Thursday; July 4

Happy Independence Day! It is common to refer to today as the Fourth of July, but that is more of way to identify the date than the purpose of the holiday. Independence Day speaks to what happened a couple of centuries ago when the colonists sought to overthrow the crown of England and live in civil and religious freedom.

Independence Day has come to mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but one that is commonly referenced is freedom. The Americans sought to find ways they could experience liberty. Interestingly, this has been a common goal throughout history and just as interestingly, people have searched out various ways to achieve it. In the late 18th Century the revolutionaries defied the British and developed their own Constitution by which they could practice freedom.

As I thought about this national holiday, I got to looking at religious freedom and found an interesting approach. The Apostle Paul wrote to the early Christians, “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13). In essence, Paul challenged believers to practice service to others as a way to seek freedom. This may seem odd, but there is a logical aspect to it. You see, the more we seek to help others, the less we are ensnared by greed, ego, pride and lawlessness. When we serve others, we free ourselves up to enjoy life to its fullest.

We hope you enjoy the Fourth of July, but don’t forget to spend a little time thinking about Independence Day. What can we free ourselves from to truly find a life of liberty?

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