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Have you been watching the Olympics? There’s been so much to see: the entertainment of Usain Bolt, the resurgence of Michael Phelps, the whole story of Simone Biles. Most of us have tuned in live or online at some point over the last couple of weeks and statisticians believe that half the world’s population, 3.5 billion people, have watched at least a portion of this year’s Olympics. In fact, Simone Biles' gold gymnast routine was viewed in some form by nearly 3 billion peopl

Brock was our easiest as a teenager. He has a good heart and loves his parents and is good to his siblings.But as a little tyke, he was more than a handful! He was into everything, broke all of his toys and a lot of things around the house. He never stopped moving and we had to keep a constant eye on him. On the rare occasion that he napped, Linda would often quip, “Don’t worry, he’s just recharging.”When he was three or so, he was buckled into his car seat next to his sister

Several years ago my sister and brother-in-law moved into an old Victorian home that was in rough shape and needed renovation.

Linda and I were at the beach a couple of years ago, and a young college-age couple picked a spot to lay in the sun not far from us. (That’s them in the title pic). We both were mildly amused while watching them, as it was obvious they were a new couple and just getting to know each other. The girl pulled her towel out and spread it over the sand in a single motion. The boy pulled his towel out and repeatedly tried to lay it out on the sand. But he was trying to unfurl it aga

I was sitting in my office with a man going on and on about his terrible marriage. His wife does this and that, is on him about everything…blah, blah, blah.I finally interrupted, “What would she tell me?” He said he didn’t know. “So you are having a really bad time getting along with your wife and you don’t even know what she thinks is wrong in the marriage?"“Oh, I can tell you what’s wrong in the marriage!” he exclaimed. I responded, “No, you don’t know have a clue. You’re n

Poor guy. He made his dream escape! And it’s not easy to escape from the Washington State Penitentiary. It took a lot of planning, perfect timing and hard work. But he did it! Then, however, he had to elude authorities. After spending a day on the run, without food or shelter, he came across a cabin in the woods. Perfect! If the place is unoccupied, it would be a chance to catch up on a little sleep, maybe scrounge up some food. If someone is home, he could get help, maybe mo

We were into building go-carts when I was a kid. Not anything that was motorized. We didn’t have access to motors, and it’s probably good that we didn’t. But we were pretty good at building and racing push carts (with a long pole) and pull carts (with our bikes).The earlier models were all wood…and heavy. But then we started to figure out how to take old tricycles and bicycles apart to use the tube frames, axles, and wheels for less weight and friction and more speed. We were

A family checking out our church on their fourth week at The Bridge commented to one of our pastors, “This is our fourth week here, and we haven’t heard the main guy, yet!"Granted, they were not here four weeks in a row, and I don’t like to think of myself as the main guy, but there’s no doubt, I’ve been speaking less, this last year in particular.It didn’t use to be that way. Early in my ministry, I spoke every week without missing for a couple of years…52 weeks straight, 2-

I had a conversation with a guy a while back, who had a defeatist mentality. From an outsiders perspective, his life was really good.

Some horrible things happened in Florida last week. Horrible. Forty-nine dead, plus the shooter, and fifty-three injured. And who will ever forget that horrific ordeal of the alligator and the little boy? So where was God? Let’s face it. There’s a lot of really bad stuff in the world. Last week, it seemed to be concentrated in Orlando. But not really. Right now, civilians in Fallujah are trapped in their own city and facing roaming death squads of ISIS combatants. So far this

I will never forget it. Maybe the most embarrassing day of my life.It was early in my freshman year of high school. I was happy because it was a rare day for me to eat hot lunch in the school cafeteria, rather than the usual bologna sandwich I brought in a brown paper bag. I had just sat down at a table of some friends and picked up the salt and sprinkled it on my food. Martin, evidently, thought it would be hilarious to unscrew the top for some unsuspecting soul, and I was t

We’ve all heard of Jesus’ most well-known miracles, his walking on the water, feeding 5,000, healing lepers and raising Lazarus. In fact, many of these stories are so familiar to us that we zone out as they are being told. Familiarity dulls our sensitivity and we are no longer amazed.But think of the lepers who were healed and think of their families' reaction when they were able to return home. These people hadn’t read the Gospels, or any children’s Bible story books. These

Most of us can point to our greatest regrets in life as things we did or didn’t do when our feelings were in control. It’s always a mistake to let your emotions guide you.

Yesterday was bill paying day. When Linda and I finished and closed the budget spreadsheet, I was in a whiny mood. Who likes sending money out…paying bills?But then a thought came to me, as though it were a rebuke from the Lord. “Look at all you get for what you pay!”I have a warm house in the winter; a cool house in the summer. I have two reliable cars, also with heat and air. We turn a knob and we get our choice of hot or cold water. We turn another knob and we have fire to

If you’re already familiar with Romans 8:28, read it again anyway, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (ESV). It’s a Scripture commonly quoted in Christian circles. But what does it mean? Until recently, I thought I understood it well.But I was reading Romans 8 from the New English Bible (NEB) this morning and had to read verse 28 a couple of times. The translation quoted it differently

If you’re reading this, you don’t want to do that. You wouldn’t be on this page if you didn’t have some interest in church things. Even people who do not go to church are usually happy when their kids do. Church people say they want more than anything for their kids to know and love God, and to be a part of a good church. But the trouble is, too many church people are turning their kids away. How?• By attending when it is convenient. Kids can be fooled for a while. But they

How you manage your emotions has more impact on your marriage, raising kids, and doing well at work than just about anything else. Daniel Goleman, in his book, Emotional Intelligence, demonstrates how a person’s ability to manage his or her emotions has more influence on their success in life than IQ.But managing emotions is not easy. As Goleman said, “The emotional brain responds to an event more quickly than the thinking brain.” Our emotional reactions to things tend to get

Someone asked me, “What gets you up in the morning? What gets you out of bed?"The Resurrection of Jesus.If it really happened, it’s the biggest news in world history. It answers all the questions of humanity. It also solves all the problems of mankind. If Jesus really rose again from the dead, there are huge ramifications that transcend a church doctrinal statement. It matters for everyone, inside and outside the church.Jesus’ resurrection proved that there is life after deat

The northwest suburbs are very safe. Our crime rate here is low, and things like murder, rape, home invasions, etc., are rare. But when we moved here from a small town in Wisconsin, we felt like we were moving into gangland. Only because it was “Chicago” and people outside the area associate Chicagoland with lots of crime.Our first night in our house here, August 1, 2007, was one I’ll never forget. Of course, all the doors were locked. Some of our things were still scattered

There is no feeling worse than feeling out of control.I was twenty years old, living in Texas, and on my way home from work. I had gotten up before dawn that day to fix my car, so that it could get me to work, so I was unusually tired. I kept nodding off but was sure I could keep myself awake. Bad decision. When my right front tire left the pavement, it jolted me awake. I saw the speedometer at 55, looked up, and saw a power line pole directly in front of me. I hit the brakes