I had a shooting pain down my arm. I tried a lot of things. I bought an elastic band that was supposed to make it feel better. I used analgesic. My wife would massage my hand, forearm, and elbow, where the pain was the strongest. I tried sleeping differently so I would no longer sleep on it, thinking that might be what it was.

I’m slow in using the term “revival.” I didn’t jump on the Asbury bandwagon a couple of years ago, and my response to those who asked was, “Well, a real revival is a rise to consistency. Whether or not this is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit will be evident by the number of lives changed over the long haul. When revival happens, church attendance surges, as do conversions to Christ.”

“If you are going through hell, keep going.” ― Winston S. Churchill

A bunch of our Bridge brothers and sisters are feeling that now. And I’m not just talking about the marathon they are running. Some of you are facing major upheaval in your life. We have recent widows and widowers. We have heartbreaking situations with kids. There’s job loss and financial collapse. The wife who just told you she’s done. Alzheimer’s diagnosis…or cancer.

I first traveled by the Badlands and saw part of them from the highway in my early 20s. Linda and I later took our kids there a couple of times in our family western adventures. The kids loved climbing the rocky cliffs, with Linda calling up at them, “Don’t go so high!” They did anyway.

But seeing the Badlands from the air is entirely different from wandering around in them or driving through.

Erika Kirk’s public granting of forgiveness to her husband’s killer caught the nation’s attention. It was a beautiful display of the Gospel and reminded me of something I witnessed a few years ago that brought me to tears.

I was watching an 18-year-old, Brandt, exemplifying Jesus on my computer screen. His older brother, Botham, was his best friend. But that best friend’s life was quickly ended by the careless actions of Amber Guyger…

When I was in college, a friend of mine was working the night shift at a small gas station/convenience store by himself. At around 1 a.m., a man came in wearing a ski mask and holding a gun, demanding that he open the cash register. My friend, whose name was Jim, thought it was me playing a prank. So he started laughing and said, “Yeah right, Scott. Take the ski mask off.”

The guy yelled, “My name isn’t Scott. Now, OPEN THE CASH REGISTER!”