November 9, 2020

During the last election, I got a little confused. I heard a lot of people encouraging me to get out and vote, but I got to wondering if they were wanting me to get out and vote my conscience or if they were merely encouraging me to vote for their candidate? If I take it one way, I am empowered by their desire to make this a nation that seeks to get better by involving it citizens; however, if they were wanting me to get out and vote so that their candidate would win, that seems a bit self-serving.


Now, before everyone gets up in arms about my observation, the thing that I really took away from this thought is a question about evangelism. When we, as Christians, are out there teaching people to study the Scriptures on their own, are we doing it so that people will discover a new or renewed relationship with God or are we doing it just so they will see things our way? Are we challenging them to open the Word of God and find salvation or are we guiding them to certain carefully selected passages that promote our beliefs?

When the Apostle Paul persuaded people to read the Bible, he was transparent in what he hoped they would gain, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” (II Timothy 2:15). Let’s encourage people to study the world of God and let’s pray for an accuracy in their understanding – whether it supports our points or not.

Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday; November 29

The biblical story of the Good Samaritan has changed our world. Notice I didn’t say that it had change religion or even Christianity, it has influenced the world. There are very few people who don’t know the moral of Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan. In fact, the phrase has become a common description of everyday people doing good to their neighbors. While Jesus’ parable from Luke 10 shares several spiritual lessons, one of the most practical is that good can be done by anyone. You don’t have to be a church official to do good, it is not only possible for each one of us to help, it is required of all of us. If a Samaritan can be good, so can we! After presenting the parable, Jesus asked the man who had originally asked the question about being a good neighbor which character in the story was a good neighbor, “… he said, ‘The one who showed mercy toward him.’” at which point, the discussion from theoretical to personal, “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do the same.’” (Luke
Read more

Thursday; January 12

The other day I was watching a television show that used a rather common term applied to overcoming challenges. When organizations experience unexpected setbacks – especially when they lose key people – they rely upon the concept of “Next Man Up”. In essence, when our starters (or stars) go down, effective organizations rely upon their next levels to step into the vacancy. While this is an effective response, have we given much thought as to how we prepare to be the “next people up”? First, we must know our job. Even when we aren’t the primary players, we need to be preparing ourselves to be ready when we get the opportunity to shine. Second, we must do our best when we get the chance. Knowledge is important but what turns potential into talent is effort. Yet, maybe the most underappreciated aspect of this concept is a willingness avoid excuse-making and whining about the unfairness of our situation. When we complain about the circumstances that caused the need for replacements
Read more

Monday; September 25

When I was a youngster, I remember hearing about this thing called the Generation Gap. I was a little bit too young to be active in the social movements of the 1960s, but I do remember listening to the challenges the generations were experiencing way back then. Interestingly, now that I have been on both sides of the aging process, I have to admit that the Gap of the 1960s was nothing new. With the development of each generation comes conflict. The young people don’t feel like the older people understand them and the older folks tend to believe their input is being underappreciated. Too often trust is the casualty when two generations collide. The sad thing is that it doesn’t have to be this way. When we can capture the innovation and energy of the younger folks and harness the wisdom of those who have been around for a while we can develop a winning combination. No, we won’t always see things eye-to-eye nor will we necessarily speak the same emotional language, but when we app
Read more