Author: Jon Gauger

Outside my third-floor office is a hallway about 125 feet long.  On many days, glorious sunshine filters through its twelve cathedral-height windows.  But sun or not, I've noticed that the outside of these windows all seem to feature a high level of arachnid activity—spiders. Plying their wind-resistant webs, these eight-legged critters spin, sprint, and snack hour after hour.  In all twelve windows. And this, in broad daylight!  Here, I thought spiders were supposed to be nocturnal. (Perhaps the flies they’re catching all drink Red Bull?). Phone snapshots below.  Having searched the web for—well—web facts, I was still curious. Are these…

As the passenger from the Houston plane stepped off the jetway, I couldn’t help but notice the bold white letters on his black tee-shirt: Soul Not for Sale. But really, who sells their soul?  That’s only the stuff of movies and legends, right? Some lady sells her soul to the devil to guarantee she becomes a millionaire.  Some guy sells his soul so he can get the beautiful girl to fall in love with him. That’s them.  But not us, right? “Of course not,” many of us would say, “because I’m a follower of Jesus.” But sell our souls we…

How much do you think about heaven? As much as a four-year-old? Sadie—middle name, Virginia—is named for her great grandmother, Virginia.  Though Great Grandma passed away a couple of years ago, Sadie still remembers her. Nor is this four-year-old content to let those memories fade. On a recent walk with her mom, Lynnette, Sadie asked some pointed questions: SADIE: Mom, I saw in a book once there will be beautiful water fountains in heaven. Is it true? MOM:    Not sure, Sadie. But the Bible tells us it will be beautiful, so I wouldn’t be surprised. SADIE: Are we gonna…

In the third grade, Mrs. Virginia Patterson dared to invite her entire Sunday School class to her home for hot dogs and hamburgers. We played games, had a great time—and I’ve never forgotten that kindness. Struggling to complete my Awana Scripture memory books, I was blessed with a leader named Leroy Arrasmith. He came over almost every week for a year to help me get those verses memorized. How could you forget that kindness? Just before computers became popular, I’d developed a passion for writing. When my friend, Ron Taylor, found out, he gave me his electric typewriter—a beautiful and…

Have you ever been terrified while reading Scripture? Numbers chapter 20 gave me quite a zap. In the middle of the desert, the Israelites were without water—or faith.  Their grumbling against Moses quickly morphs into the ridiculous: “Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place?” (vv. 4,5).  God’s response to Moses: “Tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of…

Have you ever seen so much frustration in America? Forget the “melting pot,” America is a boiling pot! Between the tragedy in Afghanistan, the venom over voting, and the gender revolution, we’ve become a cauldron of the caustic. Federal mandates versus states’ rights, masks versus anti-maskers, vaxers versus no-vaxers—everybody’s angry over something. And that includes Christians. Of course, everyone is entitled to an opinion. Disagreement is the stuff of democracy. Unquestionably, believers should vote for candidates and policies that honor Christ. But I fear many of us—myself included—may have forgotten something Jesus said when on trial. Addressing Pilate, Christ said,…

Spiky branches thwacked at the edges of our trail as we rolled deeper into the thicket. An emerald canopy overhead created a cooling air pocket as the tractor-pulled wagon groaned at every jolt on the rooted path. It might have been a safari. Except this was northern Illinois. Nevertheless, two-year-old Emma kept her eyes open for any possible animal sightings. Upon her return from the would-be rain forest, where she missed nothing, she announced, "I saw squirrels and turkeys. But no giraffe." She seemed genuinely disappointed. Given the density of the woods and Emma’s less-than-1000-days-of-life perspective, it’s not unreasonable that…

Cheese fries, funnel cakes, and elephant ears.  The air was heavy with the smog of greasy grills and heart-unhealthy taste treats. But what a fabulous fragrance it was smothering the grounds of the Bureau County Fair. Fleeing these temptations—and the sun's unrelenting heat—we dove into buildings where colorful ribbons declared the winners of creative competitions: largest pumpkin, tastiest apple pie, best pen and ink drawing, etc. In one building, we saw folks handing out safety brochures, nail files, cup holders, and ten-thousand other logo-emblazoned products: many of them solutions in search of a problem. Then there was the unassuming table…

I should never have clicked the link that came with the headline. I’m talking about the images of Zaki Anwari the 17-year-old soccer player determined to leave Afghanistan hanging on to a C-17. Capable of flying two M1A2 Abrams battle tanks, or 16 Humvees, the plane's belly swelled with passengers desperate to evacuate. You’ve seen the photos. Zaki clutched at the landing gear with a gritty resolve as the transport accelerated to 50, then 100, then 120 miles per hour. Just a few hundred feet into the air, Zaki lost his grip. Nor was he the only one to die…

Taking offense. In the last two or three years, it has replaced baseball as America’s pastime. These days, it seems everyone is offended and going to bat about something. There is nothing, it seems, over which we will not be offended. While humans have managed to irritate each other since Adam and Eve, today's cultural climate offers two distinct differences. First, social media has created a global platform to air those grievances.  And air them we do. Second, a sustained pattern of lawsuits has given birth to the notion that "If I am offended, so you must placate me." The…