Thursday Thought

It may not be the rodeo capital of the world, but Shipshewana, Indiana, hosted an action-packed, cow-punchin’ event I’ll always remember. The pros there made it look easy, but trying to lasso a calf in just three tries (while being stop-watched) is no easy task. Once lassoed, the real fun began. The cowboys had to tie up the calf’s legs and “brand” it with white paint. But not one of those calves had the slightest interest in being tied up, so they raised plenty of dust. We saw one team lasso their calf almost immediately. In just a few more…

Passports are serious business. If you’re traveling internationally, you better have one. And it better be valid. I once flew with a group to Ghana, West Africa. Upon arrival, one team member couldn’t get in! They told him his passport was invalid because it was less than six months from expiring. The guy flew thousands of miles only to be turned around and sent back on the next flight to America. Passports are serious business. Above all, they vouch for our citizenship. They speak to the rights and protection offered by our home country. But believers have a different passport….

“Are you mean?” It’s not a question I was expecting from Emma. At five, she is what my wife calls the ultimate “snuggle buddy.” And we’d done plenty of that the night before as Emma fell asleep on my shoulder.   So, how should I answer her?  Since children see right through us, I figured I’d keep it simple, straightforward—and brutally honest. Like kids.   “Sometimes, we’re all mean,” I offered. “Sometimes you get angry and say things that are not nice. Sometimes I say or do something not nice. That’s why we have to say ‘I’m sorry.’ And that’s why we have…

A digital photo frame—for only $4? It seemed like the garage sale deal of the century. And the frame came with a story. On top of the box was a Christmas card affixed with a Santa gift tag. The card was addressed to Linda, who (according to the card) had recently lost her mother. The hope was that Linda would fill that frame with photos of her mom—to fill up her soul with good memories. It never happened. The photo frame was not just in the original box. It was still covered in shrink wrap. But seven years after it…

When was the last time you got hammered by Scripture? In Philippians 2:20, Paul says this about his spiritual protege, Timothy: “I have no one like him.” What made Timothy so unique? Was he a great preacher, a great scholar, or maybe a great evangelist? Paul’s answer: “For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.” Timothy’s focus was outward, others oriented. And that’s what made him so valuable. Turns out, in every age, the genuinely concerned have always been in short supply. Comedian Milton Berle once quipped, “An egoist is someone who is…

Purity. It’s big in today’s America. Pure Fitness is opening a ton of new workout centers across the country. And when showering after your workout, you can rely on Dove soap. It’s “99 and 44/100% pure,” we’re told. Thirsty? Grab a bottle of Pure Leaf Tea or Mr. Pure orange juice. And every well-equipped home should consider installing a Pur brand water filter system (not sure why they dropped the “e”). Today, we insist on pure diets, foods, and workouts. We might purchase Pure brand olive oil or Pure Food protein powders and supplements. And let’s not forget about Pure…

Nope. It’s not just your imagination. People are saying please and thank you less and less. UCLA researchers suggest the word please is going the way of the corded phone and VHS tapes—quaint if you have shelf space. In their now-published study of one thousand “request attempts,” adults used “please” just 7% of the time. Among children, it was used in 10% of requests. According to a 2023 report, just 52% of US adults consider politeness an essential quality for kids. Here’s the kicker. “When ‘please’ is used, it’s typically to stave off resistance from the requestee. Turning down a…

The morning was cold, the ground was hard, and Emma’s nose was runny. She and her sister Ava had spent the night at our camper. Though they’d set up chair cushions for mattresses, they’d slid off onto the trailer’s hard floor by morning. That’s when five-year-old Emma began to sneeze. “Bless you,” came big sister Ava’s reply. Emma sneezed again. “Bless you!” I replied. Less than a minute later, a third and a fourth sneeze followed. But a fifth sneeze awakened Emma’s curiosity: “Wait! How many ‘bless you’s did I get?” “Five,” I answered, unable to stifle a chuckle. Then, I…

What does Hamas feel about their war with Israel? In America, we get a heavily filtered look at the facts. However, the actual sources reveal at least three chilling alarms many Christians overlook.   Alarm #1: Hamas intends to repeat the October 7 Attack. During an October 24, 2023 interview on Lebanese television, Hamas member Ghazi Hamad declared: “Israel is a country that has no place on our land […] because it constitutes a security, military, and political catastrophe to the Arab and Islamic nation.” But there's more! Hamad vowed to repeat attacks like October 7 "time and again until…

As I walked through a Jacksonville airport store, I was confused. On the table was a stack of red and white lifeguard shirts. But since when can just anybody buy and wear a lifeguard shirt? Don’t you have to first be trained? Certified? Looking closer, I realized the shirts were merely souvenirs for a popular swim spot known as Jax Beach (shown in much smaller print). No doubt the shirts sell well because our age is consumed with “looking the part.” Going into a sporting goods store these days, you'll find very little sports equipment. It's primarily athletic wear, or…