It’s the largest home in America. Can you name it?  It’s Asheville’s Biltmore estate.

When railroad and shipping magnate George Vanderbilt first visited Asheville in 1888, he fell in love with the place and promptly amassed land to construct his sprawling residence.  Forget acres.  The Biltmore sits on nearly 11 square miles!                    

Any sense of scale was out-scaled in the construction of this home.  To ship in the raw materials and labor, a special railroad spur was created.  Every day for nearly seven years, hundreds of workers plopped themselves on top of timbers, tile and stone bound for the construction site. 

By Christmas Eve, 1895, the home was finally opened.  And what a home!  

Imagine 250 rooms, including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, three kitchens, a bowling alley, and even an indoor pool.  While you and I speak in terms of square footage, this estate boasts of four acres of floor space.  Truly, Mr. Vanderbilt…built more.

But even as we mounted the stairs, trekked through the halls and gawked at the opulence, I heard the voice of One whose estate will dwarf anything Mr. Vanderbilt ever conceived.

Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

And if Jesus is the architect and builder, it’s a safe bet those dwellings will be nothing less than spectacular:

What no eye has seen,

what no ear has heard,

and what no human mind has conceived —

the things God has prepared for those who love him

--1 Corinthians 2:9

Here’s to living forever in the house that Jesus is building!

The animals are leaving!

A favorite small town nature museum is about to get a make-over.  But maybe not for the best.   Currently on display are more than 50 mounted and stuffed wild animals ranging from a beaver to a bison. They represent life on America's plains and frankly, they are magnificent.

I never tire of crouching down and locking eyes with a trio of coyotes.  Processing the span of a wolf's paw is enough to bring a shudder.  And peering at a mountain lion up close jerks one into a fresh reality of the killing machine these creatures can be. 

But most of these beautifully preserved animal displays are about to disappear in a nod toward modernization.  They will be replaced by interactive displays--touch-screen monitors.  In the world of museums, this has become the de facto standard.

The new displays will share more information, but they will largely insulate visitors from a proper sense of wonder.   Providing more information in the information age might be like dumping water into a water fall.   We already have enough, thanks!

What we lack is a capacity for wonder.   In fact, I'd call it an endangered species.  Wonder is so rare, we don't miss it—and don't know that we should. 

It's almost as if curators and others are afraid to let us draw our own conclusions about the animals.   Or they fear that because the mounted bison currently on display doesn't spin, flash or make noise, it will fail to capture our imagination.  Not so.

Gauging that the back of a bison is as tall as my head is a wondrous reality that comes not from peering at an HD screen, but from standing next to the real thing.  I say, let’s learn to ponder the real thing and leave touch screens for video games.

Give awe some space.  Let it marinate in time--and wonder is the byproduct.

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name is your name in all the earth.”  --Psalms 8:1

Spring has finally reached Illinois.  And trust me, this year we had our doubts.

If you are fortunate enough to live outside the Midwest, kindly indulge my excessive jubilation over the sight of leaves on trees.  While you may have been enjoying them for weeks or months now, where we go camping, many of the trees are still only budding.

As I pondered their green grandeur, I was struck by the potential of just one tree. Consider this.   One single tree provides shade that means comfort for picnics...and lower air conditioning bills at home.

A tree provides food.  Caterpillars and other critters lunch and munch on every tree, while armies of ants trek up and down the trunk trafficking food. 

A tree provides homes for animals like birds, squirrels and raccoons.

Then there's the beauty of a tree...the sound of a tree, whether the rustle of leaves, or the whisper of a pine bough swish.

A tree provides a wind barrier a sound barrier, and natural privacy.  We haven't discussed lumber production.  Or paper.  Or, in the case of Maple trees, syrup.  Haven't mentioned apples and peaches and pears and almonds and walnuts or pine cones (with help from a seven year old named Joslynn, I collect them).

And did I mention an average tree absorbs about 48 pounds of carbon dioxide annually, while creating about 260 pounds of oxygen each year?

Now...put all of those factoids into perspective as you read Psalm One's description of a godly woman or man whose delight is in the Law of the Lord:

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leave does not whither.   Whatever he does prospers.”

Want to provide shade, comfort, protection and life for others? God says,

     “Be like a tree.

      Delight in Me.”

Some missionaries work in foreign countries.

My friend Jack works as a missionary in (mostly) foreign cars—Chicago cabs (where the Toyota Prius is king). 

Crazy guy, Jack.  He'll talk to any taxi driver, any time about Jesus. But his latest ride in downtown Chicago is a conversation I just had to pass along.  Here's how Jack told the story to me:

“Clearly, my driver was not born in the U.S., so after the usual greeting stuff, I asked him straight up, 'What is your country of birth?'  He says, with a playful smile, 'Can you guess?'

“Well, I've traveled a couple of times to West Africa,” Jack muses, “so I just guessed Ghana.  Looking into the rear view mirror, I could see a big ol' smile on the driver's face (name is James, by the way).”

The ride would be less than two miles, so Jack wasted little time moving into missionary mode. He continued:

“'Tell me, are you going to heaven?' I asked James boldly and with a smile.  A smile is a wonderful outreach tool, Jack adds parenthetically.   “The driver tells me, 'Well, I try to do good things, so I hope so.'”

Jack can be blunt—and I suppose when you have just a few seconds to get to the point, you better get to the point.   Jack told James:

“'I have bad news and good news.  The bad news is that you can't be good enough.  The good news is that the goodness of Jesus in dying on the cross for you and me—IS good enough.'  This, of course, sparked a whole conversation, and I quoted verses like Ephesians 2:8.9, reminding him that we are not saved by works, but by faith in Christ Jesus.”

“The ride went by fast, but when he pulled over to the curb, I asked the guy, 'James, is there any reason why you would not want to receive the gift of eternal life right now?'  He told me no, so I asked if I could pray with him in the cab.”

“Right there, he prayed with me to receive Christ.  What a great way to start your day,” concluded Jack.

What a great day, indeed!

The April edition of the American Legion Magazine featured an eye-popping article with regard to ISIS here in America.  According to the Foreign Policy Institute, the source of this article, in 2015…

• 56 Americans were arrested for their connection to ISIS.

• As of 2016, more than 20 American ISIS recruits have been killed in action.

• 71 Americans have been arrested, indicted, or convicted for joining or supporting ISIS.

• 250 Americans have attempted to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS.

• There are at least 900 active FBI investigations against stateside terrorists.  Most are linked to ISIS.

While on the one hand, it's encouraging to know that Homeland Security, the FBI and CIA are on the job, on the other hand, it's disturbing to ponder just how many Americans are lining up to join ISIS. 

These Americans have to know...

• Number one, they are not linking up with a mere political entity or philosophy.  They are signing up for a lifestyle that will engage them in torture, mutilation, murder, decapitation and worse.
• Number two, they are aligning themselves with a group viciously opposed to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to assemble—and most every other right Americans hold dear. 

In other words, ISIS is committed to the destruction of America—and any nation like it.   Strict adherence to Islam—by whatever name it goes by—usually has the same objective.

Young Muslim children taught to recite the entire Quran are usually indoctrinated to believe that anyone who does not believe in Allah is an infidel.  Infidels, according to the Quran must usually be subjugated or killed.

But please (please!) note.  We are not at war with our Islamic friends and neighbors.  Our fight—a spiritual one, reminds Ephesians 6—is against the deception of a dark  system of belief.   

Got your armor on?