on going. I'm convinced that the immediate unrest will be over by summer's end. But the current conflict? It's been going on for thousands of years. In my sermon series perparation for the Fall from the Book of Revelation, I am realizing anew that it will not be solved until Jesus ends it with his return. Yaweh not only promised Abraham that

I don't like change. I prefer stability, tradition and security.

I haven't roofed a house in twenty-five years. But I did a lot of during my college and early ministry years. My dad taught me how in high school, and I used roofing as a help to get through college and to supplement our income while church planting.While on sabbatical, I learned of a friend of my in-laws who needed their house shingled but couldn't afford to have it done. I'm not sure how I volunteered, but I'm about half-way into it now.But it brought my mind back to a less

Linda and I celebrated our 30th anniversary last Monday. We enjoy each other more today than even during our dating years. But our's would not make a good chick flick. We don't have a storybook romance. But I think our marriage can serve as an example for any couple. We aren't still married after 30 years because we picked the right person. Neither one of us really knew who or what we were getting. And while e-harmony will tell you that you are better off finding someone with

Erica and I went to a very good church last Sunday. It was a vibrant campus in Antigua of a large and growing evangelical church in Guatemala City. We enjoyed the service. It was alive and reaching a lot of people. It reminded me of The Bridge in so many ways, except I couldn’t understand most of what was being said. :-) The church held its services in a hotel that had been a Catholic Church complex in the 16th century. The ruins were turned into a museum for the general publ

It's our second week in Guatemala and I just had my seventh Spanish class. The classes are intense one-on-one tutoring and if I don’t learn vocabulary and word endings between classes, I’ll get little out of them. So Erica and I both spend an additional four to six hours studying in the afternoons and evenings. It’s quite a challenge.As we were walking and reviewing yesterday, we were practicing putting sentences together and responding. Erica is way better than me, but I try

I’ve been thinking about water lately. Partly because it’s been raining every day here in Guatemala (we had no idea it was monsoon season before we left). But also for another big reason. In Cook county, we have the best water in the world. We really do. Even when we lived in Wisconsin we had to have a water softener to keep our pipes and appliances working properly. But you really don’t need one in Chicago (apologies to softener vendors). Some of you are into bottled water b

I was sitting in my room at around 6:30 this morning reviewing Spanish vocabulary when everything started to shake. The windows rattled, a picture toppled, and I heard a few shrieks outside above the low rumbling sound of the earth shifting. I had never experienced an earthquake before so I was startled. For Guatemala, it was a mild quake (registered 5.0) and not a big deal. It’s an almost weekly occurrence here. But for me, it made me feel insecure. Guatemala is one of the m