Author: Jon Gauger

Sometimes the Word of God really messes with your life.  Have you noticed? The other morning, I prayed on the train in to Chicago that God would specifically direct me to someone who needed some encouragement, or something of Jesus Himself.   Know what happened?  Nothing.  Nothing that morning.   In fact, nothing out of the ordinary happened all day long.  That afternoon, as I walked the 1.5 miles back to the train, I reviewed some memory work, the third chapter of First John. Because it helps to cement the verses, I often quote them out loud.  I was three-fourths of the way…

I can still feel the burning sensation of the stinger, jabbed into my flesh. But honestly the fault was mine.   At one of the grandest camping places in the country (kings-camp.org) our old pop-up                                                                                                                                                 is on loan to our son and daughter-in-law.  For some time, the hatch that covers the power cord coming out of the thing was broken off.  I should have replaced it months ago but didn't. A few weeks back, my Dad asked if I needed anything from the local camping store.  I walked him over to our pop-up trailer, showing him the plastic power cord inlet…

Her slightly chunky two-year old arm twined around mine as stray blonde hairs from her head tickled my shoulder. As Lucy nuzzled into me, my heart was as gooey as a chocolate bar in summer.  At that moment, the tot at my side could have asked for the moon, and I would immediately have called up NASA with a down payment.   Lucy and her older sister, Joslynn, recently came out with us to spend a weekend at the camper.   Because my natural “gifting” tends toward silliness, two-year old Lucy is usually not far away.   Silly faces.  Silly noises. …

Lit A Fire! When NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to sit during the National Anthem, he lit the fire of a roaring national debate.  In a journalism culture that overdoses on a news story and then gets quickly bored with it, I'm intrigued the flames seem only to have intensified.  One commentator I read suggested Kaepernick's career is finished. An ESPN poll shows him as the NFL’s most disliked player.  Others are standing with (or is that sitting beside) Kaepernick.    Nothing Illegal, But… What should a Christian think?  May I share with you my own thoughts?  There seems to…

If someone were to ask you, “What’s a life lesson you will remember to the day you die?” what would that be for you? I asked that question of singer and songwriter Michael Card.  His response is a story you need to hear.  Allow me to quote him from the book, If I Could Do It All Over Again. When I was a kid, I often sat in church next to an old man named Basil Edwards. I remember that when I was seven years old, I got into trouble and was crying. Basil got on his knees, face-to-face with…

If you could do it all over again, how would you live your life differently?  I sat down with 28 Christian leaders and asked them.  One of my specific questions was what would you do more of, if you do it all over again. Michael Card told me… Clearly I would have put more time in with my family.  I think I was on the road doing 150 concerts a year for more than 30 years.  My wife homeschooled and our kids got plenty of attention.  I would be home for two or three weeks at a time. Yet later,…

He was half a second away from being pounded into the grass. In desperation, our Junior High quarterback flung the ball to the only open receiver on the field—me.  Clutching the laced leather, I raced toward the end zone, virtually unopposed. It was only as I crashed across the goal line that I finally understood all the yelling. I had run into the wrong end zone—ours!  To this day, I wish I could do that over. Here's another do-over.   It was half time at our high school football game.  I was in the marching band.  All 96 of us were…

As we sat under the porch of the Blue Gate restaurant, there was nothing blue at all about the evening sky.   It was as ink splotched and torn as our hearts were light and joyful. Why not?  Diana and I had just spent a day relaxing in Amish country—Shipshewana, Indiana.   We sampled 20 kinds of cheeses, shopped at 20 different stores (well…maybe not quite that many), played with unusual musical instruments, devoured a glazed cinnamon pretzel, and watched an Amish craftsman make a new belt for me.  We packed a lot in—and all of it was grand.   Please don't tell anyone…

1966. Philips created the “Radiorecorder”–better known as the boombox and Holland started to dance. 1975.  Boom boxes were booming in the U.S.–big time.     1980.  The first personal computer was introduced. 1983.  Cassette tapes outsold vinyl records for the first time…and boomboxes were as big as suitcases. 1990.  Boomboxes lost serious ground to the Sony Walkman. 1993. The internet went public. 1996.  Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound were introduced to our home theaters.   Boomboxes were fading. 1997.  Windows first incorporated support for mp3 audio into their Media Player.  2001.   The DVD was introduced.  2006 Blu-ray players were introduced globally. 2014. …

Recently, I bought a collection of Louis L'Amour western novels on Ebay. Some of them had special book club offers tucked inside.  Reading them is a time capsule in direct marketing. A 1971 edition of The Broken Gun pitched a Zane Grey Library—three books for one dollar (plus a few cents shipping charges).  In a 1981 copy of The Skyliners, I was urged to examine a hardback edition of Silver Canyon.  Bundled with a 1981 calendar, (valued at $6.95) who could possibly resist? Then, a 1993 print of The Trail to Seven Pines tried to rope me into—quote–”Claiming my reward!”   …