Do Hard Things. That’s the title of a book I read this summer. Written by Alex and Brett Harris (19-year-old twin brothers of Joshua Harris—author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye) the book challenges teens to rebel against rebellion. To rebel against the low expectations people have of teens. The book is an invitation for teens to join the “rebelution.” To do hard things. It includes the challenge to respect the authorities in their lives, ask for direction and help and to collaborate.I’m no longer a teenager . . . yet the book spoke to me.

Imagine the emotion.  Your son graduates from Ruth Murdoch Elementary School with high grades.  Graduates from Andrews Academy on the honor roll and president of his class.   Following his graduations from Andrews University magna cum laude, and the seminary with his M.Div., he is hired as a pastor in the Michigan Conference.  Within just a few years he is the senior pastor of one of the largest churches in the conference, with an Associate Pastor and Bible Worker on his staff.  You couldn’t be more proud.  The promise that if you train a child up in the right way he will not depart from it

Dwight Nelson will continue his blog at the end of August. Check here next week for posts from guest bloggers.

After his sudden death last Friday, he’s become larger than life.  And I for one miss him.  I didn’t know Tim Russert, of course.  But every Sunday morning I have timed my 10K run to end just as his “Meet the Press” was beginning.  And for a few sweaty moments with my Sunday paper and breakfast, I would listen in on the celebrated journalist’s gentlemanly grilling of another public figure or two or three.  “If it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press” was my preference, too.

The word that stumped him was “quaquaversal.”  How these kids survive as long as they do in the Scripps National Spelling Bee is beyond me!  Ten-year-old Tony Incorvati of Ohio made it to the third round a few days ago, until he ran into that amalgamation lurking in the bowels of some dusty dictionary.  And no matter how hard he squinted, it wouldn’t come out right.

History was made Tuesday night, when Barack Obama was declared the winner of the Democratic presidential primaries, thus becoming the first African American to be nominated for President of the United States by a major political party.  And given the painful history of race relations in this country, Americans of all parties, races and faiths surely hope this is a harbinger of better days to come.

“Scientists at loss to explain busy, severe tornado season.”   So read Wednesday’s headline in the South Bend Tribune.  “‘Right now we’re on track to break all previous counts through the end of the year,’ said warning meteorologist Greg Carbin at the Storm Prediction Center.  And it’s not just more storms.  The strongest of those storms—those in the 136-to-200 mph range—have been more prevalent than normal, and lately they seem to be hitting populated areas more, he said.” Just another fluke of unpredictable Mother Nature?  Perhaps.  But a week ago I went to

Several years ago someone gave me a book on humility.  I love a gift book, but does it have to be that personal!  But as it turned out, the gift book was truly that.  And it has become a gift that has continued to give.  It’s Andrew Murray’s little classic, Humility.  I’ve brooded my way through it three times now, and I’m certain it will bless your own soul as it has mine.

What shall we do with our frozen emotions?  The litany of natural disasters that have hit this planet over the last few days—with a 100,000 plus dead or missing from the cyclone in Myanmar to 19,000-and-climbing dead from the earthquake in western China to the twenty-plus who died in tornadoes across our southland—after awhile the television images of such poignant and massive suffering eventually become just another bit of suppertime news, don’t they?  After all, how much can the human heart tolerate of suffering, even when it’s the suffering of strangers far away from us?

Way to go, graduates! Ah, the power of saying Yes! As the 561 of you Andrews University graduates gather for this memorable academic rite of passage, I and the rest of us here at Pioneer want you to know that we’re cheering you on with the power of a Yes! After all, it’s your graduation promise: “For all the promises of God in Christ are Yes, to the glory of God” (II Corinthians 1:20). Did you catch that? As you head out the door of this campus, God is giving you a giant YES for all the promises you’re going to need for your uncharted journey.