May 13, 2010Read: 1 Kings 10

"But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard." --1 Kings 10:7

I'm likely dating myself but I grew up listening to Paul Harvey on the radio. Many of you might remember his opening line, "Hello Americans, this is Paul Harvey. Stand by for news!" with added emphasis on "news." Others might recognize his classic closing salutation, "Paul Harvey...good day!"

But my favorite part of his legendary broadcast was a frame called, "The Rest of the Story," where we'd wait in wonder as he took us down a historical path on any number of subjects before finally unveiling the surprise at the end.

Our lives might be a lot like a Paul Harvey story. After all sorts of twists and turns, pitfalls and mountain tops, breakdowns and breakthroughs, God will unveil Heaven. And though we've read about streets of gold and those gates made of pearl, we will someday see how words failed. And I like to think that maybe, just maybe, God will look at you and He'll look at me with tear-filled eyes and say, "And now you know, the rest of the story."

--J.P.

ANSWER TIME In keeping with today's theme of unveiling something, I thought I'd give the answer to the quiz from earlier in the week. Here's what we asked:

1.T or F:You can lift more weight during a Smith machine bench press than a standard bench press. 2.T or F:You can lift more weight during a Smith machine overhead press than a standard barbell overhead press.

Answers: 1) F 2) T

Why: Whenever you're talking about machines, especially the Smith machine, you have to consider the fixed path. And some people automatically assume that since the Smith machine removes the need to balance the weight and that all you have to do is press, then surely any exercise would be easier on the Smith than on a standard exercise. However, during some standard exercises, the bar takes a slight arc-like curve in order to be performed best. The bench press is a good example. For someone to perform best on the bench press, the bar goes down to the lower chest then up and over the face and not straight up to the ceiling. So the Smith prevents that strong, powerful arc making it more difficult than the standard version.

The same reasoning that makes the Smith bench more difficult than the free-weight counterpart is why the overhead press press on the Smith is easier than the standard overhead press. Both have a straight up and down motion so when you remove the need to rely on stabilizer muscles to balance the weight, then yes, the Smith move is in fact easier than the barbell version.

And that, folks...is the news.