Shortly after the USA in 1917 joined  the war in Europe, a magazine illustrator drew a picture featuring a stern-faced Uncle Sam pointing outward with his right index finger, his eyes glaring directly at the viewer. “I Want YOU for U.S. Army”.  Four million of those posters were distributed around the states to recruit people to join in the war.   More than two million Americans signed up as recruits to fight in France during the First...

A real tendency in life is to keep looking back.   We tend to look back because we remember how life was different back then.  Perhaps we have fond memories of yesterday and how great things were.   With Mary Hopkins we sing, "Those were the days my friend ....  We'd sing and dance forever and a day."    Or we tend to look back with regret, for we remember our failures and struggles.  With David of old...

A badger will not back down.   Not even to a snake.   Honey badgers have a bite that makes cold-blooded enemies’ blood run even colder.   No amount of bee stings will cause the honey badger to retreat from a hoard of honey straight from the hive.  If cornered or trapped you will soon discover where we get the phrase:  "Mad as a sack of badgers!"   Related to their cousin the skunk, the badger is equipped with long,...

50/50 might not seem like a good proposition.   Suppose like 27 year old Adam Lerner in the 2011 film 50/50 you discover you have cancer in your spine and the survival rate for your type of cancer is 50/50.  How would you feel?  Your mind might become like a pinball machine in your head.  Thoughts flip this way and then that way.   Back and forth.   Will you be alive in five years?  Perhaps yes; perhaps no! ...

Cola is king in Australia.   Four of the five most popular soft drinks in Australia are cola flavoured.  Coca-Cola is by far the favourite cola drink.   Over 5 million Aussies drink Coca-Cola regularly.   Altogether, world wide, 1.7 billion servings of Coke products are consumed every day.   But did you know that COLA is also critical to growing a healthy church in the 21st century? Now stay with me.   I am not referring to the sugar laddened...