Ecclesiastes 12:10

   We‘ve all heard the phrase before “the greatest thing since sliced bread” but as it turns out this greatest thing didn’t start out so great.   Otto Rohwedder invented the first bread slicing machine (built to slice bread by the loaf).  His prototype and blueprints went up in smoke in a fire in 1917. For the next several years he perfected the design and by 1927 it worked perfectly. Expect no one wanted it.   A lot of bakers were skeptical, fearing the pre-sliced bread would fall apart and grow stale too fast.  They didn’t think people would much care if their bread was sliced. In 1928 only one company had bought his device.   Luckily for him and us, the marketing folks stepped began promoting the product. By 1933, American bakeries were selling more sliced than unsliced bread loaves. It wasn’t that the idea wasn’t sound, people just had to be convinced.   Sometimes good ideas need promoters, People who can help others s...

    Big-time athletes must have it made. With those mega salaries, even with short careers, they must be set for life.  Not really.  An article in Sports illustrated found that 70%of NFL and 60% of NBA are broke within five years of finishing their careers in the league. So, it must be the stars that make it big? Well, if you look at the NBA's wealthiest players you might think that with Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson in the top 5. That is until you run across Junior Bridgeman. I’m guessing you never heard of him. Bridgeman played 12 seasons in the NBA until 1987 when he made his max salary of $350,000. In his career, he made a few million total but that wasn’t what made him rich, it is what he did with it.   While he was still in the league, Bridgeman would work for a local Wendy’s franchise to learn the restaurant business. When he retired from the NBA he bought it. Then another and another. Then a Chili’s until he owned over 100 different restaurants. He ...

  Back in 1887 at a small neighborhood grocery store, a middle-aged gentleman named Emanuel Nenger gave the assistant a $20 note to pay for the turnip greens he was purchasing.  When the assistant placed the note in the cash drawer she noticed that some of the ink from the $20 came off on her hands, which were wet from wrapping the turnip greens.  She'd known Mr. Nenger for years and was shocked. She pondered, "Is this man giving me a counterfeit $20?"   She dismissed the thought immediately and gave him his change, but $20 was a lot of money in those days so she notified the police. Once they verified the note was counterfeit, they procured a search warrant and went to Emanuel Nenger's home where they found in his attic the tools he was using to reproduce the counterfeit bills. They found an artist's easel, paint brushes, and paints which Nenger was using to meticulously paint the counterfeit money. Real Bill Fake Bill painted by Emanuel Nenger ...

Crazy hypothetical: I don’t even think that will get you in the Justice Society* What is the lamest super power you can think of [1] ?  What is the most unless super power you can think of [2] ? Is there anything that could be classified as a super power [3] that could not have ANY practical purposes? Examples: You can predict the future but only things that are inconsequential. You can produce tremendous amount of sweat on demand, like enough to fill a mop bucket.  You are the master of static electricity. *Crazy Hypothetical is a mental game that gives you a conditional choice that gets you thinking about a subject. I used these for several years as discussion starters in Bible class. This is great way to talk about spiritual gifts and talents and how they all can be used. [1] Don’t say Aquaman [2] I told you not Aquaman! [3] Something that is beyond human ability