Simplify

I only missed the school bus once in my life. That was enough. We were only halfway up our quarter-mile-long driveway when the bus stopped, opened the doors, closed the doors, and then pulled away. Enjoy this episode to hear the stories.   For more podcasts and books from LJ and Andrea Harry, visit linktr.ee/ljandandrea . To follow LJ on Facebook, visit Facebook.com/lj.harry .

When people speed by me or cut me off in traffic in St. Louis, I sometimes wonder if they are racing to the hospital to the deliver a baby. Maybe, but probably not. Those are the exceptions, not excuses. Enjoy this episode to hear that story.    For more podcasts and books from LJ and Andrea Harry, visit linktr.ee/ljandandrea . To follow LJ on Facebook, visit Facebook.com/lj.harry .

I got my first church job when I was around eight or nine years old. I was excited to get in the pulpit and do the work of God, but my pastor had something else in mind. Enjoy this episode to hear that story.    For more podcasts and books from LJ and Andrea Harry, visit linktr.ee/ljandandrea . To follow LJ on Facebook, visit Facebook.com/lj.harry .

We walked into the arena where the Orlando Magic played, read the graduation program, and realized there were over seven hundred graduates on that Saturday. We should have packed a lunch. But it was well worth it to hear their individual names and to cheer as if they were running their last lap in the Olympics. Enjoy this episode to hear that story.    For more podcasts and books from LJ and Andre...

Some numbers are famous. The all-star 3.14 is the beginning of an endless march of digits mathematicians call "pi." March 14 is one of my favorite holidays because it is Pi Day, giving everyone license to enjoy pie without judgment. Another number we need to know is 3/168. Enjoy this episode to hear that story.    For more podcasts and books from LJ and Andrea Harry, visit linktr.ee/ljandandrea ....

Before Moses signed the scroll of Leviticus and rolled it up, he reminded Israel of a principle God reminded Moses: We are stewards because every good gift we have comes from God. Enjoy this episode to hear that story.    For more podcasts and books from LJ and Andrea Harry, visit linktr.ee/ljandandrea . To follow LJ on Facebook, visit Facebook.com/lj.harry .

I got roped in again. After I said yes to a salesman's sales pitch, I found myself sentenced to a 120-minute, high-pressure timeshare presentation. My seemingly harmless, inexpensive $199 yes came with it thirty-six lines of fine print. Enjoy this episode to hear that story.    For more podcasts and books from LJ and Andrea Harry, visit linktr.ee/ljandandrea . To follow LJ on Facebook, visit Faceb...

One Sunday, Mahatma Gandhi made his way to a Christian church to hear more about the Jesus he had already heard a little about. Gandhi loved some of Jesus' teachings and considered following Him. Would Gandhi become one of Christianity's strongest voices? Only history would tell what happened that one Sunday in Calcutta. Enjoy this episode to hear that story.    For more podcasts and books from LJ...

Every midnight, God refills our gift card with 1,440 minutes. We choose how to spend them, but once we spend them, they're gone. We'll never get another chance to spend the same day twice. May God help us to spend our days wisely: to glorify Him and make disciples for Him. Enjoy this episode to hear that story.    For more podcasts and books from LJ and Andrea Harry, visit linktr.ee/ljandandrea ....

Ever since I was a kid, I've wanted a pair of Jordans. I finally got a pair of Jordans. I wore my pair of Jordans to the gym where I was going to impress my friends and then dunk on them. When I showed up and they noticed my Js, I wasn't ready for their response. Enjoy this episode to hear that story.    For more podcasts and books from LJ and Andrea Harry, visit linktr.ee/ljandandrea . To follow...

Last week the lovely Andrea and I celebrated our twenty-sixth wedding anniversary. We looked back over more than a quarter of a century together to the day we vowed to love, honor, and cherish each other. God has been good even when life was not. He loves us, and we love Him, and that's the reason to say yes to holiness and no to wickedness. Enjoy this episode to hear that story.    For more podca...

