If I had known what a pyramid scheme was I never would have gotten involved in the first place, but perspective always needs corrective lenses before hindsight perfects our vision of the past. Had I foreseen all the trouble I wouldn’t have been stuck like a deer in the headlights of a mac truck in the middle of a wide open sidewalk as Greg stomped towards me. My heart raced as I considered how he wanted to punch me.

Hard.

Repeatedly.

Photograph by David Gardiner via WikiCommons

I was skinny and unimposing in my loose-fitting and faded Phoenix Suns t-shirt. His shirt was not so loose fitting since the swell of his unflexed biceps stretched the fabric around his arms.

I couldn’t even hide my face behind my wavy shoulder-length hair because of the ballcap forever set backwards over my head, the brim covering my neck. Tufts of dark hair protruded through the opening above my sweating forehead.

The last time I had seen Greg was two days earlier in the university’s library when he threatened me in a librarian-approved tone because he believed I had schemed the big scam and was secretly pocketing $200 that belonged to him. Continue Reading…

Just a few weeks ago, 13-year-old Noah Brocklebank decided he had been bullied enough and said he would take his own life on his birthday.

Noah told CBS News: “Just felt like everything was worthless. My life was terrible. I had no one.”

But he did and does have someone. His family was joined by thousands of others to encourage the boy.

Then the Pittsburgh Penguins got involved too.

Yes, I love hockey and the Pens are my team, but they also continue to do amazing things like this which always make me proud.

Still, it’s heart wrenching to hear of someone in despair like this. But the good news is that we can encourage people who are hurting, and we don’t have to play professional sports to be a hero for someone who needs help.

Here’s another good story about sports and life.

My 2012–the year I wrote a book on death and life–began and ended with the funeral of someone I cared about. I found myself at a funeral home three days into the year and three days from its end.

Some people are comfortable pondering life’s eventual end and the possibilities surrounding it. Others banish the thought and bury it deeper than, well, I guess I should avoid the analogy of burying it as deep as someone who’s died since they’re trying not to think about that. Continue Reading…

A few years ago my brother-in-law asked me if I had seen the 60 minutes interview with Tom Brady and his striking comments about the emptiness he felt despite reaching the pinnacle of success in his craft.

Every time I see this short clip my heart sinks. If you’re really in a hurry just skip to :48 seconds.

I’ve heard Ravi Zacharias say that meaninglessness doesn’t come from an abundance of pain but rather from an abundance of pleasure. Most of us can always hold onto the belief that things will get better someday, but what happens when we get everything and still feel empty?

Like Brady, many people exist with the constant thought that, “There’s gotta be more than this.”

Only God is big enough to always provide ultimate satisfaction in this life. We were made to be in relationship with the personal God who made us that way. Until we find that connection everything else will come up short.

Imagine if you could bring someone back from the dead.

A few years ago my phone rang around 11:30 at night. The voice on the other end was a 15-year-old boy we had been kind to a few weeks earlier. “Clay, I’m at the corner store. My parents kicked me out. Can you come get me?”

When I arrived ten minutes later I found him huddled against the wall, trying to squat so that his hoodie would cover his bare legs. It was cold that night, and he was wearing shorts. I watched a couple people come and go as he hopped in my warm car. I wondered what he would do if he didn’t have me and my family to call. How long would it take until someone else came along?

And what might they do to him?

~*~*~

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day, and the first thing we all need to be aware of is that there are 27 million people in slavery today. Right now. And they’re not contained in any one part of the world. They are probably in your city. You might drive by them this very day. Continue Reading…

Once upon a time on a bright, sunny day a young teenager rode shotgun in his mom’s blue Chevy Chevette. The boy paid little attention to the busy streets and tall buildings as they entered the big city. He was too immersed in a DC Comics Presents book, something about an unlikely crossover between The Joker and Superman whom he adored.

Suddenly, his mom tapped his shoulder and said, “Look there. That’s the Cathedral of Learning. It’s one of the tallest university buildings in the world.”

The boy looked up and instantly forgot about the impending appearance of Wonder Woman (and hopefully her Invisible Plane) promised on the front cover. ”Woah. It looks like it was built a long time ago, like in medieval times.”

“Yup, but it was only built in the 1920s,” his mom said and drove on.

“What’s it like inside?”

“I don’t know. Never went in.” Continue Reading…

Photos, videos, memes and more go viral everyday. One such recent image offers a glimpse into the better side of humanity, a shiny jewel in the midst of so much national darkness.

Have you seen this photo?

Photo by Jennifer Foster via NYPD

On a cold night in November, Officer Lawrence DePrimo came across this homeless man on 42nd street. The man did not even have socks let alone shoes, and his feet were blistered. Officer DePrimo had no idea that a visitor in town named Jennifer Foster would snap a photo from her phone of what happened next. Continue Reading…

It’s my BIRTHDAY!

And I want YOU to win stuff.

Check out this short video for details…

What d’ya say? Let’s help out the Ballingers.

Here are three great places to visit. Continue Reading…