The Five-Star President

President Dwight David Eisenhower was a rare success in American history. He was both a five-star General and a two-term president who presided over amazing peace and unity throughout the land. But his future success was not clear from the beginning. Eisenhower was an average student in school. At the military academy, he spent more…

Rebecca

In 1946, Rebecca was born to a poor family in Tennessee. Her dad was a tobacco farmer. After her birth, her dad paid the doctor’s fee with a bag of oatmeal. Raised with 11 siblings, Rebecca was determined to set out on her own after high school. She pursued a career as an author and…

Failed Success

One night when I was about 13, I went to my school and ran around the track, imagining there were thousands of people in the stands cheering me on. In my mind, I won the race. But the race wasn’t real, and my “time” didn’t matter. It didn’t count.  We achieve a lot of things…

Wesley’s 22 Questions

Over 200 years ago, John Wesley’s “Holy Club” asked themselves the same 22 questions every day. I suggest you try this yourself. (I will shorten and paraphrase some of these for the sake of brevity.) Am I living the life of a hypocrite? Am I honest in all my words? Am I a gossip?  Can…

Small Town Southern Man

What kind of legacy are you leaving for those coming behind you? In his song, “Small Town Southern Man,” Alan Jackson sang these powerful lyrics: “He was always proud of what he had, He said his greatest contribution Is the ones you leave behind, Raised on the ways and gentle kindness Of a small town…

Nolan Ryan

Okay, baseball fans, here’s a trivia question for you. Who had more career no-hitters? Nolan Ryan Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, Steve Carlton, Grover Alexander, Lefty Grove, Don Sutton, Don Drysdale, and Whitey Ford – combined Answer: 1. Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan tossed a record seven no-hitters over his amazing 27-year career. By comparison,…

Trumpets and Torches

Sometimes, God employs a strange battle plan. In Judges 7, we read about Gideon. God told him to take 300 Israelites into battle against 135,000 enemy soldiers. And it gets crazier. God said to bring as his weapons torches, trumpets, and clay pots.  Gideon would put the clay pots over the torches so the light…

The Day a Fight Broke Out

In the Spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a baseball game. During the game, Orioles’ third baseman John McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. The fight quickly became a brawl that involved both teams. Soon, the fans in the stands broke out into a massive fight.…

Bedrock of Recovery

Let’s talk about a bedrock of successful recovery. It’s called self-control. Jim Rohn said, “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.”  Scripture teaches, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). Navy SEAL and leadership expert Brent Glesson writes, in The…

The Impossible Made Possible

You can only accomplish the impossible when you see the invisible. “It was by faith that Moses left Egypt and was not afraid of the king’s anger. Moses continued strong as if he could see the God that no one can see” (Hebrews 11:27). That’s what makes for elite athletes, chemists, astronauts, and doctors. Like…