Daily Got a Minute Message with John Ed

We desire certainty, but we are constantly confronted with uncertainty. Being certain about something appears to give a stronger, positive sense of moving in that direction. Uncertainty easily raises a level of stress. Watching the stock market is a good example. Some people are suggesting that maybe our faith can be stronger not by just “playing it safe” with things that are certain, but being willing to confront things that are uncertain, and then invite God into the situation and work with us and through us to change uncertainty to certainty. People are uncertain about what happens after death—Christian faith gives us complete certainty in knowing that when we take our last earthly breath, our next breath will be a Heavenly breath. That’s the most important certainty for all of us.

How do you combat something that you feel is bad for society? We dream up a lot of ways to do that, and sometimes it works better than it was ever intended. Officials in Anchorage, Alaska started levying a 5% tax on cannabis products. Officials announced recently a $462,000 budget shortfall due to residents buying less weed. Often times, these things are referred to as “sin taxes,” they are meant to discourage harmful behavior. I think Anchorage has discovered that it does work. What “sin challenges” are prevalent today and what could we do to help discourage them? It would be a great joy to be surprised at how effective we could be.

A lot of things in life focus on minimizing a number of negative things. Some of those are very good. Recently, there has been a lot being written about a new kind of therapy that deals with depression that focuses on positive paths to joy. It is called PAT, Positive Affect Treatment.  It focuses on doing positive things that can help treat mental health challenges. I like that idea. In all of life, I think it is more healing and effective to focus on positive things that lead to more positive things rather than trying to simply eliminate the number and effect on negative things. Paul tells us how to do that in Philippians 4:8.

At a Maryland animal rescue, French bulldog mix puppy Blueberry and a 9-month-old black cat Meadow came to the Last Chance Animal Rescue separately. Each had severe injuries, but they became inseparable during their recovery. Each had lost a limb. The animal rescue unit advertised on Facebook for someone to adopt both Blueberry and Meadow together and they immediately had a couple to volunteer. Guess what? The couple already had one three-legged cat. So, they had two cats and a dog who were severely handicapped, but they are extremely happy together. There might be someone today who has tough challenges. Could you be the person who could help them discover that they have value and that there are good people to whom they can relate? Learn from Blueberry and Meadow.

There are always some outstanding plays in sports that capture our attention. One such action is when an outfielder is able to leap high above the wall and rob someone of a home run. Recently, Joe Adell, an outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels, did this three times when he caught three potential home runs during the Angel’s 1-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Now that is really something. Think about this. No player ever managed more than four home run robberies over the entire 2025 baseball season. That’s a real defensive accomplishment. What are you willing to let God use you today to do something that may go fairly unnoticed, but can make a big difference in life today?

Ben O’Reilly is a 7-year-old boy at Compton Elementary School in Compton, NH, who is deaf and can only use sign language. He had difficulty relating to his classmates and even the teachers. He only could communicate with his aide, Cheryl. One of his classmates, Reid Spring, wanted to relate to him so he started learning sign language. Other kids started doing that. Would you believe that the entire elementary school decided to learn sign language. All of a sudden, Ben could communicate with everybody. He could become a part of the class. His aide said, “His whole world opened up. It was amazing.” You will meet a lot of people whose world is somewhat closed due to different circumstances. What will you do today to open up the world of some people around you?

It’s interesting to me how different foods all of a sudden become popular. Now they are saying that pumpkin spice is being replaced by pickles. That’s right pickles. Pickles were once just associated with burgers but today you can get pickled flavored chips, nuts, smoothies, popcorn, dill pickled baked beans, dill pickle mayonnaise, lollipops, snackable cheese, and many other things. I enjoy playing pickle ball. I’m sure somebody will give pickleball credit for the new tasting crave of pickles. I don’t know how long the pickle craze will last. I do know if you are following God’s purpose for your life, that won’t be just a short craze but will have a lasting effect. Enjoy some pickle flavor, but really enjoy the taste of following God’s purpose for your life.

