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This past Sunday was Palm Sunday, the day that launches Holy Week in the church calendar. It is kind of an interesting and often misunderstood event. The gospels recorded it as the day that Jesus arrived in Jerusalem setting off a series of events that would end with his crucifixion. He approached Jerusalem from the east, having just raised Lazarus from the dead. News of the event had spread, and the excited masses came out to walk with him to the capital. As Jesus approached the city, riding on the back of a baby donkey, crowds came out from...
Years ago, while I was working in Northern Indiana, a series of powerful tornadoes struck the town where my job was located. The rural town was severely damaged, leaving many homes and farms decimated. I led a group of kids from work to do cleanup work in some of the neighborhoods. I will forever remember the sight of so much destruction in that quiet little farm community. Perhaps one of the most impressive sights though, was several days after the storms, while the cleanup effort was in full swing. Insurance representatives were all over...
In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire wrecked the life of prominent lawyer Horatia Spafford. Spafford lost his four-year-old son in the blaze along with most of his property and his law practice. 2 years later, he had planned to tour Europe with his family, who traveled ahead of him by ship. The ship sank and his four daughters were killed. His wife notified him by telegram that simply read: “Saved alone.” Crushed by the loss of his children and financially destitute, Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife. On the journey, his ship passed the...
In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire wrecked the life of prominent lawyer Horatia Spafford. Spafford lost his four-year-old son in the blaze along with most of his property and his law practice. 2 years later, he had planned to tour Europe with his family, who traveled ahead of him by ship. The ship sank and his four daughters were killed. His wife notified him by telegram that simply read: “Saved alone.” Crushed by the loss of his children and financially destitute, Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife. On the journey, his ship passed the...
I attended college in South Chicago while in my early 20s. Chicago was a fun place for a young, irresponsible kid to explore and enjoy. I took full advantage of this truth, taking the train to the city at every opportunity. In my often aimless wanderings, I often lost track of where I was and found myself lost. This was a problem until I learned a simple trick for navigating the sprawling streets of the Chicagoland area. In the middle of the downtown area, there was a landmark that was easily visible for miles around: The Sears Tower (though...
The opening chapter of the Gospel of Mark tells the story of Jesus’ ministry work in the city of Capernaum on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. These events are taking place very early in Jesus’ ministry, and he is just beginning to draw a large following. The chapter includes accounts of Jesus teaching to masses, casting out demons, and healing sick folks. Jesus ministers to the crowds all day and late into the night. When he goes to Peter’s home to rest for the night, people follow him. He continues until well after sundown. The next morni...
My kids argue. Any parent will tell you that kids always find something silly to disagree about. They get angry and start yelling or freezing each other out because of some petty disagreement. I’ve discovered that one of the most frequent elements of these fights is the assumption that they know what the other child is thinking. They assume that some careless word or accidental slight or offense is inspired by anger or spite or mean intentions. They are almost always wrong. Kids usually grow out of the petty version of this habit, but people i...
A while back, I read a book on an army Colonel who took over a demoralized company during the Vietnam War. One of the first things he did as commander was to rename his company “Hardcore” and require the soldier to repeat the name constantly. The idea was that the troops assumed they were screw-ups. They didn’t see themselves as tough soldiers. He changed their identities while changing their habits and disciplines. The impact of changing how the troops saw themselves was enormous. They approached excellence with zeal because they were the ...
During a power outage a few weeks ago, my kids and I spent some time talking about how strange it was that we kept flipping light switches when we entered rooms. They weren’t going to do anything, and we knew it. Still, after laughing over flipping the switch in the kitchen, we’d walk into the next room and try to turn the lights on without even thinking about it. The habit of turning on lights has become so ingrained into each of us that it is simply automatic. There are thousands of these behaviors we have repeated so many times that we don...
Over the last few weeks, I have been reading about New Year’s Resolutions. One of the most common suggestions for folks to apply in order to succeed in their life changes is that you find a group of people to associate with that are doing the same thing. This is a powerful idea because it is well supported by human behavior studies. We are influenced by our environment and peer group. For example, children are more likely to read regularly if they are raised in a household with parents who read. Kids raised in a household with parents who d...
In 2001, a study was done in England that looked at motivation to exercise. A large group of subjects was divided into three groups. One was the control group, which was told to simply track how often they worked out. Another group was exposed to motivational talks about the benefits of exercise and told to track their exercising. The final group received the same motivational materials, but were instructed to make a plan for working out. Specifically they were to complete the following sentence: “I will exercise for 20 minutes on at in .” The...
In Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus, the reader is introduced to John the Baptist early in the story. John the Baptist was a popular preacher in ancient Israel whose messages prepared the ancient Jewish people for Jesus’ coming. In Luke’s gospel, John’s birth is an important part of the story of Christmas and includes some interesting elements. My favorite is a prophetic speech from John’s father that was probably adapted as a first century church hymn. In it, he describes the coming of God’s chosen deliverer in phrases and terminology that...
Before coming to Big Sandy, I worked with kids in a mental health facility. Most of the kids were pretty ordinary but had abusive or difficult upbringings. The result of their terrible life experiences was often a great deal of anger and disfunction. It was a difficult job because we worked with kids lived at the facility. Their parents weren’t there to care for them, so we had to fill in the best we could. The hardest part of the job was that we had to deal with clients at their worst. It became very easy to shift our mindset from one where w...
