Ecclesiastes 12:10

  In 1798, Issac Davis committed the first notable bank robbery in American history. He stole $162,821 from the Bank of Pennsylvania at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia. He almost got away with it. Early suspicion fell on the blacksmith who forged the vault.   But then Davis went and deposited that amount in the bank. Not another bank, the exact same bank. I guess he wasn’t worried about the same robbers coming back.   You would think the bank robber might not put his money in that bank, but people are funny. They see flaws in others but not themselves. An arrogant man will condemn others' pride. A selfish person will complain other how others are just in it for themselves. An adulterer will accuse his spouse of infidelity.  As Paul writes in Romans 2:21-23,  “ you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?  You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You...

   I don’t run. The only way I’d ever run is if a monster were chasing me, and it must be a pretty big monster. If I ever had to run a marathon, I’d die. But it turns out just having a marathon run might just do it.   According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, more people die of heart attacks and cardiac arrest when they fall ill during marathons. Not the runners, the people near the race.  The problem is the change in traffic patterns when streets are closed due to the race. Ambulance ride takes on average 4 minutes longer. People driving to the hospital get delayed. The result is that the 30-day death rate from heart attacks and cardiac arrest jumped 15% for people who fall ill on marathon days.   We often think about our lives in terms of what is good for us and what we want. Yet we must be careful because our actions do influence and have an effect on others. In 1 st Corinthians 8, we see Paul make this point in the context of die...

    Nate Haasis had a stellar career for Southeast High School in Springfield, Illinois, in 2003. He was on pace to set the conference record for career passing yards.   So, in his last game of the season with his team on the losing side on the game, he only needed a few more yards for the record. Yet he noticed that the defense backed 20 yards off the line of scrimmage and made no attempt to defend or tackle the receiver who caught his record-setting pass. The next day, the local newspaper reported that the coaches had made a deal to allow Haasis to set the record, a story both coaches confirmed. Everyone was happy that he had set the record.  Expect for Nate Haasis.  Three days after the game, Haasis decided to write a letter to the director of the conference, requesting that his final pass be omitted from the conference record book. “ I would like to preserve the integrity and sportsmanship of a great conference for future athletes ,” Haasis wrote. Hi...

   Tsutomu Yamaguchi was on a business trip to Hiroshima when the atomic bomb hit the city. Somehow, he survived; 146,000 people didn’t.   Though injured, he escaped the destruction and walked his way home…. to Nagasaki. Three days later he was back to work, where his coworker is berated him as crazy when he said that one bomb had destroyed a whole city. At that very moment the second atomic bomb hit.    He once again survived the blast.   He survived not one but two atomic detonations! He survived not only the horrific blast but the deadly aftereffect of the radiation.  Cancer would eventually claim his life, but not for sixty-four more years. He would live to the age of ninety-three.   Some may look at Yamaguchi and think that he was one of the unluckiest people in the world.   Or is he the luckiest?   As we think about what we are thankful for we often think of the blessings. The good things we experience. But sometimes ar...

   Leonard Bernstein was once asked which instrument he considered to be the most difficult to play. After a moment, he responded, “Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who can play second fiddle with enthusiasm—that’s a problem.”   Most folks don’t want to be the lesser. That is what is so amazing about John the Baptist. John was the most popular man of his day (Mark 1:5). His reach was so great that it caused men of power to be afraid of him (Matthew 21:25-26, Mark 16:20).   Yet in John 3, his disciples were worried that the crowds were all turning to Jesus. Was John worried about losing his luster? No, he saw it as exactly what must happen. That was his mission.  As he said it in verse 30, " He must increase, but I must decrease .”   His job wasn’t to build himself up, but to build up Jesus.   And that is our mission as well.   In a world that is all about ‘building your brand’ and self-promotio...

  Calvin Coolidge once said: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On!' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” Paul wrote: “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” Galatians 6:9  The Hebrew writer said it like this: Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. Hebrews 10:35-36    James told us: Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him...