Think About It

I don’t really know too much about William Penn – other than they named a state after him – but the other day I came upon a quote of his.   Now, please be a bit patient with me because I will quote the saying as it was written by the 17 th Century Quaker, “In marriage do thou be wise: prefer the person before money, virtue before beauty, the mind before the body; then thou hast a wife, a friend, a companion, a second self.”   Mr. Penn has been gone for over 300 years, but I think his insights are still as applicable today as they were three centuries ago.   We live in a world that tends to value superficial qualities and those preferences are tempting in every aspect of life, even our relationships.   It is easy to assess things and people by exterior qualities, but all too often these things are superficial.   The qualities that make the best impact are those that are often found by looking deep beneath the surface.   What are we teaching the next g...

What talent has the Lord given you?   It is easy to just kind of breeze past that question – kind of thinking, “Yeah, okay, I guess I have a talent.”; but for a moment I’d like us to go back and give some serious consideration to that question.   What can I do?   Now, just in case you might be wrestling with this quandary, I would like us to remember what the Bible tells us, “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.   Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:4-8).   The reason I bring th...

Do you ever get stressed out?   There are some of you who might not have a clue as to what that feels like, but others of us are well-aware of the feeling.   If you are one of the non-stress folks, you might dismiss the feeling and even offer a bit of biblical advice, “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34).   I realize that is not only good advice, it is also godly advice; but that may be easier for some than others.   So what can we do to temper those stressful moments?   Here are a couple thoughts: ·        When you start to feel the pressure of stress – go find something to take your mind off of the stressor.   It might not alleviate the problem, but it might divert (and calm) your mind for a bit. ·        Stay away from reminders of the stressor.   For example if you are waiting on word about something...

Do you know any hypocrites?   Now, before we start listing the names of our adversaries, let me reel this in a bit by re-asking, “Are we ever hypocritical?”.   Do we ever say one thing and do something that disputes what we claim?   I am sure that there are several examples of this in each one of our lives, but the most damaging are those that are affiliated with our religion.   Sure, moral or ethical glitches might taint our reputations, but are there times when our hypocrisy actually gets in the way of our spiritual standing?   Maybe more sobering, do our actions render our spiritual worship ineffective?   The wise king of the Old Testament, observed, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.” (Proverbs 15:8).   I remember as a child we used to play “church” and, when I look back on children imitating what we saw the adults doing, it was cute.   However, as adults merely “playing ...

One of the fascinating stories from the life of Jesus was how He was able to calm the storm on the sea.   If you aren’t familiar with the story, Jesus and His disciples were on the water in a boat when a tempest arose.   One interesting thing is that as the disciples were fretting, Jesus was sleeping.   Yet, the most amazing feat was when Jesus calmed the storm with a simple, “Hush, be still”.   While this is cool, I think there is one other interesting observation, “Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’” (Mark 4:38).   While it is easy to be critical of the disciples – to their credit – they hadn’t read the outcome of the story.   As I reflected on this challenging time, I can imagine me responding with something like,   “Of course I care, I just didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”.   Thankfully for the disciples I wasn’t in the boat … and...

When I was younger, I would hear “older” people talk about how difficult it was to age because it seems like everything hurts.   I recall laughing it off – but as I am aging, I am realizing it is no laughing matter.   Actually, it can be kind of funny listening to me and my contemporaries visiting because just about every conversation centers around what is sore and where we are going to the doctor.   Yet, I have recently come to realize that my aches and pains happen when I am sitting around not doing anything.   It hurts less to walk than to sit.   The joints that ache when I am sedentary usually feel pretty good when I am exercising.   As odd as it seems, there may be a life lesson or two in that.   Have you noticed how tough life seems to be when we are sitting around not doing anything; but how good we feel when we are out doing things and making a difference in the world around us?   When we are stagnant it is easy to sit around and compla...