Category: Understanding

10/7/2025 1 Comment

Gullible

An Idaho seventh grader won first place at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair for his project.[1] The purpose of his study was to determine how many people would outlaw a hazardous chemical if only supplied with partial information regarding its characteristics. Fifty participants were asked to sign a petition that demanded stringent control of dihydrogen monoxide. Six reasons were provided to support the elimination of this chemical.

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1/14/2025 0 Comments

Reframing

West Point classmate Paul Mango shared about an address delivered by the Israeli Prime Minister to a group of McKinsey partners. “Leadership is NOT about being on top; it’s about being out in front.” This observation reframed the audience’s perspective on leading. Paul went on to note:
This metaphor unlocks a leader’s thinking in that it absolves him of the burden of having either all the answers or having to always know more than his team. Instead, the leader “out in front” ensures his team has the resources, information, and support needed to develop breakthrough ideas with guidance and input from the leader. Giving the team the combination of resources and accountability energizes and liberates the team and leads to superior outcomes.

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12/30/2024 0 Comments

Omniscient

Our brains manage emotions, thoughts, memories (sensory, short and long-term), touch, vision, breathing patterns, and all the procedures that control our bodies.[1] Scientists calculate the human brain storage capacity by gauging the connections between brain cells and decoding that number into bytes and computer memory units. “A single byte comprises 8 bits, and the human brain can store more than one quadrillion bytes of data – a petabyte.”[2] Our brain’s memory capacity is equal to 2.5 petabytes of memory capacity. A “petabyte” translates into 1024 terabytes or a million gigabytes. An average adult brain can accumulate the equivalent of 2.5 million gigabytes of memory.

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11/19/2024 0 Comments

Hidden Things

Jesus performed many miracles in the cities He walked, which should have authenticated His message, and yet most of those He encountered would not repent of their sins. Their hardheartedness kept them from recognizing the hand of God’s Son at work and connecting their need to listen to Him. He criticized them for their attitude and warned them of God’s impending judgment (Matthew 11:20-24).

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9/17/2024 0 Comments

With My Eye on You

It did not make sense. John needed to make a difficult financial decision, and the smart move, according to his advisor, was to invest in a quality dividend growth fund to gain more financial stability. But as he prayed about this, he did not have peace. More unsettling, He felt God leading him to give to a single mom in his church who was facing eviction from her apartment along with her two young children. He knew she could not pay him back if he gave her the money; to his surprise, his wife was okay with that. She agreed with what John felt God was leading. So, they gave Steph the money.

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10/20/2023 0 Comments

When It Isn't Easy to Please

Have you ever run across someone who gets under your skin? In other words, whether it is their tone, comments, or behavior, something about them is irritating, and that irascibility is continuous and annoying. I met such a person playing pickleball. In this case, an older man seems to feel that he needs to tutor everyone else on the court even though his skills are inferior. He makes snarky comments, and I don’t like it. It gets to the point where when he signs up to play, others stay away because they don’t enjoy playing with him. Unfortunately, he does not seem to take hints or suggestions. He is fixed in his mannerisms and perhaps does not care what others think. So, I have to admit I was not thrilled when I read Romans 15:1,2 this morning.

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8/30/2023 0 Comments

A New Language

When God first created mankind, they spoke the same language. But when the earth’s inhabitants used the advantage of a common tongue to manifest their own good and to make a name for themselves, it was an act of rebellion that God did not approve, so he scrambled and confused their speech so they could not understand each other (Genesis 11:4-9). From then until now, communicating with people worldwide has been challenging.

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7/16/2023 1 Comment

Phronesis

Adriano made a mistake. The Uruguayan was given $500 in pesos from his uncle to help pay for his tuition. Instead of paying the University of Montevideo, he loaned it to a friend who claimed his mother was sick and unable to pay her hospital bills. Later, Adriano found out he had lied to him and used the money to gamble. When the school bill was due, the friend couldn’t pay him back, so he had to explain to his uncle why he dropped a class.

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6/19/2023 0 Comments

Using Discernment

Ann faced a challenging situation in her new supervisory role with a nonprofit company that recently hired her. One of the employees, Calista, who worked on a different team, was giving her a tough time. Calista had applied for the job Ann now held and resented that she was not chosen. She used Ann’s inexperience to belittle her on calls (shared by others in the organization) and was rude when speaking to her. Ann realized she needed Calista’s help, but she first had to figure out a way to win her over, and that did not seem easy. So she asked for prayer from her close friends and asked God for His assistance.

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10/17/2022 0 Comments

Just a Youth

In 336 B.C., Alexander III of Macedon succeeded his father, Philip II, in becoming king of Greece at the age of twenty.[1] Alexander was not content to rule Greece. By age thirty, he had conquered so many nations that his rule extended from Greece to northwestern India. Alexander was undefeated in battle and is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history. No wonder he was called Alexander the Great. But did you know that Alexander was tutored until the age of 16 by the Greek philosopher Aristotle?

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2/13/2022 0 Comments

Explain This

Meditation
Proverbs 30:2-3--I am more stupid than any other man, and I lack man’s ability to understand. I have not gained wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.