Police in Lima, Peru, used the popularity of the World Cup matchup between Mexico and South Africa to capture a highly sought after drug king, Carlos Cabera. They found out that he was a big fan of football, or as we call it soccer. They dressed up as mascots Clutch and Maple as a disguise and were able to approach him and apprehend him without raising suspicion. Now that’s creativity. Of the 48 teams competing in the World Cup, Peru just had two big victories—one in their first game and one in their ongoing game to eliminate drugs. How can you be creative in doing something that will be extremely helpful for all people alive today and you don’t have to be a soccer player to do it.

Eighty-two years ago, Ray Svejnoha was attending high school in Illinois. World War II came and he had a choice to make, join the armed forces, or enjoy senior prom. He chose to serve his country. Now he is 100 years old and some students at the high school decided to dedicate their prom to him. They provided him with a haircut, a manicure, and a tuxedo. He was met by students with cheers who welcomed him to his party. We have our freedoms today because people like Ray made a great choice. I am also glad that there are high school students who 82 years later honor a 100-year-old man in such a nice way. Who are you willing to honor today who missed something important to them because they were doing something more important?

Freedom isn’t free. It cost a lot to those who signed the Declaration of Independence. Of the 56 signers, 17 lost their fortunes, 12 had their homes destroyed, 5 became prisoners of war, one had two sons imprisoned on the British Starving Ship Jersey, one had a son killed in battle, one had his wife die from harsh prison treatment, and nine signers died during the war. John Hancock, the first signer, said, “The price on my head has just doubled.” Would you have signed the Declaration of Independence? It was not a social media post you could put up anonymously. It was a commitment that could cost you your life, your family, and all you owned. As you continue to celebrate the 250th birthday of our nation, remember, freedom isn’t free.

I played basketball at Young Harris College in North Georgia. We were the “Mountain Lions.” We were told it was the most dangerous animal you could face. Recently, in an upscale San Francisco neighborhood, a mountain lion appeared on the porch of one of the residents. Roxanne Blank thought it was just a dog or something else. She had seen lots of coyotes and other animals in this area. She called animal control and they were able to tranquilize it and released it back into the wild. Think of looking out on your porch in the morning and seeing a mountain lion. That would help you get wide awake quickly. I’m glad we have people who know how to handle dangerous animals. When you see something today that’s awfully frightening, how are you going to handle it?

Growth is an interesting phenomenon to observe. Sometimes it’s really unusual. Ask Amy Sharp and her family as they bought an Alaskan Malamute puppy. It has grown to be the size of a Shetland pony. The 5-year-old dog today weighs 182 pounds, which is more than double the norm. Amy says that his collar is as big as someone’s belt. He eats $1000 worth of food in a year. They refer to him as a “gentle giant.” Growing spiritually is far more important than growing physically. Just as we have metrics for measuring physical growth, the Bible teaches us how to measure our spiritual growth. How much have you grown in the last five years in your spiritual life? I challenge you to grow in your faith and to become a gentle giant.

There is a picture of President Trump walking across the tarmac with a beautiful, blonde Army soldier. She has become a dream girl for many of the troops. Her name is Jessica Foster, even though she is not a real person. Her picture has been AI-generated, but she has even been included in fake pictures with Russian President Putin and also smiling next to an F-22 fighter jet. She doesn’t exist. She is a fake. AI can create an illusion that doesn’t exist. Are you spending your time, energy, and money focusing on things that are real, or are they just fake? God’s values are for real. So many things in life look good and promise good results, but never produce. God’s promises are real, and He always makes good on every promise.

We read a lot today about how adults have created the world where deception is practiced in so many different ways. How did this happen. Some British researchers wanted to answer that question and discovered that about 25% of babies grasp the concept of deception by the time they reach ten months old. They learn fast and by age three they become, in researchers’ words, “quite adept and cunning little liars.” Ten months to age three. Wow that’s fast. What if research showed that babies learned from hearing and seeing Bible lessons lived out that are the foundation of morality and integrity and honesty? Are you willing to help start a culture change where babies don’t learn deception as quickly as they do honest and truth?

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. They persist. President Calvin Coolidge once said, “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On” has solved and always will solve most problems of the human race.” Remember – in the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not because of its strength but rather its persistence. Persistence is powerful – and it pays off!

