THE STORY IS TOLD OF A MAN who was given a tour of one of the most impressive homes in a particular city. The rooms seemed to go on without end, and each one was more wonderful that the one before it. Marble, gold, and fine woods were everywhere. Finally, the visitor was asked how he liked the house. He replied, “These are the things that make dying hard.”

Someone forgot to tell that man that if you have something you can’t live without, you don’t own it; it owns you!

Materialism can do that. It can wrap itself around one’s soul, till the thought of losing stuff is about the worse thing on earth! But don’t tell that to those living in southern California who recently lost their homes in the wildfires. They had a reality check. Again and again, I saw interviews of folks who had their homes and all their possessions burned until there was nothing but ashes left. One refrain was repeated over and over: “We have our lives and that’s what is really important.”

Adversity of any kind has its upside; it can cause one to re-evaluate. It helps us to look once again at our list of priorities. Perhaps such things as faith, family, and friends need to be moved back up to the pre-eminent place. After all, there are only two things we can take with us when we leave this planet: our relationship with God and our character. Seems to me that we should spend more time developing these in lieu of acquiring “stuff.”

Some people devote an inordinate amount of time and energy chasing after things. They remind me of a bulldog chasing a train: what’s he going to do with it if he catches it?

Money has power. But it also has weaknesses. For instance, money can buy land, but not love; bonds, but not brotherhood; gold, but not gladness; silver, but not sincerity; hospitals, but not health; condominiums, but not character; houses, but not homes; timber, but not truth; ranches, but not righteousness; commodities, but not comfort; furs, but not friends.

To save your money you must share it; to love it is to lose it; and to invest it forever, you must put it in things eternal!

WHAT A FINISH! If I hadn’t seen it, I probably wouldn’t have believed it. With less than two minutes left in the game, the Chicago Bears had the ball on their own three yard line. They had no time-outs remaining and they had 97 yards to go for a touchdown. They were down by four points, so they needed a touchdown; a field goal just wouldn’t do. And to make matters worse, they were playing in their opponent’s stadium. The noise of the crowd was deafening. And as if all of this wasn’t bad enough, the receiver in the quarterback’s helmet malfunctioned. He couldn’t communicate with the bench or the booth. Essentially, he was on his own as to which plays to call.

I almost changed the channel, but then thought I might as well see it to the end. Perhaps there would be a miracle play. Who knows? Stranger things have happened in the world of sports. And to my utter amazement, I watched as the Bears marched steadily to the other end of the field. They managed the clock with perfection, throwing sideline passes and spiking the ball when necessary. With about 9 seconds to go, they completed the winning touchdown. What a game! What an illustration of perseverance, of persistence.

The quarterback refused to give up. Even though the odds were stacked against him, he refused to accept defeat as long as there was a chance. He wasn’t going to just play out the game and see what happened—he took hold of the situation and made it happen! The only way to make a comeback is to go on.

This whole episode, as it unfolded before my eyes, reminded me a simple truth: “Nothing in the world, including talent, genius and education, can take the place of persistence. Never give in. Never give up. Success belongs to those who refuse to take “No!” for an answer. Winners are just ordinary people with an extraordinary amount of determination.

So the next time you feel as though you're down on the 3-yard line with little time left in the game of life, breathe in your second wind and go for it!

WOULDN’T IT BE GREAT IF WE COULD REALLY READ MINDS? We could make a fortune! But we’re not mind-readers. Only God can do that. Here’s a proof text: “The LORD knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile” (Psalm 94:11). Don’t be duped by the charlatans who prey on the gullible public, pretending to understand their thoughts.

On the other hand, perhaps it wouldn’t be so great to be a mind-reader. I’m not sure we could handle it. It would mean that we would know every negative thought someone else had about us. Yikes! And we would also have to deal with the sheer volume of thoughts that the mind contains. Psychologists say that 10,000 thoughts go through the human mind in one day! Can you imagine trying to sort them out?

Although we can’t see into a person’s heart, we can learn how to “size one up” rather quickly if we can discover the answer to three questions. All we need to know is three basic things about a person. Here they are.

1. What do they DREAM about? All great achievers were first dreamers. For example, Moses saw Israel living in freedom. Joshua saw the walls of Jericho coming down. Nehemiah saw the walls of Jerusalem going up! Paul saw the Gentiles embracing Christ. And on and on it goes. Every great enterprise begins with a dream. Vision sets the course of a person’s life. What do you dream about?

2. What do they CRY about? What breaks their heart? What burdens them? If we really knew, we would begin to see what they are like on the inside. Agony of soul often leads to action, to involvement, and even to the investment of one’s resources. So, what do you weep about?

3. What do they SING about? What is it that moves them to celebrate? Some may feel that they cannot carry a tune, but singing is a matter of the heart. Singing is the heart’s way of expressing joy and praise to God. It’s indicative of how we see life. What do you sing about?
As the poet put it,

There’s something about a song for the Lord that stirs the heart within;
That reaches out to touch a life burdened down with sin.
It’s the Spirit of God breathing on the words, and flowing through the tune,
That captures the soul and brings relief to those headed for sure doom.

O, sing a song of worship and praise to the One seated on the Throne;
For His love and care have reached us here, to assure that we’re never alone.
Let our voice be raised in endless praise to the Grandest Composer of all;
He has set us free, we are not the same, we have answered His loving call!

