Grenade!

What do soldiers or Marines do when a grenade lands among them? The most heroic among them might make a split-second decision to jump on top of it. Falling on the grenade usually results in the death of the one in hopes of saving others. That is heroism worthy of the...

Who are you, Lord?

Sometimes, life shows up at your doorstep, chews you up, and spits you on the floor. We make plans, work towards goals, and then life goes sideways. In those moments of life, we might cry out to the sky in frustration. In those moments, we can cry out to God. In Acts...

I’ll Sell You Two Surgical Masks for $200

Price-gouging means that someone offers little in exchange for much. It is not a new concept. Faithful Jews were coming to the temple to offer God worship. Unfaithful Jews were selling over-priced offerings of oxen, sheep, pigeons, and even official money with a...

I Cried When Travis Shot Old Yeller

It was an emotionally intense scene with a lot of build-up. Old Yeller gets bitten, then he is penned up, then he gets sick, then he tries to bite, then Travis gets the gun, then…you know the rest. For a long time, I didn’t even want to watch Savage...

Good Enough for Government Work

Lowest cost, technically acceptable. That is what we were told to look for, and it bothered me. The meaning of “good enough for government work” has really gone downhill. It now means as cheap as possible and barely able to do the job. The Bible is not the product of...

Really, Look for the Right Things!

Teaching chemistry can be difficult. You hate to ask the question, “What part did you not understand?” Mostly because you’ll get the answer, “That part starting after, ‘Good morning, class!’” To teach a single concept, you need to teach it several different ways. To...

Encouraging Words

We started at oh-dark-thirty. The jungle-like heat gave promise of another 90/90 day – 90% humidity and 90º F. The air was too thin to drink and too thick to breathe, much less run in at such an ungodly hour. Four miles in, staff started showing up like a cloud of...

What do I do now?

 My crew partner admitted to saying, “But I haven’t got to that chapter in the book!” His wife’s water broke, but he hadn’t finished, “What to Expect When You Are Expecting.” The end of the pregnancy snuck upon him. At the crucial moment, he asked the question,...

That Just Sounds Wrong

TV commercials sell products. If you remember the commercial but not the product, then the commercial failed. I remember a commercial that sold something, but I don’t remember what it was. I remember  the commercial because a teenage daughter shouted at her...

Seeking the Wrong Jesus

“Bring me a rock.” I hated getting taskings like this. We went and found a “rock,” only to find out the boss wanted a rounder rock, or smoother, or purple. We wondered if the rock we found was the right one. Of course, the military seldom looks for rocks, but some...

New Testament

God Has a Better Plan

God Has a Better Plan

Two thousand years ago, Elizabeth wanted children. In her culture, children were her priority. She didn’t have any, therefore others looked down on her. Her society wrote her off as too old to be a successful Jewish woman. She was too old to have children. She was...

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Greek Yogurt Is Terrible

Greek Yogurt Is Terrible

Johnny stood, mouth open in disgust. “It gets stuck between your teeth, is too tough to chew, and tastes like day-old Dr. Pepper. Greek yogurt is yucky!” He wrinkled his nose even thinking about it. Jen paused her spoon an inch from her open mouth. “Have you ever...

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Come and See!

Come and See!

Nurses just know. They’ve been there, done that. They say, “Just slap a bandaid on it and stop complainin’!” But that same gruff nurse who blows off our ouches and owies as an annoyance will soften like butter in the warm, Texas sun when confronted with a patient who...

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Old Testament

Change Is Tough

Change Is Tough

The Air Force provides a lot of training, very little of it on a volunteer basis. One of the trainings I took was in “Change Management.” It may have had a different, more military sounding name, something like “Non-linear Progression of Leadership Requirements” but I...

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The A-Team

The A-Team

When the Air Force stationed my dad overseas, the only real disadvantage of living “on the economy” was a lack of US TV programs. If you lived close enough to base, you could watch the Armed Forces Network, but we lived too far away. Somehow, one of the American...

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