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James Manning needed to get to court for a hearing on drug related charges. If he didn’t show, there’d be a warrant out for his arrest. But he didn’t have a way to get there. His solution? Steal a car. He and his wife, Teresa, stole a car from a used car lot and headed to the courthouse. While he was standing before the judge, the dealership used a GPS tracking device to locate their missing vehicle. Police showed up and Mr. Manning ended up with some serious jail time. Only

Some acts are hard to follow. If you were a follower of Jesus in the first century, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, now what? Have you ever been through an exhilarating and emotionally draining experience and then afterward, unsure what to do about it? That’s how it was for the disciples. Everything had changed for them. They had just gone through the greatest amount of upheaval that they could imagine. They were brought to the brink of despair at the cross, then t

I woke up at 3a two nights ago and looked for the moon. Sure enough, it was darkened and red, but with a sliver of light along the side. Eventually cloud cover obscured my sight, but three more times in the next hour, my wife and I got out of bed to see it. I’d seen lunar eclipses before, but this year is different. Have you heard all the talk about the four blood moons and their relationship to prophesy? John Haggee has a best seller out describing his theory (borrowed from

Life is good. You’ve got more than enough to eat. You have reliable transportation, more than what could be said for most people in the world. You have good shelter with central heat and air. You’ve got a decent job. You have family and friends. And you have lots of toys…electronic gadgets up the wazoo. But something’s missing. You can't quite put your finger on it. It’s not that you are never happy. Sometimes you are. But it doesn’t last. There’s just something missing. What

The Wisconsin Badgers came within a free throw of getting to the NCAA championship game. They hit 100% of their free throws in that game until that one. And that was the game. The game before, they beat Arizona by a point to make it into the final four. Arizona was expected by many to take it all, so they were obviously upset. Mayhem broke out in Tucson, with mob crowds starting fires, breaking windows, rioting, shouting and looting. Police armed with batons and tear gas and

I barely caught the report on the radio this week, an inquiry on the difference between those who are ruined by tragedy and those who bounce back.

I’m not one to claim that God is talking to me. I’m also very careful about saying that I’m doing something because God told me to.

Wouldn’t it be cool to have that job? You know, the actor’s double on the movie set. At least for a movie or two?Glenn Duhigg says, “No!"He was Tom Cruise’s stand-in for Mission Impossible 2. Here’s what he said about it... "I don’t think many people realize the long hours and constant demands that deflate your ego very quickly. The days are long. Whatever scene Tom was in, I would be the one standing there, being him sometimes for ages as the crew set up the shot – getting t

The Christian world in America was rocked on Tuesday after the Christianity Today interview when Richard Stearns, CEO and President of World Vision, announced that they would begin to hire practicing homosexuals who were legally married. It set off a firestorm of controversy among evangelicals, concerned that the infallibility and authority of Scripture was at stake. I shared those concerns as the Bible has got to be our foundation in belief, practice, and message. Otherwise

Back in 1993 the NCAA Division II College Cross Country Championships had a bizarre and terribly unfair finish. The 6.2 mile course had been marked out with flags by the race officials. But about midway through the race, the front runner, and subsequently those following him, missed a place where the course turned. One runner, Mike Delcavo of Western State College in Colorado, saw the mistake and made the correct turn, waving as many runners as possible to see the direction t

450,000 pound airliners don't just disappear. Until now. In Illinois, we are in the middle of a primary midterm election––today in fact. Russia has essentially invaded Ukraine and now occupies the state of Crimea. But its Malaysian flight 370 with its 239 people on board that has captured our interest. And it probably should. All 239 people are souls with families and friends. They are people just like us. We don’t know if they are alive or dead, being held captive in some re

If you are in a mess and much of it is your own doing, you are not alone. We’ve all made messes.When I say, “mess,” I mean circumstances in your life that are not what they were supposed to be, chaotic, out-of-control, and no clear solution.I’m talking about coming to the realization that you are in a bad relationship but you are so far in, that you don't know what to do about it or how to get out. Maybe it's severe financial distress, partly brought on by some not-so-wise de