IT HAPPENED ON A DARK NOVEMBER MORNING. I still can’t quite believe I did it. I swung into McDonald’s for a cup of coffee before hurrying on to a meeting. As I approached the drive-through I noticed that there were about five cars ahead of me, just sitting there. I sat there thinking it might be quicker just to park and go on in the restaurant. But then the cars in front of me began to move slowly. I stayed with it. I ordered my usual: “Senior’s decaf, please.” I proceeded to the first window, paid the 54 cent fee and drove right past the next window without getting my coffee. As I started to leave the parking lot, it dawned on me---they have my 54 cents but I don’t have anything to show for it. I was able to back all the way to the proper window and get my coffee. The young lady was holding my cup, waiting for me, with a big smile on her face. I could tell that she had seen this before. “She said, “Here you are, have a nice day!” Flushed as I was, I managed to blurt out, “Life gets a little hectic at times; sorry about that!” I knew at that very instant that I had contracted that dreaded social disease, “scurry.” That’s right, not scurvy, but scurry. My body was in drive, but my mind was in neutral.

I don’t think I am terribly different from the average twenty-first century American. We’re all running to and fro and need to pause now and then, to catch our breath---especially our spiritual breath.

“Time Out!” “Take Five!” “Recess!” “Break Time!” These are terms that we are all familiar with. They scream for the need to rest, relax, and recuperate. And it really doesn’t matter whether one is using them in reference to work, athletics, or education. It is a fact of life that we all need periods away from the routine of our lives---time to regroup and refresh our bodies, psyches, and emotions.

But what about our spirits? Do we value our relationship with God enough to “push the pause button on our life” in order to be refreshed inwardly? Jesus set the example for us by taking time away from His ministry to be alone with His Father. Dare we do any less?

Let’s face it, we are living in a hectic world. The pace at which most of us operate is frightening. We have deadlines to meet, places to go, meetings to attend, schedules to keep, and multi tasks to accomplish. More than ever before, we need to budget our time so that we can achieve our desired goals. Each of us must decide what our priorities must be. We do not want to be enslaved by the “tyranny of time,” yet often we find ourselves kneeling at its feet. In our quest for a balanced life, we need to hear again the voice of the past, saying, “Beware of the barrenness of an over-busy life.”

The above is the introduction to a book I have written, titled, "Pushing the Pause Button on Your Life." Right now it is in manuscript form, awaiting publication. Hopefully, someday, when I "get time" and can find a publisher who will think it worthwhile, it will be in book form.

IT’S FALL AGAIN! And that means pumpkin pie, apple cider and donuts, a trip to the local orchard, a scenic drive to view the colors, hayrides, and whatever else takes place during this season of transition.

One of the many tasks that falls (no pun intended) to homeowners this time of year has both a pleasant, and yet, frustrating element to it, namely, LEAF RAKING! For example, I was out raking the other day, enjoying the cool morning and the colorful leaves. I had raked up a nice pile and was reaching for a bag to place them in, when a brief gust of wind (lasted maybe one second) blew my whole pile away and brought down a gazillion other leaves that were scattered all over my nice clean lawn! One half hour of back-breaking effort, swept away faster than it takes to blink! Has it ever happened to you? Sure it has.

I stood there, staring at the scene for a moment, wondering what lesson I could learn from it all. Here’s what I deduced:

1. Don’t rake leaves unless it is perfectly still.
2. Don’t rake leaves at all. Hire it done by some kid in the neighborhood that will do it for practically nothing!
3. Let the leaves lie there till the Spring---they make good fertilizer.
4. Let the wind blow them into your neighbor’s yard and he can pick them up! Of course, the neighbor to the West may be thinking the same thing, which means you just can’t win.
5. Start a mulching pile. At least then you don’t have to pick them up. Don’t do this is the front yard.
6. Do not rake leaves too soon. Time and again, the first lawn to be swept of leaves has been shown to function as a kind of leaf magnet, attracting leaves from surrounding yards, and necessitating second or even third rakings.
7. Make sure the leaves are all down before you begin raking. I'm sure there are at least four billion on my large maple tree in the backyard. Be patient. The wind and rain will bring them down.
8. Pray that the first major snow storm doesn't arrive before you begin raking.


I saw a neighbor the other day blowing his leaves into the street and I thought he was crazy. Why not let the Lord do the blowing? He’s a natural!

Someone said, “Autumn leaves are a lot like raising kids. First they turn on you and then they fly away. The next thing you know, you look out the window and they’re back!”

On the more serious side, nature has a way of presenting many principles for living. I’ve been teaching a course called, “Surviving the Storms in Your Life.” It’s all about dealing with adversity. I thought about the leaves and it came to mind that in a similar manner we often clean up our lives and every thing is neat and in place, and we’re feeling good about life and then, just like a gust of wind, a crisis of some sort comes blowing into our space and everything is messed up again—or at least it seems that way. That’s when we need to call upon the One who has supreme power over nature itself. The same One who hushed the wind-driven waves can calm our soul. Frustration can turn to quiet trust and eventual peace. Biblical peace is not the absence of trouble, but the firm conviction that it has arrived for a purpose. It’s a test of our faith to see if we will fall apart at the seams or keep raking until the job is done.