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A middle school student in Idaho won first prize in a project he did for his school’s science fair. He wanted to show how conditioned Americans have become to accept junk science without thinking through published studies or their conclusions. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide."     Before asking them to sign the petition, he showed them the dangers associated with this chemical

I fly fairly often and I enjoy it. But there have been those moments while sitting in that chair 30,000 feet in the air, streaking across the sky in excess of 500 mph, when I’ve thought to myself, “I hope this guy got As in his aviation classes.”     We tend to just trust the guy in the pilot seat. And we should. These guys (and gals) have a huge amount of training and have passed multiple exams, as well as hundreds of hours of flight time before they even make it to co-pilot

As a young man starting in ministry and working a secular job at the same time, I made a mistake in my work and said, “Sorry boss, that was my bad. It won’t happen again.” To my surprise he responded, “Don’t apologize. In business, you’re viewed as weak when you admit you’re wrong. Just move on and correct your mistakes, but don’t apologize.”     Wow! I was pretty surprised. This business owner was a Christian, yet he told me that I shouldn’t apologize when wrong. I have sinc

I went into the bank the other day and was struck by the vault being left wide open and unattended, while I was filling out a deposit slip with a pen that was chained to the counter. Does that seem ironic to you? I’m guilty of those little hypocritical gestures….such as ordering a burger, fries, and then a DIET Coke–hahaha. A friend of mine used to leave his new $30,000+ car in the driveway, because his $1,000 camper was taking up the garage space. I could go on and on with t

I appreciate what the Christian radio stations are trying to do. After all, you’re not going to hear “Pastor Appreciation Month” being promoted in church! So the Christian radio stations do their best this one month out of the year to encourage church members to express appreciation  to their pastors. And I want to thank all four of you that I’ve heard from.  Hahaha -- I’M KIDDING!     In all honesty, most of us pastors are not crazy about Pastor Appreciation Month.  Not that

I have a cute video from when our kids were young, that I ran across the other day. I’m not sure how old Junior was but he was explaining to me how he had had to jump from furniture to furniture without touching the floor because it was “hot .” I tried to correct him, “You mean hot ?” But he would have none of it. He knew the word. So he corrected me and slowly mouthed the words, thinking I didn’t really know. I tried to explain to him that the word was actually “lava” but i

I am surprised by how the death of Steve Jobs has affected me. Celebrities die all the time, and I am saddened with each death, especially when there is a question as to the person’s relationship with Christ. But hearing of Jobs’ death was different for me.     I’ve been an Apple evangelist since before I knew anyone else who used their products. I bought my first Mac in 1985 (I know––before some of you were born and before most of you thought of using a computer!). I left fo

Maybe you are guilty of it. Most of us have gotten pretty angry at least once with some self-centered driver cutting off others and endangering everyone while trying to shave off 30 seconds or so of his or her commute. I’ve had to do a fair amount of confession myself after my angry reaction to roadway narcissists. But this guy down in Corbin, Kentucky takes first prize in my book. Not so much because of what he did, but look at the circumstances.     Clyde White of Corbin, K

Do you work out, run, lift weights, walk, bike, or otherwise get a good dose of exercise? I hope so! If you are not exercising regularly, starting and sticking with it will change your life! Mayo clinic recently put out a report on regular physical exercise, listing seven benefits (controls weight, combats health conditions and diseases, improves mood, promotes better sleep, puts the spark back into your sex life, and can be a lot of fun!)     Paul says that our bodies are te

In “Tale of Two Cities”, Charles Dickens tells the story of a physician who was imprisoned in a French penitentiary for twenty years. Unable to practice medicine, but wanting to keep himself useful and occupied, he took up the trade of shoe cobbler while incarcerated, making and fixing shoes for his fellow inmates. For twenty years, he could be heard working away in his cell late at night, tapping away, repairing the shoes of prisoners. Finally, during the French Revolution,

Yesterday was bill paying day. Isn’t that fun? Hahaha! Actually, with modern technology, I’ve taken a lot of the work out of it. I pay pretty much all of it online, and have as many automatic payments going out as possible. But Linda and I still sit down every two weeks and review our budget, look at the amounts of the checks going out (or auto-withdrawals) and make sure the payments are in line with the bills. While we’ve gone paperless and automatic, it still requires our r

I enjoy reading. I’m usually in the middle of 2-3 books at a time. I tend to read a fiction or biography, a ministry or leadership related book, and some kind of a personal or devotional book, simultaneously. I’m currently reading a book about a gambling addict and how it destroyed his life and the lives of others (hence last week’s blog), a secular book on leadership and teamwork, a book on the church and global outreach, as well as rereading C.S. Lewis’s “Mere Christianity.