Mental Musings

Have you ever been faced with a difficult decision? A life and death decision? Jim and Betty Elliot and their friends wanted to help the Auca (Ahka) Indians of Equador to learn about Jesus. The problem was that the Auca were very vicious, people and anytime someone had tried to approach them from the outside they had been killed. After months of trying to slowly connect, the Auca came to their camp in force and killed them. The Aucas always remembered those five strange white men who had been so kind to them and had not tried to kill them. And so, a year later when more missionaries tried again to speak to the Aucas about Jesus, they were ready to listen. Several of the men who had helped to kill Jim and his friends with their spears now became Christians. Lottie Moon was a single woman who had a passion for telling the Chinese about Jesus. In 1873 she started her missionary work in China. War broke out in China in 1894 and then widespread famine. Lottie shared her mone...

I want to tell you about two stories that seem strange, but are absolutely, 100% true. Both stories had numerous eyewitness accounts and have been documented numerous times. The first that I want to tell you about happened on Christmas Eve in 1914 during World War I. This story seems too good to be true, but it did happen. About 100,000 soldiers participated in an impromptu truce that Christmas. Most of these truces ended later on Christmas day, but some continued until the New Year. Not all the stories from that night are as heartwarming. In a couple areas while soldiers on both sides attempted to engage each other in truce they were shot and killed by the opposing sides. But for the most part, on Christmas Eve 1914, thousands of soldiers set aside their weapons and the war so that they could take photos, play soccer, sing songs, and eat together. Most accounts suggest the truce began with carol singing from the trenches on Christmas Eve. Pvt. Albert Moren of the Seco...

Have you ever heard of Casey, Illinois? No? That is hard to believe since it is home to 7 of the world’s largest items as recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records. That’s right, this little town with a population of 2700 people that is midway between Indianapolis, Indiana, and St. Louis, Missouri, along Interstate 70, has made a name for itself. They have the world’s largest wind chime that is 56 feet high with a 42-foot-long chime, a rocking chair that is over 56 feet high and weighs 46,200 pounds, a golf tee that is 30 feet high and weighs over 6600 pounds, a pitchfork that is 60 feet long, wooden shoes that are over 11 feet long and 4 feet high, a mailbox that is over 32 feet tall, a crochet hook and knitting needles that are 9 pounds and 25 pounds respectively. They also have 4 additional “big” items in their town: big coin, big pencil, big birdcage, and a big yardstick—that is 36 feet long rather than 36 inches long. They also are the location for the Illinois So...

Sunday, November 27th was the start of the season of Advent. Traditionally advent has been the 4 Sundays prior to Christmas and Christmas Eve. It represents a time of waiting or anticipation for the coming Messiah. As believers we can also see this as a time to anticipate the return of Jesus. Each Sunday we light a new candle to represent an important part of the Christmas story. On the first Sunday the candle is the Prophet candle. I think it is perhaps the best candle to explain why this time of waiting, this time of anticipation, was seen and continues to be seen as a Season of Hope. The English poet Alexander Pope wrote, “Hope springs eternal,” but where do we turn when hope dries up? A terminally ill young man who came in for his usual treatment was seen by a new doctor who was on duty. This doctor said to him casually and cruelly, “You know, don’t you, that you won’t live out the year?”  As the young man left, he stopped by the front desk and wept. “That man took aw...