Is it best to put on display your failures or your accomplishments? A Vancouver resident Evvan Collin decided to cope with a personal heartbreak by creating an exhibit in a shopping mall that is entitled “The Museum of Personal Failure.” He invited others to submit artifacts. One person exhibited a wedding dress from a failed marriage, tie rods from a blotched car repair, and a wall of rejection slips filled with firing notices of people who had been fired or failed a job application. Collin says that such a museum is an attempt to deal with failure. I think I would like to see a museum of accomplishments and inspiration to help people focus less on today’s problems and more on tomorrow’s possibilities. To what kind of museum would you contribute today?

Recently, researchers announced that there is a possibility to determine the authenticity of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Holy Child” chalk drawing. They have discovered fragments of DNA that they think belong to the artist and that DNA from about 1510 AD could determine whether or not de Vinci was the author of some of these disputed masterpieces. That’s amazing to me. God’s work has been around a lot longer than Leonardo da Vinci. God puts His DNA into the lives of folks that have repented, changed, and are following Him. God’s DNA writes the name of a person into the Lamb’s Book of Life. I don’t know if the “Holy Child” chalk drawing is from da Vinci or not, but you can know if God’s DNA is in you!

Joe Sass is a school crossing guard in Chicago. One day after a huge rain, he noticed a 7th grader who arrived at the crosswalk that was submerged in deep icy water. Sass asked him if he would mind if he put him over his shoulder and carried him across the street. The 44-year-old guard did that and dropped him off on dry land. Nobody realized that WGN Morning News’s skycam captured the event and it went viral. Some people started a GoFundMe campaign for Sass and raised over $10,000. Sass decided to give the money to local non-profits. Sass went the extra mile. The mile that means the most in life is the mile when you go beyond what is required of you. Are you willing to be a second mile person today?

There is a debate right now because New York magazine has recorded that Representative Nancy Mace had ordered a staff member of hers to go on Reddit forums and figure out how to boost her standings in the rankings of “the hottest women in Congress.” I don’t know Rep. Mace, and she has called the allegations ridiculous. I hope they are. How would you like to have your standings boosted in what area of life? What if all Americans wanted to boost our standing in civility, love and appreciation for each other, and most importantly to every day become more like the person that God has created us to be. That’s an area of life where we all ought to have our standings boosted—and it won’t happen by a staffer or another person—it comes through our own actions.

In a time of desperate need, people can go beyond what is expected. They are people who go the extra mile. Austin Applebee is thirteen years old. His mother, Joanne, and his two younger siblings were stranded in shark infested waters off the coast of western Australia. They were on inflatable paddle boards and a kayak when strong winds unexpectedly swept them out into the Indian Ocean. Applebee swam for four hours to reach the shore. When asked how he did it he said, “I kept thinking—just keep swimming, just keep swimming.” Emergency crews were able to rescue his mom and siblings. A 13-year-old boy swimming in shark infested water for four hours—how can we complain about some “safe job” we are not sure we want to do?

Sometimes huge challenges bring out the best in us. I love those kind of stories. When Hurricane Ian hit Naples, Florida, Johnny Lauder decided to stay at home. When he saw water gushing inside his house, he moved his two sons and one son’s girlfriend to the attic thinking they would all be safe. But then his cell phone rang. His wheelchair-bound mother, Karen, 84 years old, was trapped in a house half a mile away. Johnny climbed out a window and starting wading to rescue her. Her house was filled with 4 feet of water. Lauder pushed his mother to safety and also carried out another elderly neighbor who was also in trouble. Lauder said, “I would have done it for anyone’s mom—or anyone else in that situation.” Often time the toughest times bring out the best in each of us. What will God bring out of you today?

During the past winter, heavy snowfall paralyzed many cities. Kenneth Harrell lives in Missouri. He came into a St. Louis neighborhood, in which he didn’t live, and started cleaning the streets with a bobcat construction vehicle. He paid for the rental of the bobcat out of his own pocket. He had no intention of being paid back. Folks in the neighborhood referred to his as the “plowing vigilante.” When asked why he did it, he said, “It just doesn’t make sense to me that people could get out of their house but not off the street.” What did make sense to him turned out to be a great help to a lot of people. If something makes sense to you, use that to find some place where you can be productive in helping God and people. St. Louis experienced a good vigilante.

