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Salmon are amazing creatures. Several years ago, our family vacationed in Alaska in August, the prime season for salmon migration. I was enthralled with the sight of rivers, so teeming with salmon swimming upstream, that they gave the appearance of white water rapids, when in fact it was all salmon creating the disturbances in the water.     Salmon are born as fresh water fish. As they grow, they become more streamlined in their appearance, their color changes, their endocrin

In a vain attempt to keep him “lifelike”, the body of Hugo Chavez, like the bodies of many other totalitarian heads of state before him, will be embalmed and placed on permanent (sort of) display in a glass sarcophagus near his presidential palace. Most are familiar with the display of Russia's Vladimir Lenin in Moscow's Red Square. Others include Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong (China), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), and Kim Il Sung (North Korea).     Russian historians say that Lenin and

Imagine complete and total darkness, the inability to see anything, and then...light, images, sight!     A biomedical engineer at the University of Southern California has developed a process using a tiny HD camera attached to eyeglasses, which wirelessly transmits to a sheet of electrodes that are implanted on the retina, to give partial sight to some who otherwise would be totally and completely blind. It’s already being used successfully on a number of candidates in Europ

Last fall, there was an incredible story in the news about a dog that found his deceased master’s grave in a distant cemetery, and stood guard over it for six years.     Shortly after Miguel Guzman passed away, his German Shepherd, Capitan, ran away from home. The family looked everywhere to no avail. They assumed he had been hit by a car. Then the following Sunday, when the family visited their father’s grave, Capitan came running to meet them in the cemetery, barking and wa

Did you hear about the near miss last week? If you were watching the news, you knew it was coming, but we also knew it was going miss us by about 1,700 miles. That may seem like a long ways away, but not when it comes to meteors the size of a Wal-Mart, hurtling towards us at forty times the speed of sound. An impact from something like that would destroy a city, and could possibly cause global weather catastrophe. So obviously, even though it was going to miss us, scientists

The power of words is an amazing thing. Particularly the words that come from those who matter to us.     I was 17 the first time I preached. The youth group I was attending had a special night for young guys who thought they might go into the ministry to preach to the youth group. There were three or four of us scheduled to speak that night and we were given 10 minutes a piece. I still remember the message that I gave (I think I even have my original notes), and I hate to ad

A couple of weeks ago, while examining the third commandment, I talked about the common practice of Christians attaching God’s name to their actions and choices, thereby claiming a kind of “divine endorsement” on their decisions. How often do we hear Christians say something like, “The Lord led me to __________.” And I sited a few examples where others claimed to be led by the Lord when clearly, God would not have have led anyone to contradict Scripture. There are also times

What a week. I’ve been reminded with three unrelated people who are close to our family that life is precious, and it is also precarious.     It’s harder to remember that in modern America. We have had the best health care system in the world since sin began. I know some are convinced that we have major nutrition issues in our culture (and there are no doubt problems with chemicals, trans-fats, etc.) but life expectancy and overall health in modern times has never before appr

My daughter and I were recently on a hike though the most unusual woods I had ever been in. It was a bamboo forest. Have you ever seen bamboo growing wild? While it is technically in the grass family, bamboo shoots rise higher than a most trees in the Midwest. The “forest” Erica and I hiked through was so thick that at 1:00 in the afternoon, with not a cloud in the sky, the tops shielded the sun so much so that it felt like nightfall down where we were walking.     One shoot

Even if you are not a country music fan, you are probably familiar with Tim McGraw’s, It’s a great song with a great message.     But have you considered that most people die like they’ve lived?     I was struck with the news article I read online about the woman in Houston who was found in her home after having been dead for several months. She had a son who lived less than 10 miles from her, and other family nearby, but no one bothered to check on her or wondered why they

Have you seen Les Mis? Many of us were familiar with the story long before this most recent Hollywood version hit the theaters last month. There was a 1996 version of the movie which was well received, more than a couple of theatrical versions, and the Broadway rendition being the basis for this recent movie. The story was written by French playwright Victor Hugo, who first wrote it as a novel and then a play. It moved from France, to Great Britain, and then to the United Sta

January is about to begin… Augh!     For a lot of people, it’s the worst month of the year. There is the cold, the snow, the darkness, the post holiday blues...and did I say anything about the cold?     Honestly, I don’t mind January. I enjoy sitting by the fireplace with a book or my laptop. I have a teenage son who takes care of the snow. Life slows down after the holidays and deep winter is a good season for me to gear up for spring.     But January is also a reflection an