"Retirement" - what does that word mean for you? Maybe you are young and retirement seems a distant, mysterious world for you. Or maybe you are working your butt off right now and can't wait to finish? Or maybe you are already there. In the insightful book Playing Life's Second Half, author David J. Powell notes that a century ago most people grew up, went to work, retired, then died. In fact, most people died within three to five years after they stopped working. Otto Von Bismark, at age 74, first set the retirement age at 70 in Germany in... Read more →

Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, once noted that we are the first generation to have two lives - a first half and a second half. Over a hundred years ago, many people lived to only 45-50 years of age. Now, as we have seen in this series of posts, many people are living well into their 70s and 80s ... and some well beyond this (100+ and 110+). As a result of this, even at the age of 50, you could have at least another 30 years of contribution. This thought became the seed idea for the concept... Read more →

In part 4 and 5 of this series of posts on the possibility of living to 100, we will look at what longevity could mean for our lives. What does a life of significance, rather than mere success, look like? How do we break free from the conventional view of the three-stage life: education, vocation, and then retirement? Before we get to that, let's dive a little deeper into the area of physical health and well-being. After all, just because people are living longer statistically, doesn't mean that you or I will do so also. It also doesn't guarantee that,... Read more →

Today we continue our series of posts on the possibility of living to 100 years of age. Areas on the planet where people regularly live to over 100 years of age today are often referred to as “blue zones”. Dan Buettner (Twitter @bluezones) has been a National Geographic researcher and explorer for over 20 years. He has written an article for National Geographic magazine called "Secrets of Living Longer” and also two books - The Blue Zone Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest People and Blue Zones of Happiness: Lessons From the World’s Happiest People. Dan estimates that... Read more →

One of the best gifts you can give those you love is to live a long life, Yes, why not plan to be around for a while. Of course, none of us control the number of our days nor do we know how long we will live. But there are things we can do that are within our power that can add to the possibility of a longer ... and a healthier life. In many ways, life is like a room with two doors. We enter this room through the door of birth. We all know that date - it’s... Read more →

Unfortunately, many people today see science and faith as enemies rather than friends. Thankfully, there are an increasing number of scientists and intellectuals who are speaking out about their faith. John Lennox is one of them. John Lennox, Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University, is an internationally renowned speaker on the interface of science, philosophy and religion. He regularly teaches at many academic institutions including the Said Business School, Wycliffe Hall and the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, as well as also being a Senior Fellow with the Trinity Forum. He has written a series of books exploring the relationship... Read more →

Sir Isaac Newton was one of the fathers of modern scientific revolution. Interesting, he said that his greatest passion was the Bible over and above science. “I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily.” His curiosity about the world was entwined with his reverence for the Creator, whom he credited with the existence of the universe. He was able to hold his scientific discoveries in tension with his faith, rather than replacing God with natural laws. In fact, almost all of the scientific greats... Read more →

The Genesis Creation Story Genesis 1 is a simple and majestic opening to the Bible. It introduces the two main subjects of Scripture, God the Creator and humans as his creatures, and sets the scene for their long relationship. Clearly the interests of the author are focused primarily on the patriarchs, given the amount of material allocated to their story (Gen.12-50), but the background is that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is no mere localised or tribal deity, but is the sovereign Lord of the whole earth (Gen.1-11). There were a number of creation and flood myths in... Read more →

A few months ago I was privileged to meet Charlie Duke, the tenth person to have walked on the moon. At the event I attended, he shared some amazing stories about his experiences in space. What was most moving for me, was hearing him speak about his conversion story and his current relationship with Jesus Christ. He actually became a bit teary-eyed during this part of his talk, something that didn't happen when he was recounting his first walk on the moon. I told him afterward that it was moving to hear someone become more emotional about their relationship with... Read more →

Ok, so how many vitamins and/or supplements do you take each day? Personally, I take a few tablets with my breakfast each morning - fish oil, vitamin D, and a men's multi-vitamin. The fish oil (Omega 3) helps to keep my cholesterol down a bit and the Vitamin D gives me a little extra energy, especially since I work mainly indoors and don't get a lot of sunshine. A few years back I took some supplements but found them so expensive to buy and I didn't really notice that much difference in my energy levels. So do they make a... Read more →

Stephen Hawking, popular British physicist and author, recently dismissed the notion of life after death (Time Magazine - May 30th, 2011 - p.5). He said, "I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers. That is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark." My response: maybe rationalism is a fairy tale story for those people who are afraid to believe in God because he may hold us accountable for our lives, meaning that our choices have eternal consequences. Read more →

I have always loved the night sky. The array of stars and planets, and even our own moon, make for fun gazing. I remember as a kid driving out in the country and being stunned at how bright the sky can be. David wrote about this in Psalm 8 ... When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers — the moon and the stars you set in place — what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower... Read more →

Here are a some more interesting facts about the human body ... 42. There is more bacteria in your mouth than the human population of the United States and Canada combined. 43. Every square inch of the human body has an average of 32 million bacteria on it. 44. A fetus acquires fingerprints at the age of three months 45. You sit on the biggest muscle in your body, the gluteus maximus a.k.a. the butt. Each of the two cheeky muscles tips the scales at about two pounds (not including the overlying fat layer). 46. The tiniest muscle, the stapedius... Read more →

In one of my favourite Psalms, David says this to God: "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous — how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." [Psalms 139:13-16. NLT]... Read more →