If you have something that needs to be destroyed, be sure it is not mistakenly open to further exposure. A hospital in Thailand learned this recently when a very popular person in the community saw street vendors wrapping food in confidential patient records. He took a picture of one of the patient’s medical forms holding an order of crepes. He gave it the caption, “Should I continue eating?” The hospital confessed that it had given over 1,000 documents to a firm that was supposed to destroy them, but somehow, they didn’t. Nobody knows why. The hospital was fined $52,000. There are a lot of things we need to get rid of in our lives—be sure you get rid of them for good. God will relieve, forgive, and forget.

It’s very embarrassing when a man’s toupee comes off. This happened at Madison Square Garden recently when a boxer, Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller had his toupee loosened when he took a barrage of licks to his face. In the second round, Miller reached up and took the loosened toupee and pulled it off. He threw his toupee into the crowd. I’m not sure how big a fight it was for somebody to get it. He went on to win in a split decision in the eighth round. One of the commentators said, “Big baby won by a hair.” Wearing a toupee is ok but be sure you get one that stays on. If you do have trouble with it, think of a creative way to deal with that. In fact, any surprise disappointment in life—how are you going to handle it?

The Polar Plunge in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is a cold-water swimming event to raise funds for Special Olympics. This past winter they had to cancel the Polar Plunge because the temperature was too cold to have people try to participate in the plunge. Instead, they tried to find some other way to raise money and the people participating were told to “stay home, stay warm, and stay safe. I’m not sure what the temperature in the water would need to be to be too much for the polar bears or for humans. Today, instead of doing something extremely dangerous, give generously to some organization like Special Olympics that’s making a difference in the world. Your money will go just as far whether you take a Polar Plunge or if you just stay safe and give. Be a giver today.

How do you handle things that are creating stress? A lot of people in China who are adults are using a pacifier to relieve their stress. I am surprised they are becoming popular. Some stores indicate that they sell more than 2,000 each month. The China Morning Post lists several testimonies of people who say it helps relieve pressure and how to deal with a stressful situation. Chinese adults are warned that you should not sleep with them for fear of suffocation. How do you deal with stress? You can get a pacifier and go back in time to act like a child, or you can stand up and face a tough situation as an adult, mature human being. Pacifiers are popular, but they are not the answer for the best way for adults to deal with stress. What do you use?

How high can you count? A Nigerian woman has recently set a new Guiness World record for the highest number counted out loud when she counted to 1,070,000. It took her 14 hours a day for 70 days. That’s quite a tough thing to do. She said her daily routine was eat, pray, and count. She said that she was driven to break the limits of a record and achieve something nobody else has done. That’s a noble attitude. I wish she had chosen something that would be more helpful to God’s Kingdom and to other people. In the next 70 days, what are you willing to accomplish that will make a difference in the lives of other people. Be motivated to break the past limits you put on yourself in order to carry out God’s plan for your life.

There is a Texas chain of MAGA-themed eateries called the Trump Burger. The owner was recently arrested by ICE and now faces deportation. This 28-year-old, Roland Beainy, came from Lebanon in 2019. He advertises the Trump Burger that is a “taste of American greatness.” Between the buns you will see TRUMP FLAMED-SEARED into each burger. ICE explained that his visa expired in 2024. When he thought that ICE might overlook arresting him, they said they were going to enforce immigration laws “regardless of what restaurant you own.” All of us would like to have some inside help with some things in life. The best thing is to obey all the laws and know that ultimately God is the perfect judge. If you know Him personally, you will receive the best reward that you can have.

If you are over 102 years of age, this message will not affect you. If you are under it, listen carefully. George Strausman is a Long Island native who wanted to continue an active life in retirement. He turned to pottery, after he gave up tennis when he turned 90. Now he spins bowls in weekly classes for a large group of women. His granddaughter surprised him one day and filmed him at work and put it on Facebook. The post had more than 3.1 million views and thousands of comments. When he was asked the secret to living to 102, he said, “Do something that keeps your hands busy. It will be great for you, and it also gets me out of the house". Are you getting out of the house today? How busy are your hands—whatever your age?

