Recently, I emceed an event for Awana Clubs at Northside Gospel Center in Chicago. Awana—the Bible program—co-founded by Art Rorheim who is 98 years old, soon to be 99. He stood with great strength and composure, speaking to the crowd who gave him a standing ovation. What does a 98-year-old man say at an event like this? A man who has launched a Bible club attended by more than 2.3 million kids in 102 countries…every week? A man who traces his spiritual roots to Paul Rader and the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle. A man who has met at least two U.S….
Kids in Church
How welcome are children in your church? The question is not rhetorical. I am asking you to think carefully. Why shouldn’t we? We bemoan the sense of disconnect today’s emerging generation feels toward the church, and the many ways they are unplugging. Yet I wonder if in some ways we haven’t invited them to leave. "You don't belong!" “Preposterous!” you say. “We have many wonderful programs for kids at our church—and they are well attended!” Maybe you do have a lot of well attended classes and events. Yet if young kids rarely or never take part in the main event—your…
Kindness Matters
Do small acts of kindness really matter? Do they make any real difference? Does God actually take note of them? I know the Sunday School answer, of course. I know the theological rubric. (I’m a Moody grad, an ordained minister). Still, I sometimes wonder. Do you? Dusting off old memories This weekend, I attended an Awana “Historic Walls of Fame” event. We were there to celebrate what God has done in establishing a Bible club now attended weekly by 2. 3 million kids in more than 100 countries. When the program was over, I met with someone I hadn’t seen…
What Courage Looks Like
What does courage look like? Chiune Sugihara is a name most of us have never heard of. Yet this man, born in Japan in 1900, is a soul who embodies Christian courage. Joining a Christian fraternity at his university, Chiune became proficient at learning languages—English, German, Russian—launching him into a career with Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bombing Raid In 1939, his government placed Chiune at the Japanese consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania. There, he met a Jewish man who had recently fled Poland after a bombing raid had taken the lives of his wife and children. It was then Chiune…
Watcha Readin’?
A comfortable chair, a scenic backdrop—and an all-absorbing book. That’s what Diana and I call ultimate relaxation. Reading is a hobby my wife and I share with gusto. She reads a wide range of devotional books, historical fiction, cookbooks, and a lot about the British monarchy (she could probably earn a haul on Jeopardy). I read biographies, westerns, action novels (think Clive Cussler), mysteries (John Grisham, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle) plus Christian writers like Tim Keller, Kyle Idleman, Charles Spurgeon, and J.C. Ryle. Right now, I'm reading a book by puritan Richard Baxter. I’m learning that any title by…
Things We Claim Are Important
One of the many reasons most of us dread a trip to the dentist is that the news we get there seems disproportionately negative. Whether it’s a simple dental cleaning (“You need to floss more”) or an X-ray (“that spot suggests a problem”) a dental exam is rarely a good news kind of experience. Open Wide! May I play the role of the dentist-you-dread for just a moment? Open wide–we’re about to take an exam based on a discomforting hypothesis of mine. Simply stated, it goes like this: Most of us Christians have a long list of stuff we claim…
It Meant a Lot
“Have I got a story for you!” When my friend, Jack, opens a conversation like that, he usually does. “Bob sounded upset. I could tell.” Jack was talking about his friend Bob, whom he has known for nearly 30 years. For more than 20 of those years, Bob and his wife Betty were Jack’s neighbors. "If Only I Had More Evidence" During those years, Jack and his wife, Deanna, tried to witness to them, and shared the gospel on several occasions. But Bob is extraordinarily independent and convinced that God will somehow squash all of his freedom should he yield…
We are Near Jesus Christ!
The wonder of children…is their sense of wonder. At three years of age, Lucy is full of wonder. But the Christmas season has a way of drawing it out, like nothing else. Along with her three siblings, Lucy was intrigued with the idea of visiting a live nativity. The Ponte Vedra Presbyterian Church of Jacksonville, Florida does it up big. Think 8,000 square feet of big! Think thousands of visitors walking about the streets of a recreated city of Bethlehem—some walls towering 20 feet in the air. Don't be frightened off by all the yelling Hear the sounds of the…
Go Tell it on the Mountain
He is every teacher's nightmare—the pain of the preschool, according to my wife, Diana. Just look for the boy grabbing toys away from others. Or shoving kids in line. Or hitting the child that ticks him off. That's Garrett. He plays too rough. Talks too loud. Cares too little about anyone or anything other than himself. Having heard so many stories about Garrett, I was most interested in meeting the little tyke as I showed up with my camera bag. Like Herding Cats My wife has a rich tradition of taking a Christmas class photo in front of a floor-to-ceiling…
Outrageous Gift Giving
It's the one last Christmas gift he invites her to open. It’s a small box. Inside, a key. It goes with the (CUE THE MUSIC) Lexus sitting in their driveway. The one with the massive red bow on top. She gives him a look, then a kiss (MUSIC SWELLS), and they roar off down the road happily ever after as the voice-over invites us to get in on the gift giving. Who DOES this? Am I the only one watching these commercials wondering, “Who DOES this?! Who gives their wife or husband a Lexus or Lincoln MKZ as a Christmas…