The Wall Street Journal published a story about Harry Lipsig. At age 88 Harry decided to leave the New York law firm he had spent most of his life building up. He decided to open a new firm. So, at an age when many people have given up on life, Mr. Lipsig decided to try his first case in some time.

A lady was suing the city of New York because a drunken police officer had struck and killed her seventy-one year old husband with his patrol car. She argued that the city had deprived her of her husband’s future earnings potential. The city argued that at age 71, he had little earnings potential. They thought they had a pretty clever defense until they realized that this lady’s argument about her husband’s future earning power was being advanced by a vigorous 88-year old attorney.

The city settled the case for $1.25 million. What if Harry Lipsig had said, “I’m only a senior citizen?”

Tags: aging, senior citizen

After his tour of duty in Afghanistan, Sergeant Jones was sent to a stateside induction center where he advised new recruits about their government benefits, especially GI insurance. Soon he had an almost 100% sales record for the GI insurance. His officers were amazed. Rather than ask him how he did it, an officer stood in the back of the room one day and listened to Jones’s sales pitch.

Jones explained the basics of GI insurance to the new recruits and then said, “If you have GI insurance, and go into battle and are killed, the government has to pay $35,000 to your beneficiaries. If you don’t have GI insurance, and go into battle and are killed, the government has to pay only a maximum of $3,000. He concluded, “Now which bunch of GI’s do you think they are going to send into the battle first?”

No one wants to die early. We all want the assurance of a long life. The recruits thought that if they purchased the insurance, they might get to live a little longer. But God has our timing set. Let’s trust Him to watch over our lives. God is the best insurance policy.

Tags: humor, life

We got a phone call from our bank the other day. It seems there were some unusual charges coming through on our Visa card. We don’t use it that often, so the likelihood of our number getting into the hands of someone else is slim. But, someone had ordered $150 in tickets to a cinema and ordered a sex book, among other things, in Great Britain, using my Visa card number!

Fortunately, because we have our Visa card through a local bank, they are covering the loss (over $500) and canceled my card. I have no idea how they got my number, so I can’t take action to keep it from happening again in the future. Its a scary feeling to be vulnerable to outright thieves like that.

But, it is the very nature of Satan to steal, kill and destroy. We are constantly vulnerable to his thievery and only Jesus can cover the losses we incur. We need to make sure our identity is in Him!

Ever had your identity stolen?

Tags: identity, Satan, thief

It was back in the 1960s. I was in one of the earlier years in Butler High School and we were having a convocation in the old High School gymnasium. All the teachers were on hand because we were having Indiana State congressman E. Ross Adair speak to us. All the teachers and administrators wanted to make a good impression on him.

A couple of the upper class men had other plans, however. Someone had caught a sparrow that had made its way into the boys locker room. They tied a string of toilet paper to the sparrow’s foot and tucked him into a pocket. When the congressmen was introduced to us and began to speak, the captive sparrow was released, along with about six feet of toilet paper trailing behind. The crowd erupted in laughter and the congressman lost his audience. The principal walked to the microphone and chewed us out soundly, telling us we needed to show respect to our elected representative.

Everyone got quiet and he resumed his speech. But whenever he got going, that bird would take another flight from rafter to rafter. I don’t remember one word of his speech, but I’ll never forget that sparrow. Do you know how hard it is to ignore something really funny?

When have you tried to compose yourself in the face of something really funny?

Tags: Adair, humor, respect

The Philippian jailer had a conversion experience that influenced others to follow. He had that experience because he observed the power of God manifested in Paul & Silas. Conversion means ‘to bring over from one view to another’. Salvation that “takes” is demonstrated by a different behavior. Without a behavioral conversion, salvation must be suspect. Conversion is a basic and fundamental part of Christianity. How do you think the people at New Hope Christian Center are doing at conversion?

Walt Disney passed away when Disneyworld first opened, so his widow was asked to speak. She was introduced by a man who said, “Mrs. Disney, I just wish Walt could have seen this.” She stood up, then simply said, “He did,” and sat down. Visions are powerful.

Moishe Rosen teaches a one sentence mental exercise that’s an effective tool in dreaming. It simply involves completing two sentences:

If I had:_________________________________

I would:_________________________________

If you had anything you wanted – unlimited time, unlimited money, unlimited information, unlimited staff – all the resources you could ask for, what would you do?

Your answer to the second question is your dream. What is your dream?

Tags: dreams, vision, Walt Disney