Sometimes people become so fascinated by the name of a town that they steal the road signs bearing that name. This has happened in the tiny Texas town of Bug Tussle. Bug is not a very big town-a population of just 15. Because tourists like that name, they steal the signs. The state transportation department has told the town that they will not replace the signs anymore. Over 17 have been stolen. When a visitor asked what do people do in such a quiet town, he was told, “We watch the bugs tussle.” Maybe they are going to watch something else, or change the name of the town or else 15 people are going to have to come up with more money to buy road signs. I guess it all depends on how important the name Bug Tussle is to the people who live there.

Creativity is a great asset in life. It also will help you in your business. Andrew Hiers is a car salesman in Cocoa, Florida. To advertise cars he wants to sell, he uses his skill as a classically trained opera singer. He makes a video of himself performing a robust aria in his bass-baritone voice while standing in the car lot. He makes up the words for the sale and records it. These videos go viral and you can imagine he has a lot of people who come in and want to hear him sing and look at a car. Andrew is not only trying to sell more cars, but he figures he might get some gigs for singing. Now that’s a real creative way to promote your strengths as a salesman. How creative are you in doing your work every day?

How do you deal with your frustrations and stress? There have been several clubs pop up recently across the United States that are called scream clubs. It started in Chicago by a couple of folks who discovered that screaming outdoors helped them cope with their frustrations. Now there are several more groups that have come into being in places like Austin, Detroit, and Seattle. The members of the club get together and do a vocal warm-up and then write down the things they want to release on a slip of paper. They then put their voices together and scream three times. They say it’s like putting your frustration to rest. Pro athletic teams might find some new cheerleaders in those groups. I expect that it might be helpful short term, but how long will screaming last? I’ll let you answer that question.

One of the best ways to market an item is to have the President of the United States use it. I remember President Obama bringing back to the White House one day hamburgers from a certain chain, gave it to the staff people, and all of a sudden the sale of burgers at that chain rose dramatically. Recently, President Trump was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as falling in love with a brand of affordable leather dress shoes. I understand that he gives them away to a lot of agency heads, lawmakers, and VIPs. I’m sure a lot of people will buy them because the President has in essence endorsed them. God has endorsed the lifestyle of following His Son. I hope all of us will live that lifestyle because of God’s endorsements. The lifestyle of following Jesus is love and commitment to do what our Heavenly Father is doing.

Things are being created to get people from one place to another more quickly. We recently witnessed the fastest form of travel with Artemis 2 carrying some astronauts places that nobody else had ever been. There is some footage that has come to light which shows Greg Phillips, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Office of Response and Recovery, stating that he had been involuntarily “teleported” on several occasions. He said that in Rome, Georgia, he was teleported to a Waffle House. I’ll go with the experiences of astronauts before I would accept the validity of Greg Phillips. I have never experienced space travel or teleporting. How do you get from one place to another, and more importantly, what do you do when you get there?

Where have you been lately? A young 19-year-old boy, Arjun Malavlya, wants to set the Guiness World Record to be the youngest person to visit every nation. He has already visited 118 different countries, beginning in South Korea. He has two years left to visit the remaining 77 U.N. recognized states. He has a Google translate which helps him in remote villages. He has only spent $22,500. The biggest thing he has learned, “People are more similar than different.” I admire the young man for visiting every country, but I wish he was going to share the Good News about Jesus. You don’t have to set a Guiness World Record—just share the Good News where you are, then go to a place and share where you haven’t been before.

Shay Taylor-Allen was a janitor at the Yale New Haven Hospital where she was born. She finished high school and had no desire to go to college. So, she started working as a janitor at Yale New Haven Hospital. Through her work there, she started pursuing medical school. She said, “I want to build a bridge between doctors and other service workers.” She was able to get into Howard University College of Medicine and on Match Day on March 20, 2026 she landed an anesthesiology residency at the hospital where she worked as a janitor. Get that. From janitor to a medical residency. She said it was great news to hear that she was now coming home. She will be engaged in doing what she felt like she ought to do all of her life. How far along are you in reaching your goal?

