If you are…
1. Looking for a great way to entertain and show appreciation to your staff and volunteers this upcoming Christmas season, or…
2. Looking to do something different than the same-old, same-old, holiday-themed Christmas outreaches for your community…
We just created the perfect solution: READ ALL
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” - Helen Keller
I love that everyone thinks it’s awesome that my wife, Kate, and I are “willing to go travel the world” and do missions work. But so many times, the “I think that’s awesome” comments are followed by, “I could never do that.” And if you try to determine why they think that, it almost always boils down to comfort and security…
“It’s just too unsafe.” Baloney. (And that’s to put it nicely.)
The chances are good that READ ALL
I bet you’re missing out on so much of life, just by how you currently see things. There’s so much to gain by just changing your perspective every now and then. My recent trip to Nicaragua was a strong reminder of that. Few things bring more perspective than international travel to a third-world country.
Do you need to change your perspective?
The famous artist, Leonardo Da Vinci, (who painted the Mona Lisa), was known for changing his perspective before considering one of his masterpieces 100% complete. Apparently, when Da Vinci was supposedly 99.9% finished, his final step was to look at his painting in a mirror. Simply by changing his perspective and how he saw the painting, he would notice needed changes in the painting that were impossible for him to see before. Turns out, perspective is a really powerful thing.
I’ve always struggled with this. Judging others is something I used to do a lot of. My pride, arrogance, and selfishness always allowed me to look at other people and situations and immediately jump to conclusions. I’d think, “That guy has READ ALL
Not long ago, I received a Facebook message from someone who had seen our show in Roanoke, VA, and had bought one of our magic sets. It included a video that almost made me cry. It’s pretty long, and you may not have time to watch Jordan’s entire show, but you HAVE to take 60 seconds out of your schedule to watch the first minute of this video. I promise, you’ll smile.
It’s videos like this one that make me realize the value and importance of illusionism.TV. Magic is awesome for kids, for so many reasons, and I can’t wait to see what kind of aspiring magicians are born out of such an exciting project! If you haven’t checked it out yet, be sure to take a look. It’s child friendly, safe and secure, and your kids will love it! Check out the site, and learn magic tricks now: http://illusionism.TV
But first, you’ve gotta see this: READ ALL
Yesterday, I clearly explained a situation we now have on our hands due to a cancelled Summer tour. If you missed it, I’d highly recommend you read that first, before reading this. You can do that by clicking here. For those of you who already know what’s going on, and came back here today to pitch in and help out, THANK YOU!!! I’ll jump straight to the point…
For the next 30 days, I’m offering free shows! Is there a catch? Of course! Isn’t there always? ;-) Keep reading… READ ALL
If I were really honest with you, I’d have to confess that I hate asking for help. I’m serious. I’m not a good receiver, and asking others for help has always been really hard on my pride. You see, my personal life has always paralleled my vocation. I’m an illusionist, and I have a tendency to live an illusion. I’ve struggled my entire life with maintaining and managing perceptions, doing my best to control and manipulate how others perceive me. If you’re good at that, it’s pretty simple to fake it, and leave others with whatever impression you want that person to have of you…humble, nice, kind, or even wealthy, popular, or successful. Let’s just say that traits like authenticity, and transparency, have never been strengths for me. Until… READ ALL
“The gospel came to the Greeks, and the Greeks turned it into a philosophy.
The gospel came to the Romans, and the Romans turned it into a system.
The gospel came to the Europeans, and they turned it into a culture.
The gospel came to the Americans, and they turned it into a business.”
- An Unnamed American Pastor, speaking at a European Conference
Thank you Stuart McAllister, and the team at RZIM for your podcasts. They are challenging, thought-provoking, and needed.
Sometimes America is more of a market, than a nation. Hopefully, we can turn that around…
What do you make of a huge statue of Jesus getting struck by lightening? I mean, if God is in control of that flashing light from the sky, why would he allow it to happen to a statue of his only son? Definitely stirs up conversation, huh?
That’s what happened recently in Ohio. I’ve driven by this statue what seems like hundreds of times while traveling that stretch of interstate on tour. Here’s what the news article had to say:
MONROE, Ohio – A six-story statue of Jesus Christ was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, leaving only a blackened steel skeleton and pieces of foam that were scooped up by curious onlookers Tuesday.
The “King of Kings” statue, one of southwest Ohio’s most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.
The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m. Monday, Monroe police dispatchers said.
The sculpture, about 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained Tuesday.
You can read the whole article here, on Yahoo! News.
Apparently, the statue cost about $400,000 to construct. Maybe it was allowed to be struck by lightening because God might not be cool with wasting a whopping $400k on concrete? For the record, I have no idea. Just wondering. I’m also not saying that God always causes natural disasters. But I’m not sure how you could deny that certainly “allows” them. Again, I’m just wondering…
They’re also already making plans to rebuild it, wasting that kind of money, plus more, all over again. I mean, I’m not God, so I won’t pretend to know or always understand what he does, or why he allows certain things to happen, but I do know of a whole list of better uses for a few hundred thousand dollars.
And, I’m not the only one. A lot of them are a book called the Bible….maybe this church should read it. If they do, they might learn a lot about Jesus, the guy they’re making statues of, and in the process, how he encouraged us to live.
What do you think?
If you follow my wife or I on Twitter or Facebook, you’ve likely heard about all the vehicle problems we’ve been having lately. We tour in a Toy Hauler. It’s like a moving truck + tour bus + RV. We definitely got the “lemon”. We’ve had nothing but problems, very few of which the manufacturers have dealt with. We keep getting shrugged off by both Chevrolet, (the makers of the chassis, cab, and engine), and Gulfstream, (the company who converted and built it out). It’s been an absolute nightmare for the full four years we’ve owned it.
Anyway…we had an event in Arkansas last night at Harding University, and it was out of commission. We couldn’t make repairs over the weekend, so we ended up renting a vehicle to get us to Arkansas and back. Tried to find a cargo van, but couldn’t. And every rental car company in Nashville was out of SUV’s. So, we rented one of these…and yes, I drove it with pride: READ ALL