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12/1/2021 1 Comment

Fire

When was the last time you sat beside a fire, alone, and able to think and meditate? The previous home owners left me a gift of numerous piles of dead branches all over the property. I guess they didn’t have time to burn anything but I still would label their actions a gift because they gave me plenty of reason to clear away brush piles and, in the process, burn. There is something mesmerizing (and therapeutic) about sitting next to a fire and watching it reduce large masses to smoldering ashes. No branch escapes. All that feel the hot fury of flame are engulfed and reduced to residue.

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11/24/2021 0 Comments

Roles

Ralph went to the National Training Center (NTC) in California serving as the Fire Support Officer (FSO) for an infantry battalion scheduled to be evaluated. Ralph looked at the terrain model as the battalion staff discussed what tactics they should choose on their upcoming day of battle. He realized that it was very similar to terrain he had trained on with a Cavalry unit. As the leaders selected their preferred course of action he disagreed and felt they were heading into a trap. The battalion commander (BC) asked him to share his ideas. So Ralph passionately laid out a battle strategy that he was sure would defeat the opposition. His senior leaders agreed with him and the next day they won their battle decisively.

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11/13/2021 0 Comments

Why I Value Theology

One would think that with the uncertainties of life and certainty of death, people would be intrigued, perhaps even obsessed, with knowing if there is a Creator and, if He in fact, has a plan for His creation. It amazes me how many people I meet who seem uninterested in what happens to them when they die. Yet, this is THE MOST IMPORTANT question everyone should want to know the answer to because one second after death will be too late to decide. For this reason, among many, I value theology.

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10/11/2021 0 Comments

Triangulation

Meditation
Proverbs 26:20--Without wood, fire goes out; without a gossip, conflict dies down

Dr. Henry Cloud shares a concept called triangulation in his book The Power Of The Other. Triangulation sets up what he calls the victim-persecutor-rescuer (VPR) triad. I’m A and you are B and someone else is C. If I’m bothered by something you, B, have done, disagree with you or somehow feel victimized by you, this makes you the persecutor. Rather than go to you and share my concerns I go to C and share making C the rescuer. I want C’s support. This then becomes triangulation and it is always wrong despite the many reasons Christians contrive to justify this behavior.

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6/10/2021 0 Comments

You Can't Move In

Bryan York enjoying his temporary lodging.

I was loading up the car with boxes of books to take to our new apartment when my cell phone rang. When I answered the phone Taylor, one of the staff for Jefferson Gables Apartments, said, “Mr. York I’m so sorry but you cannot move in tomorrow. We found an error.”
“An error, what kind of error?”
“We have to replace the entire carpet. You can’t move in for at least two weeks. But the good news is you will have new carpet.”

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5/21/2021 0 Comments

Cord Changes

Jonathan Cahn shared a historical piece of information that is quite fascinating.[1] In the time of the Jewish second temple, each Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), a scarlet cord was attached to the Temple doors. It represented the people’s sins in line with Isaiah 1:18, “‘Come, let us discuss this,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will be like wool.’” At the end of the day after the completion of the ordinances the scarlet cord turned white. This supernatural phenomenon occurred annually until the year Jesus Christ was crucified—then the cord remained scarlet. Why did this happen? Because Jesus was the final atonement offered for our sins. Had the rabbis in Jesus’ time truly been looking for the Messiah, that sign alone should have given them pause to consider that He was God’s Son sent for them.

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4/24/2021 1 Comment

The Source of Peace

When I conducted a search for the “10 most stressful events” on the internet, the first two sources listed moving as #7.[1] I remember learning from a sociology class at West Point that moving was a big stressor. It does make sense. Moving is largely comprised of change, and the transitions change demand can be cortisol-producing. Imagine driving a packed 26-foot U-Haul truck from Colorado to Virginia and encountering drivers who seem clueless that one cannot slam on the brakes and immediately stop a fully-loaded truck! My physics professors would be proud of that observation. (May the woman who impatiently darted in front of me in Tennessee please learn that lesson). I’m also pretty sure my wife more than maxed her stress points trying to follow me in the Subaru as I wove between trucks on I-40. Despite all the miles, we made it accident-free and in pretty good shape. No animals were harmed, only one old piece of furniture was damaged, and, thanks to Covid, we had no problems finding hotel rooms.

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3/29/2021 1 Comment

8 Keys to Better Communication

Have you ever felt any of the following:
“I can’t wait to get my point across!”
“I wish they would quit talking so I could speak!”
“I know what to do, why won’t they listen?”
“Why is it so hard to get them to understand?”
“It’s not worth the effort trying to share.”
“I have no idea what to say or even how to say it.”
“Please, just make your point, I’m busy.”

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3/7/2021 0 Comments

Mama, You're Singing in the Cracks!

Randy told us the following story at our elders’ meeting. A young boy was sitting at the piano playing a well-known song when his mother came up behind him and started singing. The boy stopped playing and looked up at his mother and said, “Mama, you’re singing in the cracks!” The poor woman was off-key and the boy wanted her to know it.

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