Author: Jon Gauger

People who read are a dying breed.  

Fact is, if you read much of anything, you are in a distinct minority in America….just because you read.
 
One in four Americans didn't read even one book last year.  More than 50% of today's teens never read for pleasure.
 
According to a 2012 study by the National Endowment for the Arts, the number of Americans reading fiction has fallen to 44%–down from 50% only four years ago. Just a decade ago, about a third of us were “light readers” (between one and five books a year).  That number shrank to 23% by 2012.  More disturbing yet, the Pew Research Center suggests nearly 25% of Americans didn't read any books last year (whether print, digital or audio), a number that has tripled since 1978.
 
The two largest circulating magazines in the United States are AARP–The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. The number three slot, formerly occupied by Better Homes and Gardens, now belongs to Game Informer—the fastest growing magazine in America.  Ironically, it is a magazine that encourages readers to stop reading and play video games!
 
What does all this mean to followers of Christ?
After all, we have a message we want to get out there.
 
First, there is no need to panic.
But there IS a need to change. Evolve.  Strategize.
 
In Isaiah 55:11, God promises, “My Word will not return to me void.”
 
Digital platforms…mobile delivery…YouTube…and yes—traditional paper and ink books–are ALL going to be needed. Because that's where people are going…and that's where God's Word needs to be.
 
Thankfully, the destiny-changing gospel message is equally true whether conveyed in a papyrus, paperback, pdf, podcast…or erson!

Have you met my crazy friend, Jack?  Rides in lots of taxis.  Has a passion for witnessing to Muslims.  He told me about his latest encounter.
 
Jack was in downtown Chicago last week and hopped into a cab driven by a Somalian named Ahmed.  At first the conversation was lighthearted.  Ahmed (not his real name) asked Jack if he had traveled to Africa, which Jack has done, and this seemed to impress Ahmed. 
 
The two of them talked about the current instability in Somalia and Ahmed offered his “hope” that someday Somalia would get turned around.  Naturally, Jack seconded that wish, picking up on Ahmed's use of the word, hope.  Jack smiled and said, “I know the God of hope.”
 
Ahmed was intrigued.  “Do you mean Nelson Mandela?  He was a man of hope.”
 
“No.  I mean Jesus Christ.”
 
“Oh, so you are a Christian.”
 
“I am a follower of Christ. Because of that I know for sure I am going to heaven.  Some people only hope they are.”
 
“I only hope,” admitted Ahmed. “I am Muslim.”
 
Yet Ahmed was quick to suggest to Jack that Christians and Muslims “worship the same God.”  Jack wasn't buying: “I don't think so.  My God has a Son, Jesus Christ, who claimed to be equal with God—claimed He was God.  That's why he was killed on the cross.”
 
“But we believe in the same God,” insisted Ahmed.  More dialogue as the cab wove its way down LaSalle Boulevard. 
 
All too soon the ride came to an end.  That's when Jack offered to pray for Ahmed, who had one last question: “Are you going to pray to the real God?”
 
Jack assured him that he would.  They prayed, with Jack ending his prayer (mostly a blessing on Ahmed's taxi business) asking that “Ahmed would come to know Isa (Jesus) as He revealed Himself in the Scriptures.”   With that, Jack tipped the driver generously and stepped out into the noise that is Chicago.

 

For the past week, I've held the equivalent of skybox tickets for a demolition project one block away.  Better than a Nik Wallenda tightrope walk, these high-act daredevils are disassembling a water tower said to be a century old.
 
 The tricky part is the water tower juts up into a dense residential neighborhood.  Trickier yet, the thing is more than one hundred feet tall, so you can't just stick an explosive at the base of the tower and let it crumble.

 
 The demolition crew is using two massive telescoping cranes, the largest of their type I've ever seen. One photo I snapped shows a red cloud of century old dust wafting into the wind as one of the wooden planks is yanked out   Another shot, from the ground looking up, shows the frightening height at which these workers are wielding hammers, welding torches and crowbars—with no apparent safety rope.
 
