Life In Greencastle

[Thanks to Gary Scroggins for his friendship, his mentoring, and for always passing along a story to keep me moving forward with Christ.  Gary told me to pass along this story as I saw fit ...] I had lunch with Gary Scroggins this past week to get me signed-up to go on an Emmaus Walk this coming Spring, a church retreat for men and women.   After catching up briefly inside his church over in Brazil, we decided to make the short walk down the street to a new restaurant that had just opened up in the former bank on US-40.  As we walked the short two blocks, I asked Gary how he was doing.  He paused for a moment and mentioned that the last few weeks had been a bit of a whirlwind.  I knew that his wife, Sandi, was scheduled for a checkup regarding her cancer, so I was fearful that he would have bad news related to that visit.  No, he assured me, all the results from their time up at the Cleveland Clinic were positive for Sandi.  It wasn't that.  ...

Last week, I was listening to Kai Ryssdal interview Chris Meledandri on NPR.  Kai Ryssdal is the financial news reporter for NPR, but he sometimes goes beyond the dollars and cents into the stories behind big success and big failure.  That's what led him to talk with Chris Meledandri.  You probably haven't heard of Chris's name before, but I guarantee you have heard about the movies that Chris has helped produce.  And all I need to prove my point is one word: Minions. That's right.  Chris is the president of 20th Century Fox Animation studios, and in that role he has had a number of successes - none larger than the Despicable Me series that has launched a global brand and made little yellow creatures the glee and delight of toddlers the world over.  The thing is the Despicable Me series wasn't even his first hit.  He was also instrumental in getting Ice Age and Ice Age 2 into theaters and - subsequently - into the hearts and minds of children. ...

In yesterday's sermon, I spoke about getting ourselves back on the rails in life.  It was a subject much on my mind, as I had spent most of the break between Christmas and New Year's enjoying lots of great, sweet, and rich food, mostly while watching way too much television.  For the first few days, it felt nourishing and wonderful.  But, for whatever reason, a steady diet of fudge and leftover potato casserole weren't providing much spark and energy for the long haul.  Then, thrown into the mix were the relentless messages about getting back on the right track for the new year:  article after article on NPR.org about better ways to hold to those resolutions, and non-too subtle reminders on Facebook about all the other great changes friends, families and strangers were planning for 2016. So, the time had come.  I knew now was the time to start getting myself back in shape. But, as we explored yesterday, I knew in my heart of hearts that true reform was ...