An attractive billboard

Here’s the billboard that grabs my attention every time I’m at the traffic light on Glenwood Avenue and Route 224. You can’t tell from my amateur photo, but a number lights up in that blank spot to advertise the average time a guest to Northside Hospital’s Emergency Room has to wait to be seen by a medical professional.

What a brilliant idea!  Even though that facility is miles from my home, I’m still interested in the billboard because I’ve done the parent thing; hanging out in ER waiting rooms for hours with a sick or injured child.  In those situations, it’s hard not to speculate on why it takes so long.

Jesus was ticked off. Lucky for us.

Photo credit: ….Tim / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

The Hulk is a very confusing super hero. In the movie The Avengers everyone, including Bruce Banner (the guy who turns into the Hulk when he gets angry), is wary of the appearance of the green monster. But they know they need him at some point if they are to be successful against the evil Loki.

Towards the end of the movie when things were getting rough for the Avengers, Banner realizes that the Hulk must appear. He calmly walks in the direction of the massive enemy and reveals how he has learned to control when the Hulk appears. Captain America tells him that now might be a good time to get angry. Banner looks back just before he transforms into the enigmatic hero and says, “That’s my secret . . . I’m always angry.”

Why is it tough to be the beneficiary of generosity?

Great idea: (pre) Mothers’ Day Free Car wash

Moms always want a clean car.  Denny Pallay isn’t a mom, but he loves upkeep on cars and teaching people how to maintain their vehicles.  This picture is the result of the plans we made that I posted about during the kids’ Spring Break.

On Saturday, from noon to four pm, Denny led the way as a dozen or so people from the high school and junior high groups from our church washed, waxed and vacuumed cars for any mom. If that wasn’t enough, he recruited his wife and daughter, Sharon and Wendy, to put together sweets for the moms as they waited. And the charge for this? Absolutely nothing.

Why did Jesus leave you here?

Photo credit: Ken Schwarz / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

As has been humorously put, when we become Christians, there are two things we can do on earth that we won’t be able to do in heaven: sin and witness.  The question for us is to decide which one we think Jesus left us here to do.

-Mike Breen and Alex Absalom, Launching Missional Communities

Why does it take a tragedy to bring out the best in us?

Photo credit: hahatango / Foter.com / CC BY

Without fail, whenever a terrible event occurs there are stories of people performing incredibly selfless acts to help the victims.  Monday’s bombing in Boston was no exception. The media’s bombarding of our airwaves with video clips of the terrible thing shows that even in the earliest moments after the explosion many people ran toward the carnage. It’s evidence that there are good people who are ready to help when others are desperately in need.

However, there are many instances in everyday life when people are in need and nobody helps them.  So, what does it take to get people to sacrifice their time, efforts or even finances to aid them?

How Not to Communicate

Silence, however powerful, is not the cause of poor communication – the fear of pain is.  It is basic to human nature to seek pleasure and avoid pain.  But people actually avoid pain first and then seek pleasure.

Les and Leslie Parrott, Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts, Page 81

This book by Les and Leslie Parrott is about marriage, but I also heard truth in it about our difficulty with sharing Jesus Christ.  We know that telling people about Jesus is our most important job as Christians, yet most of us have never done it – and never will.

The young adult group discussion that I mentioned in my last post was based on a chapter in my book.  They are graciously reading my book and discussing it one chapter a week.  It’s based on John 10 where Jesus uses the analogy of a shepherd and his sheep to explain the relationship he has with us.  The Shepherd (Jesus) leads us (his followers) to pasture, but that only happens if we actually leave the safety of the pen to follow him.  The pasture is the ultimate fulfillment for the sheep; their way of living life to the fullest extent.

To See or not to See? The Bible TV Series

Commercialism is a conundrum for the Christian community.  Obviously, we need to get the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible, and we need to be equipped to do it.  But, where do we draw the line?

Then there’s the question of the quality of the products produced. As my friend, J.S. Park, blogged, buying into stuff simply because they have been made by Christians is pretty dumb.  That results in poor quality that ends up grossly misrepresenting our awesome God.

Then there’s the problem of biblical accuracy whenever Hollywood gets involved with sharing the Gospel.  The Word of God must never be altered so that His message rings loud and clear, and they just can’t help putting their own twist on things.

So, should we buy into this TV series on the History Channel or not?

We did. Here’s why.

March Madness, is there an upset in the making?

flickr photo by ianmalcm

Yeah baby!  March Madness is right around the corner. It’s the do-or-die, youthful energy that surpasses that of pro hoops. Thousands of kids from schools all over the country wear their colors with pride as their teams fight for the honored title of National Champions. And there’s one aspect of it that get me going every time.

It happens every year, and it seems to be a more common occurrence as the years go by. It doesn’t matter how small your school or its lack of a powerful b-ball heritage, as long as your team is selected as one of the 68 there is a chance to win the top prize.

Butler, previously unrecognized by most NCAA enthusiasts, surprised the country by making the championship game two years – losing by the final shot to the perennial powerhouse Duke Bluedevils in the first year. My favorite game of all time was the National Championship game in the ’80s when 8th seeded Villanova defeated top ranked Georgetown.

Lesson: don’t underestimate the competition.

How does somebody plan to do the first 360 back flip in a car?

Whenever somebody does something for the first time in history, it’s a pretty big deal.  I’m not even into cars much and this is impressive to me.  How did Guerlain Chicherit, the Frenchman driving the Mini Cooper in this video, start the journey towards such a crazy concept?

It took four years to complete.  This is the kinda thing you don’t want to get wrong.  It’s not like you can start with smaller flips, graduating from a 90 degree flip to a 180 or something.  Both would be disastrous.  How do you choose the right car make and what alterations need to be made?

The potential value of a quarter

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A quarter isn’t much.  What can you buy for a quarter nowadays?  Back in the day it was a regular occurrence.   I remember buying a good candy bar, a can of soda (the major brands), or a turn on one of those small rides outside of Kmart, but that was back in the ’70s.  It got you a chance to challenge your skills on a video game in the ’80s, except for the really cool games that you had to sit in to play – they took two quarters.

I struggle to think of what a quarter can get you now, though:  Fifteen minutes on a parking meter, a couple of notebooks at Walmart in August, a Big Mac when you buy another at regular price (for a limited time), or half of a quality chicken wing. But, there was one day a couple of weeks ago when a quarter had great value for me.