 Some observations about this feat of destructive daring.  First, removing the tower has taken courage.  At one point, the workers stood on ancient metal joists—no walls, no net.
 
 Second, removing the tower has taken time. They've been at it for more than a week.
 
 Third, removing the tower has taken skilled workers—otherwise they'd be dead.
 
 Watching this aerial act outside my office window, I’m reminded the water tower performed a vital function at one time.  We needed what it had to offer. But for decades, it's merely been occupying space—and over time, grown ugly.
 
 I suppose we've all got defunct water towers like that in our lives: old habits, old hobbies, old philosophies.  Maybe it's time they were taken down.  But don't underestimate the task.
 
 The same Jesus who counseled those who would build a tower to “first sit down and calculate the cost” would no doubt be realistic enough to remind us that taking down a tower has a price tag of its own.

It made the front page of every newspaper in America: Former Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert—Indicted.  The allegation: hush money—and lots of it—paid to keep a misconduct quiet. Hastert’s guilt or innocence is up for others to decide.  But may I share my own encounter with Denny Hastert?

Several years ago, I was tasked with writing and producing a series of anti-marijuana public service announcements for a radio campaign.  As a freelancer, I was asked to fly to Washington and record endorsements for this campaign from a high profile congressional Democrat and Republican.  Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House, was the chosen Republican.

In the surprisingly dark hallways of the United States Capitol building I breathed in power’s musky fragrance, ultimately setting up shop in Dennis Hastert’s (impressively sized) office.  I handed him the script, powered up my recorder and we went to work.

The problem was this.  Mr. Hastert might well have been an effective legislator.  But a narrator he was not (few politicians are).  Frankly, his reading sounded unnatural, flat. But what was I supposed to do?  He was, after all, the man second in line to succeed the President of the United States.

In that perplexing moment (and it was a bit awkward) I chose to do what I always do when coaching “voice talent.”  I politely observed “that was a good first read. But I wonder if we could try it slightly differently—like this.”  He did.  It was slightly better. So we recorded again—and again, eventually getting an acceptable take.

It could be that the allegations against Mr. Hastert are ultimately found groundless. But if found guilty, I will always wonder how differently his life would have been if someone else had been there coaching him, critiquing him when he started making wrong decisions.

Proverbs 10:17, “He is on the path of life who heeds instruction.  But he who ignores reproof goes astray.”  

It may well be awkward giving—or receiving—reproof.  But it’s the only path that leads to life.

Being an older sibling has its advantages.

Disadvantages, too.

Take Caleb and Lucy.

He’s two-and-a-half.  She’s one-and-a-half.

 In an early march toward the “terrible twos” Lucy has chosen to resolve sibling conflict utilizing her teeth.  Her well exercised jaws (Lucy is an eager eater) and full set of teeth are formidable weapons.

As Caleb is her most frequent playmate, he is also the most frequent recipient of her biting.  Lucy’s parents are doing a terrific job of discipline.  Yet Lucy is of the strong-willed stripe.  If she feels a bite comin’ on…woe be to you if your finger should get near her mouth.

But if Lucy’s mouth leaves a red mark, Caleb’s mouth is leaving an impression all his own. His weapons are words.

To any guest—friend or stranger—who enters their home, Caleb will gladly march up, point to his little sister Lucy and proclaim with gravitas: “Hers a biter.”

Like you, I laughed when I first heard about Caleb’s preemptive strike.  In three unflattering words, he defines the universe of all you need to know about his little sister: “Hers a biter.”

Missing from his three word assessment is that Lucy also has a love of books, a tender heart, and a way of putting her head on your shoulder that makes you melt.

We laugh at Lucy and Caleb (hey, they’re our grandkids!)…but you and I do the same thing: paint a person, or entire culture, with one broad brush—and two or three unflattering words:

• “They’re snobby…”
• “They’re lazy…”
• “They’re untrustworthy…

In so doing, we shut down dialogue, tear down bridges, and violate Scripture.  Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

Let’s stop with the two-year-old behavior.

After all, grown-ups should know better.

