Author: Jon Gauger

It's one of my least favorite parts of travel: car rental. It begins with a wrestling match online, where it is nearly impossible to gauge the total price of your car before you hit the “Purchase Now” button.  Airport surcharges, city taxes, “recovery fees” and other cash-snatching schemes pile on to the price.  Forget about "naming your own price!" That's why I make it a point to low-ball any offer I make online.  Contrary to the ad campaigns, they really don't want you to “name your own price.”  Evidence?  They nearly always discourage me from making my bid, while very “helpfully” suggesting…

Everyone knows about camping.  And most of us who camp know all about “glamping.”  It's a marriage between glamour and camping.  Think upscale trailers with luxurious amenities.  Trust me—if you haven't been to an RV dealer recently, you have no idea how cushy camping can be. Yet an English charity, Britain's “Churches Conservation Trust,” now makes it possible to fall asleep in church—and not get hassled.  The Trust, which preserves some 350 “disused” churches, is a creative fundraising scheme to provide for their maintenance.  With no congregants to supply funds, it's tourism that now helps finance roof repairs, tuck-pointing and…

Easter is in the air, which means there's a spring in our step. Enough spring that many evangelicals are prepared to hop right over Good Friday.  Again. We love to celebrate Christ's victory over sin and death—as we should.  But is it possible we shortchange the sufferings of Christ on Good Friday?  Wouldn't you agree there is no point to the victory party, if you don't—or won't—embrace the struggle that came before? Not Good at Doing Somber It's a peculiar observation of mine that we evangelicals, for the most part, are just not good at doing somber.  Or pensive. Look…

How do you celebrate your birthday?   Some dine at a special restaurant.  On my birthday, (which happens to be my Mom's birthday, too) Diana bakes a spectacular apple cake—loaded with cinnamon.  This is I adorn with a mountain of whipped cream. I was recently let in on a birthday celebration from 1894.  They recorded it!  (at least part of it).  Before mp3 files or CDs or vinyl records, people recorded audio by speaking into a metal “horn” that recorded onto a small wax cylinder (about the size of a large can of peaches).   The sound was scratchy, but it did…

How good are you at giving to God? This week, I was schooled by an eight year old. Joslynn and I sat down to play “Money Matters for Kids,” developed by Christian Financial Concepts.  The game feels a lot like Monopoly, but with entirely different objectives. Your goal as you wind your way around the game board is to set aside enough money that you can give away $30, save enough to pay for a toy you want, and also have enough cash on hand to pay for living expenses. Too Focused on Winning Naturally, I wanted to win the…

As my fingers tap the keyboard creating this blog, my mouth is munching the last of a blueberry Pop Tart. I’m no addict, but I confess to enjoying the lard-laden lusciousness of a Pop Tart. Blueberry is my flavor of choice.  But as I hold the toaster-hot pastry in my hand, a new twist on an old favorite has caused me to do a bit of critical thinking.  When Pop Tarts first came out, they were touted as being filled with real fruit.  We were far less critical of sugar back then.  Hydrogenated oil was a familiar friend and who…

Yes, Virginia, there really is an Ohio—in Illinois.  The little town boasts no more than 550.  But heading south on Route 26, Ohio is merely a navigation marker, not a destination. We’re in search of an even smaller berg known as Kasbeer (pronounced with a Long “A”). As the town and its sign are easily missed, look for its two largest landmarks.  To the east towers the Kasbeer grain elevator, and much closer to the highway is the white steeple tower of the Kasbeer Community Church.   Its stain glass history is filled with generations of my wife’s family. The white…

I have a plan for making America great! It has nothing to do with Donald Trump or the Republican party or the Democratic party either. It has everything to do with the simple biblical premise of Psalms 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”  Now, follow my logic. The only way any nation can rightly be described as one “whose God is the Lord” is if the dominant voice and view of that nation is God-honoring.   The only way that will happen is if the majority of us seek to please God by making others aware of…

The idea was doomed from the start. In a well-intentioned attempt at physical fitness, I agreed to play racquetball with my son, Tim, Five weeks afterward, my throbbing back still reminded me I shouldn’t have even attempted playing “just a game or two.”  Ouch! It’s one thing to overdo it in sports, but what about the rest of life? In the book, “If I Could Do It All Over Again,” I asked 28 Christian leaders what would they do less of, given a second chance. Check out these responses. Less News Joni Tada admitted, “I would look at a lot…

Went to a funeral this week.    A lady my wife had known growing up.  Let's call her Natalie (not her real name). By the way, have you noticed the way technology has invaded funeral homes?  Gone are the days of the old organ parked in the corner.  Respectable funeral homes now have electronic keyboards.  Forget that old fashioned paper registry book you used to sign to let the grieving family know of your visit.  More often than not these days you’ll sign an iPad. Instead of mere poster boards sporting yellowed photo collections, most funeral homes today will scan those…