It was a Dark and Stormy Night…

Posted on July 28, 2010
Filed Under Personal, Theology | 3 Comments

“What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Matthew 8:27

Few things evoke a picture of fear more than the “dark and stormy night”.

Darkness, of course is one of the main ingredients, because we fear the unknown more than anything. Darkness veils reality leaving our imaginations to dream up monsters or snakes or boogey men lurking in the night waiting to jump out at us.

The storm adds the next main ingredient because the lightning briefly reveals strange and scary images, barely discernable as the flickers of light add to our fearful imagination.

The third ingredient is the thunder and the sounds that accompany the wind and the rain. A loud thunderclap will make us jump, but maybe not as much as the banging of the shutters or an open window (“How did that get open? Is someone in the house?”) or a limb that crashes against the window pane just as the lightning briefly highlights the wet leaves and twisted branches shaking in the tumult. Surely something sinister and hideous is hiding in the dark. “Wait, didn’t something just move over there?!”

Ah! The cinematic magic of the “dark and stormy night”!

Well, not long ago, it was a “dark and stormy night” at our house. The thunder was making things quiver and it was hard to sleep. My wife got up and walked out into the living room.

Then she screamed out my name.

I jumped up and ran to where she was standing looking out at the deck door. Then the lightning flashed and revealed a figure standing there.

Another flash…the figure was hairy…

Another flash…it was a six-foot hairy beast leaning on our deck railing right up next to the glass doors.

It was a dark and stormy night… Read more

USA Today Cries Over Failure to Loot Steinbrenner’s Pockets

Posted on July 19, 2010
Filed Under Marriage & Family, The State | 11 Comments

I don’t usually read USA Today, but I’m in Florida again filming for Cross Examine and the hotel offers it for free. Today’s “Our View” editorial was on the estate tax. Here is the subtitle: “Steinbrenner’s ‘smart’ financial move reveals stupidity of inaction”.

In case you missed the news, George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, passed away recently. The “stupidity” USA Today is referring to, is the stupidity of the Federal Government for missing a chance to loot his estate. Evidently this was a “smart financial move” on Steinbrenner’s part because the estate tax in 2010 is zero, which means that people who die this year will be able to pass on the family china to their kids.

This galls some people, including USA Today which believes that we missed out on a grand opportunity to rifle through a dead man’s pockets and take half of his stuff. Read more

Keeping the Truth Project Vision Alive

Posted on July 16, 2010
Filed Under The Truth Project | 8 Comments

The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:2

Sorry for the absence. I have been in class over the last couple of weeks with some of the greatest college kids in the world…the Summer 2010 class of the Focus Leadership Institute.

Class runs all morning, followed by an “Open Forum” where students bring their lunch back into class and we talk about anything on their hearts (literally “anything”!). Then we fill the rest of the afternoon with one-on-one meetings where we can talk about personal questions, issues and just get to know each other better. Then, some evenings, we head out to the park for dinner and games and more conversation.

Have I ever told you that I love these folks?

I do. And I will miss them greatly when they graduate not long from now.

Our last class together is primarily dedicated to talking about God’s call for us to be involved in the culture around us. Read more

When God Steals the Fireworks Show

Posted on July 5, 2010
Filed Under Personal, Theology | 67 Comments

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Psalm 19:1

I hope you all had a very wonderful 4th of July and celebrated the privilege we have to live in this wonderful country. With all of her faults and current travails, she is still awesome to me.

We gathered most of our local family and headed to the Air Force Academy last night to watch the fireworks.

They, too, were awesome.

I never tire of this.

Especially at the Academy.

For me, there is something very special about celebrating this day on a military post…with the bands and the patriotic music and military marches playing in the background.

I admit it…I am a patriot, through and through!

But something different happened last night. Read more

When Your Script Gets Trashed

Posted on June 30, 2010
Filed Under History, Personal | 15 Comments

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

One of the most persistent sins of mankind is the deeply held truth that we need to get our own way.

Often times we have a pretty clear script of how things are supposed to play out and sometimes we will do crazy things to make those scripts come true.

However…There are a couple problems with this.
1. We do not have the only script on the set.
2. God’s script always wins.

Now I know both of these very well, but I still get disappointed when my script gets trashed.

Recently, I had my heart set on a beautiful play.

It didn’t happen. Why?
1. We do not have the only script on the set.
2. God’s script always wins.

Let me give you an example of how this works.

I have, for some time, been wanting to take a picture of a full moon as it was setting on Pike’s Peak. Read more