In a French mayoral election recently, the two candidates have the interesting names of Hitler and Zielinski. I couldn’t pronounce their first names. They had a bitter battle in campaigning. They said the biggest thing to overcome was the fact that people were not interested in their political platforms and what they thought as much as they were just interested in their names, Hitler versus Zielinski. In a town of 2,800, people hope the attention will help the town economically. Hitler said that he thought about changing his name, but wanted to show everyone that somebody with that name could make something good out of it. That is a noble cause. What are you doing to make your name carry a better reputation? That’s better than winning a political race.

More of us ought to be more conscious of people who make life better for us and thank them for it in some way. In Richardson, Texas at the Moss Haven Elementary School, a crossing guard, Trecia Crawford, was honored by a group of dads whose kids she helps cross the road, discovered that her car had broken down and she was taking the bus to work. The dad wanted to thank her for keeping their kids safe, so they raised about $7,000 for a car, insurance, title transfer, and even a few oil changes. The school district said, “Community isn’t just a buzzword. It’s all those who show up in the smallest and biggest ways.” You might make somebody’s day if you show up in either a small or big way. 

Kayla Kleine and her husband live in Vancouver, British Columbia. They have a little 6-pound Pomeranian, Scout. A big bear entered their home and walked into the kitchen. He started eating out of the little puppy’s bowl when that tiny fluff ball came sprinting around the corner. When he saw the bear eating out of his bowl, he started barking and chased him out through the garden and over a fence. Kleine’s security cameras caught the whole scene. A 6-pound puppy chasing a huge black bear. Please don’t be fooled by the size of something. One little spec in your eye can make you awfully miserable. You can do a lot of little good things that can make life wonderful and blessed. A small bit of faith can chase off a big, huge bear-like situation. Little is a lot when God is in it.

Albert Einstein once said, “The world is too dangerous to live in, not because of the people who do evil but because of the people who sit and let it happen.”  Years ago, Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”  In the New Testament James says, “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”  Some people just go through life and always talk about things that ought to be done and never do them.  Evil overcomes when good people fail to act in a given situation.  Good never overcomes evil when people just talk about what should be done.  On this Memorial Day spend time thanking God and remembering those who gave their lives so you could have your life.

Just after the resurrection of Jesus and the early church was forming, Peter and John were arrested for speaking out for Jesus. They came before the Council Chamber and the Council commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. Peter and John said, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than Him. We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.” Hey, do you listen to people or God? We have the same choice today. We can either obey what people tell us, or we can obey what God tells us. Peter and John chose to be bold in their speaking and to obey God. They faced tough times ahead but Christians are here today because men like Peter and John listened to God rather than man. Who do you listen to?

Years ago, many roads in the south were dirt roads and became muddy and a big mess during rainy weather.  One day a young boy was traveling down such a road with his father.  They came up on a neatly dressed man whose car was stuck in the mud.  The man was standing in the mud trying to get his car out.  The father stopped and asked the man, “How are you doing?”  The man looked at him, with a confident smile on his face and said, “Tired, oh so tired, but I’m still trying.”  The father and the boy got out of their car and helped him get unstuck and on his way.  The father said to his son, “Remember what that man said – tired, oh so tired, but still trying.”  That’s a great lesson for life.  When you get tired, don’t quit, keep trying.  You never know who will come along to give you help.

The whole world was shocked a few years ago when we watched Notre Dame De Paris engulfed in flames.  A huge cloud of smoke covered Paris.  People looked on in anguish and dismay.  It wasn’t known if any of the valuable relics from inside could be saved.  The Chaplain of the Paris fire brigade, Rev. Jean-Marc Fournier courageously went back several times into the burning flames to rescue holy artifacts – including the crown of thorns, which many believe was worn by Jesus Christ.  People have dubbed Rev. Fournier as an absolute hero.  His fellow fire fighters who accompanied him said that he was their leader, and they went without fear.  Today, be courageous!  Be a leader!  Step out!  Take a risk!  Do something significant where you are.

