WASHINGTON – Gritty rats and mice living in sewers and farms seem to have healthier immune systems than their squeaky clean cousins that frolic in cushy antiseptic labs, two studies indicate. The lesson for humans: Clean living may make us sick. That was the AP story that caught my attention yesterday. And I pondered the odd theory that these disgusting rodents may offer a clue to ineffectual Christian living as well. Let us explore. Associated Press Science writer Seth Borenstein writes about the recent research. The studies give more weight to a 17-year-old theory that the sanitized Western world may be partly to blame for soaring rates of human allergy and asthma cases and some autoimmune diseases, such as Type I diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. The theory, called the hygiene hypothesis, figures that people’s immune systems aren’t being challenged by disease and dirt early in life, so the body’s natural defenses overreact to small irritants such as pollen. The new studies,
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  This a transcript of the words I spoke at my father’s memorial service. This will be my third Father’s Day since he went to be with his Heavenly Father. My Dad made a difference in my life. You will make a difference in the lives of your children. They listen only sometimes. But they are always watching. My Dad probably never realized how closely I was watching. I can only pray that my Son’s will feel as blessed to call me Dad as I was to address my own father.   My Dad was a good man. Not a perfect man. Kindness was his calling card to everyone around him. The last time I saw my father he left me with a memory that will stay with me till I join him in eternity. My last visit with Dad was a roller-coaster of emotions. He had made a remarkable and inspiring comeback from his devastating brain injury. I had
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I love the Muppets. I must have watched the Muppet Movie over a hundred times with first born and second born sons. One of my favorite characters is Gonzo the Great. No one is quiet sure what Gonzo is. In The Great Muppet Caper Fozzie Bear, Kermit, and Gonzo are newspaper reporters who are sent, via air cargo, to London to investigate a jewel heist. But the mystery of Gonzo remains. The crates for Fozzie and Kermit are labeled “Bear” and “Frog”. On Gonzo’s crate is the stenciling “Whatever”. Maybe that is why I love this character so much. A sensitive and kind of weird “whatever” in search of himself. I can relate to that.   One of my all time favorite Muppet moments happens in the Great Muppet Caper. Kermit and Gonzo cannot manage to hail a taxi. So Gonzo suddenly leaps into the middle of the street, a taxi slams on the brakes and they have a ride. Kermit looks at him in
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It has been a while since I dusted off the wildly popular feature “Ask a Bad Christian”. Today’s questions revolve around one theme and have come from several people. Why do you call your blog “Confessions of a Bad Christian”? Do you really think you are a bad Christian? Yeah.  Sometimes I am. Sometimes “badder” than on other days. The blog heading of “Confessions of a Bad Christian” started out as a bit of a joke. It was based on the title of my first book, When Bad Christians Happen to Good People. But I will tell you that I have grown attached to the title of this blog. I have come to grips with the truth that I can, in fact, be a bad Christian. And that is the point of the title. It is a daily reminder to me that I am capable of thoughts and actions that do not reflect Jesus. I did think that making this question a sermon topic was a bit over the
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  For the past few weeks I have been writing about Joni’s cancer and our journey through that trial. I had almost forgotten how much fun it is to write your thoughts on something and have your salvation questioned for your trouble. My wonderful high school basketball coach used to teach us that you “catch more flies with honey than vinegar”. I am sure that my cyber critics will tell you that only truth matters and to sugarcoat it is not necessary. Here are the basics. I wrote a blog about the distribution of the million dollar bills by the Great News Network. The Secret Service said they were too close to real bills and they seized them from the ministry. I wrote a piece that challenged how GNN responded to the situation. I never questioned their ministry intent. I never doubted their heart to communicate the gospel. My article was based on this one issue. And I made it
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  Today’s post will probably be most interesting to one of my most faithful visitors. Me. As I pass blog mileage markers I am fascinated by what articles resonated with readers and which did not. Last week I posted blog number 150 in the seven month life of this venture. So I decided to go back and see which posts were most read and offer a couple of personal favorites that did not make the cut. Because I am trying honesty as an experiment at this site I will tell you that I eliminated the actual number one post in the rankings. That article involved an airplane and famous pastor’s wife. I am tired of the story and the sad level of discourse about it. So, in the immortal paraphrased words of Lesley Gore and sung to the tune of “It’s My Party” please sing along…  “It’s my blog and I can delete if I want to, delete if I want to, delete if I
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Okay…I know this is a little sad. But the reality is that so far in the grandchild derby the two married sons (out of three) have yet to spawn. Unmarried Brett has been ruled ineligible to compete in this event. Joni and I have been content (for the time being) to enjoy our grand dogs and await the first grandchild with diminishing patience. Middle son Scott was the first to present us with a grand dog. This is Sadie smiling sweetly for the camera. Regular readers of this blog know that ineligible grandchild contributor Brett was second to add a grand dog to the family with the addition of Trigger. He is pictured here with our own disinterested dog Hannah. Trigger’s improbable story was told in a post entitled They Call it Puppy Love.  This week we are proud to announce the newest grand dog to the family. Eldest son Matt and bride Holly announced the arrival of Bailey, a five month old Golden
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