Author: Jon Gauger

The lighting is dim and the thunder is loud.  An eerie way to board a ship. Though you know it’s “just” a replica, it’s impossible to avoid the sensation that you’re standing on the real ark that the real Noah built.  The biblical boat in Williamstown, Kentucky is the largest timber frame structure in the world, constructed of 3,300,000 board feet of wood. In fact, the ark is so large, you could plop three NASA space shuttles nose-to-tail on the roof, while storing the equivalent volume of 450 semi-trailers below decks.  That’s a lot of boat. The team at Answers…

The crowd was thick as we ambled down the pathway of the Creation Museum snapping pictures and connecting the dots of Scripture with the visuals before us. So much to see: fossils, animals, life-sized dinosaurs (they move and make noise) and Disneyesque animated Bible characters.  As we made a turn, we entered a recreation of the Garden of Eden.  Pristine vegetation was densely populated by animals of all kinds.  In a cluster of critters sat Adam himself, giving names to these furry friends.  We noted several creatures that you and I would be terrified to meet in a forest today. …

Question: How long does a witness for Christ last? Answer: Years.  Decades.  Maybe forever. This is part two of a story my friend Jack experienced when he met Tahir.  I’ll let Jack tell it in his own words. “Tahir’s a cab driver from Pakistan working hard in the Windy City.  When he heard I wanted to be driven to the corner of Chicago and LaSalle (Moody Bible Institute), he blurted out, ‘That’s the Moody Bookstore!’” But how does a Muslim cab driver born in Pakistan know about the Moody Bookstore? Naturally, Jack had to ask (Jack sometimes pushes boundaries and…

“So I was feeling….I dunno…restless.” “What do you mean, ‘restless?’ I asked my friend, Jack. “Like…I’ve been stuck in a spiritual rut.  Not really doing anything for the Kingdom.  No spiritual passion.  No hunger to witness.  Just…stuck.” Jack tends to be brutally honest.  He also tends to be right in the middle—or just done with—a story worth hearing. “So I gave God a dare.” “You what?” I asked Jack, now more than a little curious. “I admitted that I wasn’t really doing much of anything spiritually significant.  Admitted that I hadn’t been witnessing and seemed to have lost the passion. …

I just put the finishing touches on a sermon focused entirely on hell. Not exactly my idea of fun.  But as I have complained about the paltry attention hell is given in today’s pulpits, I felt compelled to “search the Scriptures” and focus on this awful eternal destiny. It didn’t take long to arrive at what may be the most disturbing story in the entire Bible.  Luke 16 takes us to the gates of hell itself where a formerly rich man is now doomed to unending agony.   What we encounter in this passage is the closest thing we have to…

Smoke….flash…bang!  The impact rattled in my chest as much as it rumbled on the field. I’m speaking of the Cantigny Revolutionary War Reenactment we witnessed, courtesy of the North West Territory Alliance. Envision more than 400 Revolutionary War actors in full costume.  Mix in cannons, muskets and rifles blasting away and history definitely came alive.  Period blacksmiths and shopkeepers offered wares of all kinds, including leather goods, wooden ladles, pewter mugs, knives and bonnets. Of particular interest to me was a writing desk where you could scratch out letters with a period quill and ink.  The guide even provided hot…

    Would you accept a dinner invitation from folks living at the home of “Simon the leper?”  Having personally visited a leprosy clinic and seen feet without toes and stumps without hands, I’m not sure I’d even show up.   But Jesus did.   There at the home of Simon the leper, He sat down to eat.  Matthew 26 records that at some point during the meal, a woman approached him carrying an alabaster vial of very pricey perfume.  She promptly poured it on his head as he lay reclining at the table.  Not some of it.  All of…

Confession: On Sunday mornings, I often sing the worship songs without actively giving God true praise.  I mouth the words…but fail to process them.  I sing the tunes, but don’t engage them.  Is this a lack of gratitude on my part?  Perhaps.  I suspect it's more an issue of distraction (I can’t imagine God is somehow okay with that). Nine-month old Ava showed me up last Sunday.  Attending church service on the grounds of King Camp we sang hymns and choruses—typical Sunday morning fare.   I was once again…well, distracted. Part of the distraction this time was Ava herself.  This blue-eyed…

Imagine a tree five-feet in diameter whose massive trunk stands poised to pummel the ground.  (I was actually there and took pictures!). The word, “thud,” doesn’t begin to describe what happened when the last of the chainsaw’s work was done. Our kids spent a surprising amount of their summers under that massive Oak which was almost a family friend. For shade, beauty and protection (you could sit by your campfire under its thick boughs and scarcely feel a drop of rain) this tree was in a class of its own.  So why did it have to be taken down?  I…

Her voice gives her away.  When Frieda calls, you can tell that she is mentally challenged.  Words are sometimes garbled.  Or mangled.  Pauses between phrases or sentences are often so unnaturally long, they create confusion—and plenty of unintended humor. But Frieda is friendly and faithful—more than most.  She is also in charge of the Christian worship service at a local senior center.  Without fail, she calls once a quarter inviting me to speak. As she welcomed everyone to this week’s service, she said, “I’d like to give credit to everyone who helped.” She then listed a bunch of names, including…