First of all, apologies to my tens of loyal readers who have been disappointed by the lack of current posts. I have been busy serving as the “pit crew” for my beloved’s weekend sixty mile walk for breast cancer. That is not a typo. About 2400 women and a few valiant men walked twenty miles each day in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3–Day. It was an emotional weekend for both Joni and me. Joni first started talking about signing up for the 3–Day walk before she had even finished treatment. I supported her but thought perhaps there was a little leftover “chemo-brain” involved in that idea. Then her sister Gayla (who did not have the chemo-brain excuse) said she would walk with Joni. So Gayla began training in Florida and Joni in Texas. This weekend they walked side by side for three grueling days. And they did it. I could not help but remember where we had come from
Continue reading...

Three summers ago Joni and I did not have to turn on the morning news shows for visual entertainment. Every morning as we got ready for the day we would hear a familiar THUMP! That was the sound of “the crazy bird” returning for his morning concussion. Our bathroom has a large half-moon shaped window near the ceiling. Every morning this bird would fly to the window sill, sit there for awhile, look at his Day-Planner, fly back a few feet and then hit the window full on. THUMP! He would do this over and over. Day after day.      (This is a stunt double bird…not the actual bird. Photo Courtesy– Janesville Gazette) Because I like to think I am smarter than that bird I would laugh and make fun of him mindlessly hitting the same window day after day after day. Stupid bird. Then I would go out and do a pretty good imitation of this poor creature with my daily Christian walk. Day after day I would go
Continue reading...

Regular and long-suffering readers of the humble ramblings know that I have an oddly wired brain. My thoughts do not flow along orderly paths like most of you. So it will come as no surprise that while taking some pictures of pampered pooch Hannah yesterday I thought of a scriptural truth. Hannah was swimming and I decided to try and capture her spectacular water “shake-offs” with my digital camera. The results were not too bad.       This photo brought a verse from Hebrews to mind. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles… Hannah has definitely learned how to throw off the water that hinders her when she climbs out of the pool. I loved the imagery of getting up and shaking off all of the things (even some good things) that hinder me from being an effective representative of Jesus. Recently I heard my
Continue reading...

I was amused to open my browser to find this headline at Yahoo News. Swearing at work boosts ‘team spirit, morale’ Wouldn’t it be interesting to be at that pep rally? “Yea *&^%$#@ Team! Bleep, Bleep, Bleep!” Whooeeeee!!! (Jump in air…extend arms) Bleep! The story outlined the blankety-blank study. Regular swearing at work can help boost team spirit among staff, allowing them to express better their feelings as well as develop social relationships, according to a study by researchers. Yehuda Baruch, a professor of management at the University of East Anglia, and graduate Stuart Jenkins studied the use of profanity in the workplace and assessed its implications for managers. They assessed that swearing would become more common as traditional taboos are broken down, but the key appeared to be knowing when such language was appropriate and when to turn to blind eye. The pair said swearing in front of senior staff or customers should be seriously discouraged or banned, but in other
Continue reading...

To all of my Christian brothers and sisters… I love you all like, well, brothers and sisters. But it is time for us to have a family conference. Next time you are really concerned about my health, hard drive, or soul could I request that you just pray for me instead of forwarding dire e-mail warnings? I don’t want to appear ungrateful but I have to agree with this email I recently received. To all of you who have taken the time and trouble to “forward” emails over the past 12 months…Thank you for making me feel safe, secure, blessed and healthy. Extra thanks to whoever sent me the e-mail about cockroach eggs in the glue on envelopes – I now have to go get a wet towel every time I need to seal an envelope. Without you I would likely have gotten that flesh eating bacteria from bananas. Thanks to you, I have learned that God only answers my prayers if I forward an
Continue reading...

Today I am going to offer a gently read post from the past. Today it is not because I am lazy or really busy. I am repeating this post because I have been receiving a lot of emails about Christians behaving badly. While that is always disappointing such behavior should never come as a big surprise. Today’s repeat was actually the first iPod Devotional that I published. I hit the old shuffle button over a year ago and it became immediately apparent that God does indeed have a sense of humor. The song that came up was Smiling Faces Sometimes from a group called Undisputed Truth. The song was originally recorded by the Temptations but the version released by Undisputed Truth in 1971 became the number 3 song that year. What delicious irony that the guy who wrote When Bad Christians Happen to Good People gets a song about hypocrites for the debut of this little experiment. Here are the opening lyrics from that song… Smiling
Continue reading...

I start with an apology to Robert who thinks I use too many country songs for the iPod Devotional Series. I will point out defensively that I have recently featured rock (The Animals and Beatles, inspirational (Casting Crowns) and opera (???). So perhaps I have earned another foray into country. The song is by an artist I have featured in an earlier post. Tracy Lawrence has a simple yet thought provoking song called “As Easy As Our Blessings.” Here is the opening stanza: Lately I’ve been having more nights that I can’t sleepStorms of life keep blowing in sometimes it gets so heavyIt drives me to my knees and it’s coming down againThen a voice inside reminds me of the roof over my headAnd my wife and kids are tucked away warmly in their beds I have written often about Satan’s strategy to rob us of our joy. When we spend our time regretting the past  or living in fear of the
Continue reading...