Posts

Thursday; June 18

Often, when people think about the Lees of Virginia their minds go back to General Robert E. Lee; however, the Lees had been influences in the Commonwealth many years before it.  One of the influential members of the family was Richard Henry Lee.  He is often remembered for his eulogy of President George Washington, but he had other things to say as well.  The other day I came across a quote of his that noted, “It is certainly true that a popular government cannot flourish without the virtue in the people.”.  I am going to be honest with you, I would imagine that this quote from the 18th Century probably carried a different meaning than it would today; but I was struck by the sentiment of personal responsibility.  It is easy to blame “government” or “society” for what is going wrong in today’s world, but we – as individuals – cannot abdicate our personal responsibility to be good people.   For our country and our society to be successful we must all be...
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Wednesday; June 17

Several years ago I was told that growing older wasn’t for the faint of heart.  I think I (kind of) understood it back then, but the older I get the more real it becomes for me.  It seems like each day I have something hurting.  I am finding some of the things that I used to be able to do with ease take more time and effort.  Now that I am one, I am beginning to be a lot less critical of older people.  Now, while this is one of those life lessons, here is another one – so what?  We have a choice, we can either power through the struggles or we can give up and become irrelevant.  We can either play with pain or sit on the sidelines.   The reason that I bring this up isn’t to prepare people for their so-called “Golden Years”, rather it is to challenge us at all ages to keep going even when it hurts.  The pain may be physical or emotional, but if we are going to be viable tomorrow we need to be willing to play with the pain.  We can’t ...
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Tuesday; June 16

What is godliness?  What is expected of Christian believers?  I think that it is easy to convince ourselves that we just have to believe (and say) the right things, but is that enough to be pleasing to God and compelling to our fellow man?  The other day I came across a passage that observes, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.” (James 3:17).  James begins by making sure that we know that it all starts with believing and during what is right (purity), but notice that we don’t get points by being terse.  Mixed into the formula are principles that help us build relationships:  the ability to get along, a concern for others and a willingness to be understanding.  He seems to conclude with a need to be firm in our faith, but also a responsibility to be righteous.   Genuine religion isn’t about who can holler the loudest or be the most aggressiv...
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Monday; June 15

 While most of us believe in the value of prayer, how many of us feel comfortable with our prayer lives?  We know we should do it.  We believe that we can benefit from it.  But, how many of us feel like we are where we’d like to be in communicating with God?  Most of us are familiar with ways that we can enhance our prayer lives – finding a quiet place to pray free from distractions … praying on a regular schedule … reading (and emulating) some of the great prayers in Scripture – but there is one more concept I’d like to explore.  What if, when we don’t feel that prayerful spirit, we just turn it over to the Holy Spirit.  In essence, we tell the Spirit of God, “I don’t know what I want to say or how I want to say it – help me!”.  While this might be a bit of a foreign concept to some of us, it is based on a biblical principle.  Paul teaches, “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but ...
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Friday; June 12

On June 12, 2016; the city of Orlando, Florida and the rest of the United States awakened to the tragic news of a shooting in a nightclub that killed 49 people and injured almost five dozen others.  In and of itself, this mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub garnered a lot of attention, but it also generated a lot of discussion.  Because of the social significance of the location, a lot of people had a lot of input about what happened and why it happened.  Folks, I want to choose my thoughts carefully on this and my goal is very simple, so please don’t misunderstand me.  My point is that human tragedy should impact us all.  When something as horrific as what happened in downtown Orlando occurs, our first priority should be to care about the people who were impacted and be concerned for a society in which this can happen.  Whether we support a particular type of lifestyle or not, any significant tragedy should sadden us.  Whether the victims think like ...
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Thursday; June 11

Are you looking for a description of humility?  Throughout history – and even in our lifetimes – there have been people we would consider humble.  Yet, as I look back in time, one of the ones who impresses me as much as any is John the Baptist.  You might wonder how a guy this famous (and historic) as John could fit into the category; but it is in an understanding of humility.  My favorite definition of humility is a true view of ourselves.  Humble people know who they are and how they fit in with those around them.  John was a pretty popular guy on his own.  People were flocking to him and he was having a religious and moral impact on his generation.  Yet, when we compared himself to Jesus, “He said, ‘I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” as Isaiah the prophet said.’” (John 1:23).  He could have a rock star, but compared to the Messiah, he was just a guy proclaiming the good news. Being humble doe...
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Wednesday; June 10

What is the difference between those who make it to the big times and those who just dream about them?  Sometimes, there is a skill gap between the haves and the have nots; but it could just be seizing the opportunity that is presented.  Maybe the difference is being in the right place at the right time.   The reason I bring this up is to wonder if we are looking for the opportunities that are presenting to us?  Now, I understand that few of us are going to end up being as famous as Taylor Swift or Shohei Ohtani, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be looking for our chance to make the most of our opportunities.  To do this, we must first be aware of the talents we have.  We need to know what we can do well.  Then, once we understand our abilities, we need to be anxious to find ways to use them.  It may be in teaching, entertaining, leading, serving … or a myriad of other ways … but, no matter what we do, we need to be aggressive in findi...
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