If I twist my neck hard enough, I can see the disappearing shores of Lake Michigan out the window of our aircraft.  Frankly, I've had to discipline myself to take in the view.  That's right; force myself to gaze down on the majesty of a spring morning from 20,000 feet.

Bombastic clouds throw mottled patterns on the landscape below.  The green of the young season is so intense as to appear unnaturally tweaked in Photoshop.  Yet I scarcely notice any of it.

 Is it tiredness?  Perhaps. But the truth is much worse.  I'm no longer in awe.  Too many early morning plane rides.

I'm reminded of another early morning jet flight, my first.  Dad took me with him on a business trip up to Michigan. I remember every exquisite detail: the sounds, the smells, the clack of the seat buckle.

Dad had described the take-off experience so vividly, I wanted more than anything to feel the sensation of the nose lifting up higher than the rest of the aircraft. The take-off did not disappoint but my fellow passengers did.   The guy across the aisle read a magazine, bored.  Many others were lost in newspapers, and still more trying to doze off.  All of this while amazing scenery rushed by outside the window. How could they? I thought.  Mystery and marvel were there for the taking, but alas, went unspoken for.

I swore then and there I would never let that happen to me—that I would remain wide-eyed and in awe of the experience.  If a yawn is the currency of boredom, familiarity asks too high a price.   Yet here I am.  Weary and wonderless.

 As repetition dulls the edge of wonder, the sharper-than-any-two-edged-Sword

offers a focal point for restoration: “God thunders with His voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend” (Job 37:5).

Look out your window.  Look now.  There's wonder out there!

Have you ever had a book reach out and grab you?
 
It happened to me recently in the library at Moody Bible Institute. Walking past shelves of missionary volumes, I was unable to resist their siren call.  I made the mistake of slowing down long enough to pick up a few of the wonderful books reaching out to me.   The covers were mesmerizing: 
 

• Amid Artic Snows–A Story of Gospel Pioneers in Iceland

• The Martyrs of Blantyre

• James Harrington–The Merchant’s Son Who was Martyred for Africa

• In Leper land—A Record of my 7,000 Miles among Indian lepers

 
Many of the books included subtitles speaking of longevity in the field: “My thirty years in the jungle” or “Forty years of desert ministry.”
 
The longer I spent pondering these volumes of valor, the more a question nagged at me.  Are we as fully committed and fully engaged in the missionary movement today as were the Martyrs of Blantyre or The Merchant’s Son Who was Martyred for Africa?
 
It seems like in America, more and more people do a “short term missionary project”…yet fewer consider full time missionary service.  I know a number of missionaries who went to the field for a few years and called it quits. 
 
Sure, God might well call someone to a career change.  Still, I wonder.  Has missions lost its mojo?  Is our zeal for the Great Commission…less than great?
 
I’m all for “short term missions”…but not at the expense of long term missions.
Let’s resist the urge to say, “I’ve been to Africa.  I did my missions thing.” Why not, instead, ask God if His adventure for your life might well be somewhere “over there” rather than here?
 
If the fields were “white unto harvest” in Jesus’ day, surely they are no less ready for harvest in ours!

“Honestly, I'd pretty much given up,” said my friend, Jack, boring a hole through me with his intense look. 

 

“You can't mean that,” I countered.

 

“I do.  We'd been trying and trying to get together with Bud and his wife for months.”  (Bud is Jack's unsaved friend, whom Jack has been praying for more than 30 years.  Yet Bud still hasn't received Christ).  Jack went on.

 

“We've called them, invited them to dinner repeatedly (our treat of course).  But it's somehow never been 'the right time.'”

 

“Well maybe it wasn't,” I agreed.

 

“Maybe.  But as my wife pointed out, it's a two-way street.  Bud could just as easily call us, if he was interested.”  Jack had me there.  He went on.

 

“That's why I finally prayed and said to God, 'Look, maybe this chapter in our lives is over.  Maybe this thing with Bud is done.  That's okay.  I won't force this.  I just ask that you have someone else around Bud and his wife who knows Jesus and is really caring for Bud, praying for him.”  Jack's pause indicated he wanted me to ask him what happened next.