Over the last few weeks, I have read a handful of articles in various publications on how to start an argument over politics with your family at Thanksgiving Dinner. The authors of these helpful guides included catchphrases and tricks you could play to bait your family into expressing a viewpoint about one side of the political spectrum or another just so you can argue about why they’re are wrong. This included such petty acts as changing the WiFi password to something they will hate so that they have to type in your opinion to go on the i...
In 1929, Calvin Coolidge traveled to the Black Hills in North Dakota for a vacation. While there, he was photographed many times dressed in cowboy attire. The one catch being that it isn’t actually cowboy attire. It’s a very fancy, almost silly version of it. At the time, the press mocked the president mercilessly. He responded that it was ok for them to laugh, but that he was living out a childhood dream. Looking at the pictures, there is no way anyone would think that the president was a real cowboy. He tried to dress the part, but in rea...
The treadmill was originally invented as a torture device for prisoners. Prisoners were chained in place on a cycling belt that simply continued to move. The prisoners were forced to run or walk in place for hours at a time as a form of torture. It’s a pretty ingenious torture device, if you think about it. You work all day, exhausting yourself, but never accomplish anything for your efforts. After sweating and straining all day, you are still standing in the same place you were when you started. I recently read a book by a philosophy p...
In ancient Israel, every Jewish boy would learn the Torah in school. Specifically, they would memorize the Jewish religious writings starting at an early age until the rabbi teaching them decided they had reached their potential as students. At that time, they were sent off to work in whatever field their family had always worked in. Some students would be sent away early to work, while others would progress to the point that they were accepted as a disciple to a rabbi. This was sort of like earning your doctorate. Anyone who studied under a...
One of the hardest parts of professional pastoring is ministering to families in times of loss. It is hard because our natural inclination when folks are hurting is to try to fix it. We want to make the sorrow stop, but it’s impossible. You can’t make it so folks don’t weep and hurt at the death of a family member or friend. Nor should you make it stop. Hurt is a part of life and mourning is a healthy natural thing that has to happen. As a Christian, we often turn to Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 4. In that letter, he reminds the church that...
I hate shopping for cars. I would probably enjoy it more of I had a lot more money, but as it is, I typically go into car buying with a strict set of rules and a limited budget. The worst part is when you talk to a salesman and he has you test drive a fancy car that is out of your price range or doesn’t fit your needs well. You wind up sitting in a car you want, because it is attractive and fun, but know you shouldn’t buy because it costs too much or has some impractical aspects that make it the wrong choice for you. The salesman is just doi...
I have a work out schedule I follow from week to week. It is Tuesday morning as I write this, and I will confess honestly that I dread going to the gym on Tuesday mornings. My Tuesday workout is very difficult. I have to push myself to finish it because it is so strenuous. My whole body is always sore by the middle of the day on Tuesdays. What makes matters worse is, this morning I added to the workout because I am trying to improve my fitness level, and I’m going to continue to make it a little harder every week in pursuit of that goal. It i...
I recently watched an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger where he talked about going from being a small, self-doubting kid to winning Mr. Universe 7 times. He described hanging photographs of boxers and athletes he idolized all over his room. Every morning, he would wake up early and look at the pictures, which were his goal. He wanted to look like those athletes. He described this as the source of his early motivation to push himself to train as hard as possible. He kept his goal in front and center, focused on it every day, and pushed...
Last week, I listened to an interview with business coach/best selling author Steve Chandler. His business has been built up around the idea of being a “Time Warrior.” Put simply, he teaches folks how to overcome procrastination and accomplish more in life. The thing that I found most interesting about the guy is that his solution could be boiled down to one line: If you have something to do, do it now. It seems really simple, and it is. He argues that we tend to look at time in terms of deadlines or when we need to begin something in ord...
My wife and I enjoy doing Escape Rooms. These are games where you are locked in a room and have an hour to escape by solving puzzles that provide you with keys, combinations, or directions for escaping the room. We have done a dozen or so over the years in different cities around the country and love the challenge of solving problems together. Last night, we did one in Billings while on vacation. I watched as one of the gals we were doing the puzzle room with made an interesting mistake. It is one I’ve observed frequently in the past. She faced...
Ancient rabbis used to tell a story about the Jewish exodus from slavery in Egypt. At the climax of the story, God parted the Red Sea so that His people could cross on dry land and escape from the pursuing Egyptian army. In the story, two men were walking along and complaining. They were looking down at the deep mud that they were trudging through, where the vast sea had been before. They complained about the mud on their legs and feet. They complained about all the walking. They complained about their clothes getting messy. The whole time they...
I do about 30 chin-ups at the gym several times a week. I don’t like doing chin-ups, and I couldn’t do them for many years. I’d try and try and couldn’t quite get myself up over the bar. Then, a crazy thing happened one day: I did one. After doing one, I found that doing a second one was easier. In the space of a few weeks, I jumped from none to more than a dozen. I didn’t develop some supernatural strength or find a new training program. What changed was that I figured out that I could do chin-ups. Before I did my first one, I never believed I...