We all have talents – we need to use them in a productive way that honors God and helps others.  Bill Waldschnidt loved working on classic cars.  Today he’s working on another means of transportation.  He is a retired Minnesota engineer.  He had polio at age 4 and had to walk on crutches.  As an adult he had rehabbed enough that he could walk without crutches.  15 years ago, post-polio syndrome put him back in a wheelchair.  He has a new sense of purpose.  He’s gone from classic cars to buying and refurbishing power wheelchairs which he then gives to people who can’t afford them.  A disabled veteran, Don Johnson, who is a proud owner of one of Bill’s chairs, said, “He’s the kindest man on the planet.” How best can you use your talents to honor God and help people today?

Sometimes a joke is really appropriate and sometimes people don’t get the joke. A Texas police officer had encountered a couple of men who were being questioned as suspects in an illegal operation. In order to sort of lighten the mood for their conversation, the Texas officer, who was on horseback, simply said that his horse was a “narcotic-smelling horse.” The suspect started running immediately in a panic. I guess the joke had accomplished a pretty good purpose because the poorly informed fugitive was quickly apprehended. I never thought of using a joke to solidify the conviction of a suspect. If you are trying to help people in society, think of a good joke that could be helpful in making society a better place to live. The joke doesn’t have to be funny.

Think before you do something foolish. That would have been good advice for Nathan Remington of Yorkshire, England to have followed recently. He is a truck driver and really wanted to have some gummy candies. He lost all sense of discipline and ate seven pounds of cola-flavored gummies. He ate them over a three-day period. He started having intense pain in his stomach. He went to the doctor, who determined that the gelatin overload had given him an inflamed colon. He spent six days in intensive care. That’s tough on a truck driver who counts on being able to work. He said, “It was my own stupid fault.” When you decide to do something, ask yourself the question is it really smart. Will it help fulfill God’s purpose for my life? If not, avoid it. Don’t do something stupid.

There is a new business in Japan. Funeral homes and spas have started a trend—coffin lying. You can rent the inside of a coffin and meditate about death. The cost is $13 and you can use an open or closed casket. Some of the people offering coffin lying will play music or visuals projected inside the coffin. It is designed to calm your fears about death. One owner said that designer caskets help people see that death is bright and not so scary. Hey, coffin lying will not solve the issue of dealing with death. Every person will die. Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus came back from the dead and only He can solve your fears and give you a promise of eternal life. There is no $13 charge.

God gives us financial resources and expects us to be good stewards of them. In 45 states last year, Americans spent over $100 billion on lotteries. Combining all of those would make U.S. lotteries the country’s ninth most profitable company. The tragedy is that the poorest 1 percent of households spend an average of $600 a year on lottery tickets, which is 30 times greater than the percentage spent by the richest households. People who buy a ticket think they are going to win. What if Americans gave that $100 billion to non-profit ministries that are reaching out to help everybody achieve a better standard of living? Invest your money in something that’s going to make a difference in this life and for eternity. Invest wisely.

As the early church started to grow, Luke records in Acts 4 how all of the leaders began to unite against Jesus and his servants Paul and John and the other disciples. He lists that Herod, Pontius Pilot, the Governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel who were united against him. Peter and John began to pray and asked for boldness in speaking out against the culture. God granted them that boldness, and they began to turn the world upside down. Hey, we live in an age today where many people do not believe in who God is and what His plan is for life. You and I have a choice—we can cave in and follow along with the culture, or we can ask for boldness. Make a good choice. Ask for God’s boldness, and then get ready to experience the great things He has in store for you.

Every day we can complain about a lot of things, or we can be grateful that we are alive, that God has given us another day to live, that we have food to eat, and that we have a purpose for the day.  A 10-week experiment was conducted at the University of California at Davis where participants had to write down 5 things every day for which they were grateful.  Those who participated reported 28% less stress than those who did not participate.  Wow!  Today when so much is being written about stress and how best to deal with it, one of the best ways to relieve stress and increase joy is to have a grateful attitude.  Today say thank you a lot of times to God and people.  Start every day with an attitude of gratitude – and then wear it all day long!