 

“So what happened next?”

 

“Well, my son and I were at Home Depot shortly after that prayer, looking for lumber.  Inside of 30 seconds, you'll never guess who snuck up behind us?”

 

“Bud?” I asked.

 

“Exactly!”  Jack had this big ol' smile on his face.  “He gave us all kinds of advice for our building project—advice we frankly needed. He even told us the specific hardware we needed to get…walked us over to the aisle where we could find it.  Then he was gone—stocking up on materials for his own job.”

 

“So how'd that make you feel?”

 

“Incredible.  Like…I was seeing the hand of God…as if the Almighty was suggesting that maybe this thing with Bud was not 'over.'  I wonder if God has another chapter He wants to write.  Not trying to go too crazy with this, of course.  But the timing is just too weird to dismiss as coincidence.”

 

Hearing all this makes me believe there really is a place for bold praying.  Like Jack's.   Maybe I'm praying “too small.”

 

You?

You've seen funnel clouds.

You've seen tornadoes.

But imagine a path of destruction more than 20 miles long.

Such a tornado touched down recently in north central Illinois, not far from where my wife and I often visit on weekends.   Cruising through this rural area is no longer a peaceful drive.  A restaurant we've eaten at was leveled by the storm.  So were dozens of homes and farms.   We managed to get up close to some of the wreckage and I snapped some pictures–a soul-darkening experience.

The photos don't begin to do justice to the violence: mangled farm implements, trucks tossed onto their backs… scraps of insulation, chunks of wood, metal fragments jammed at obtuse angles into the ground.  The odd assortment of upright fragments made front yards appear like cemeteries to the dead and dismembered homes all around. 

In a scene recalling the planting of the American flag on Iwo Jima, I saw one worker atop a knocked over grain silo, seemingly determined to get the thing set up right. Most shocking of all were the eerily clean cement slabs where houses had stood— driveways now leading to nowhere. 

There was one (literal) bright spot in all of this destruction: Samaritan's Purse, Franklin Graham's relief organization.  The orange tee-shirts of the volunteer workers were impossible to miss.  The workers cleared trees, hauled wheelbarrows and moved mountains of debris.

By contrast, I didn't happen to see any volunteers from the American Civil Liberties Union or Americans United for Separation of Church and State.  No, the people digging through the mud were followers of Jesus, serving as His hands and feet.  A reminder that rescue is never far from the heart of Christ.

Psalm 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

Kindness sometimes wears red suspenders.

My son, Tim, and I had just flown from Chicago to Kansas and our GPS was struggling to locate the house of the guest we were trying to visit.

With a population of 858, McLouth is not exactly a major metropolis.  Still, we were stymied.  We were also hungry, had time to burn before our meeting, and decided to get something to eat before tackling the final GPS challenge.

Traveler, be warned.  Dining choices in McLouth are scarce.  We ended up munching on pork sandwiches from the local Casey's gas station.  In the comfort of our Toyota Yaris, we observed a gentleman seated in a tan Chevy minivan.  He wore black sweat pants, a purple shirt and blazing red suspenders.

“S'penders” went in and out of the Casey's gas station several times, each trip clutching a new lottery game card.   Apparently, he would scratch off the (losing) numbers and then go back and buy another card. Resting on the front of his dashboard was a large white Texan hat. Curious fellow, this S'penders.   

It was now time to show up at my friend's home, but the numbers on the houses we were seeing didn't appear to sequence with the address which I knew to be our destination. 

I had to ask somebody–hopefully a local.  But who?  That's when S'penders expressed interest. I gave him the street address, which didn't ring a bell. So he asked in a stereotypical-good-guy-cowboy voice, “What's the name of the feller yir lookin' for?”  We told him.

“He's just up the street—first house next to the big field.”

And it was so.

It's easy for us clean-shaven, clean-livin' Christian folk to write off characters like our friend, “S'penders.”  But kindness comes in all shapes and sizes.  And sometimes, it wears suspenders.

“Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness humility, gentleness and patience.”   –Colossians 3:12