Ecclesiastes 12:10

      Paul is one of the most significant people in the New Testament. His work, writings, and influence shaped the church. Yet he isn’t without faults.   Not just, like all of us, he sinned but even in the decisions he made, sometimes he chose poorly.   For example, in Acts 15 Paul and Barnabas are considering a follow-up visit to the places where they previously established churches. Yet when it comes to who will go, they can’t agree. Barnabas wants to take John Mark. Paul doesn’t. Since John Mark quit on them the first time, Paul thinks he will again.   Paul’s so adamant he and Barnabas end up going their separate ways.   It seems, however, that Paul was wrong about John Mark. Mark goes on to be an important worker in the cause of Christ. Paul himself will later say Mark was “ useful to me for service ” (2 nd Timothy 4:11).   Mark made something of himself.   However, let’s consider how Paul might have been ‘wrong’, it might not ha...

   Mathis Rust was a teenager with a big dream, to end the Cold War. In 1987, he wanted to do something to reduce the tension with the Soviet Union. This desire became a plan. As an amateur pilot, he wanted to fly from Finland to Moscow to create an ‘imaginary bridge’ to the east. It seemed like a good way to get shot down by the supposedly impenetrable Russian air defense system. Yet Rust was able to make the flight landing in the middle of Red Square.   Rust’s flight didn’t quite have the effect he had hope. He ended up with a 4-year prison sentence. The incident was a joke among the Muscovites as they started to refer to Red Square as the third terminal of their airport. Yet, it may have helped end the Cold War.     The fiasco forced major changes in the military. Many questioned the senior officer’s inability to stop an inexperienced teenage pilot from landing in the capital.   This allowed the reform-minded Mikhail Gorbachev to replace those offic...

     American Airlines was looking for some ways to save money. So, they asked their employees for some ideas. Over many years of collecting meal trays in aircraft cabins, flight attendants had come to know that most passengers did not eat the olives in their salads. Could getting rid of the olives save money?   Sure, enough it could. Removing that one item from the salads would save the company roughly $500,000 per year. But would it upset the passengers? Research said no. The study showed that 72 percent of customers were not, in fact, eating their olives.   So, everyone would be happy right?   No, not really.   The Association of Olive Growers wasn’t happy at all. They contacted the airline and threaten a boycott if they didn’t bring back the olive. American Airline was able to settle them down but making sure that the airline would have olives for any passenger that wanted them, they would just have to ask.     In reality, the...

      Charles Ponzi became known in the early 1920s as a swindler for his money-making scheme. Although he didn’t invent the scheme of paying earlier investors using the investments of later investors, it still bears his name. These ‘Ponzi’ have been duplicated by swindlers like Bernie Madoff and Enron. Ponzi's original scheme ran for over a year before it collapsed, costing his "investors" $20 million at the time or about $250 million in today's dollars.     But that might not be the most audacious way he made money.   When a Boston financial writer suggested there was no way Ponzi could legally deliver such high returns in a short period of time, Ponzi sued for libel and won $500,000 in damages. While everything that the writer said was eventually proven true, the laws at the time put the burden of proof on the writer and it was still considered libel.   Truth hurts, even sometimes the one delivering it. “So have I become your enemy by tellin...