The not-nomadic-for-long nation of Israel was about to cross over the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. They would be surrounded by neighboring nations who worshiped every god under the sun, and to check all the boxes, some even worshiped the sun. They needed something never changing, never failing to hold on to. That is why God gave them the Book of Leviticus.  Parental notice: Because Lev...

This day felt different from all the other days that year. It was the day one man would press past the veil that separated the holy God of Heaven from sinful humanity, and he would walk into the presence of God. Everything hinged on that day. It was the tenth day of the seventh month: It was called the Day of Atonement. Enjoy this episode to hear that story.    For more podcasts and books from LJ...

Life was so much better just five years ago. He was a husband, a father, a farmer. He had farmed the fields his father, grandfather, and great grandfather had farmed. He knew one day he would pass these sacred acres down to his son, and he trusted he would pass them down to his son one day. His mind replayed that fateful day when he noticed something strange on his arm. He told his wife about it....

You can learn a lot from a license plate. In Ohio you can learn what county someone lives in, their birthday, even more from a personalized plate. But Steve Jobs didn't share my enthusiasm for that metal, rectangular storyteller on the back of a car, so he found a loophole in the law to keep him from having to fasten a license plate. But as we will hear, some responsibilities have no loophole. We...

Interest is a great idea for making money but not a great idea for making credit card payments. But interest was God's idea because according to Leviticus 5, anyone who sinned unintentionally had to restore what they had taken, plus interest. God often restores much more than we lost. 

For nearly half a day, I had taken the wrong highway on our honeymoon. It took twenty-seven hours to drive eight. It is possible to think you are completely right and be completely wrong about being right. That's also possible in our walk with God. Enjoy this episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Mus...

Something feathered or furry got stuck in our chimney—again. The lovely Andrea and I reached in and tried to wrap our hands around it to help it, but it thought we were trying to hurt it. It cried. It fled. All our pulling and wrapping and reaching was trying to set it free. If only it could have known our hearts.   Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Sim...

It really doesn't matter if Mary rode a donkey or a Dodge Charger into Bethlehem, but sometimes we fill in the blanks when the Bible doesn't give us all the details. However, even the Book of Leviticus teaches us some absolutes, and it is absolutely more about us living in a way that God accepts us than us accepting Him.  Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry a...

The twelve precious stones on the priests' shoulders represented their responsibility for the people of God; the twelve precious stones over their hearts represented their relationship with the people of God. And we need both. Listen to this week's episode to hear the story.  Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provide...

I spent the weekend in historic Corinth, Mississippi. I enjoyed a sizzling cookie skillet at Vicari and some good Mexican food at El Toro. But Corinth is not home; it was only for Friday through Monday. Listen to this week's episode to hear the story.  Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by...

I'm not a fan of dad jokes. I love dads. (I am a dad.) I love jokes. I just don't like dad jokes. Some call dad jokes—and puns—the lowest form of humor, but they're not; insults are. Listen to this week's episode to hear the story.  Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by PeriTune https://sou...

Sometimes I wonder how long my rememberer will hold up. It has a lot of miles on it, but God knows our forgetter often lasts longer than our rememberer. That's why God called Israel—and us—to observe some holy rituals to help us remember. Listen to this week's episode to hear the story.  Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   M...

God made a deal with Moses. He and Israel could still have everything He promised them, but their blatant sin around the golden calf would cost them just one promise. Listen to this week's episode to hear the story.  Check out my books, other podcasts, and social from this Linktree LJ Harry and Simplify Ministries Linktree   Music provided by: Positive Happy by PeriTune https://soundcloud.com/sei_...

I walked into a youth camp boys' dorm, and a wave of oh-my-word mixed with what-in-the-world punched me in the nose. The smell was other worldly. It smelled like thirty fourteen-year-old boys filled gym socks with sardines. There wasn't enough Axe body spray or cologne in the Western Hemisphere to mask that smell. Enjoy this week's episode to hear the story. Check out my books, other podcasts, and...