Think About It

One of my favorite euphemisms for things being out of whack refers to the tail wagging the dog (as opposed to the dog wagging the tail).  While I have seen puppies whose whole bodies seem to be vibrating from a tail being wagged in excitement, the way things are supposed to work is that the tail is an extension of the dog and, as such, the dog controls the tail.    The reason for the analysis of this saying is that there appears to be temptation for tail-wagging in our spiritual lives.   One of the more common challenges among today’s religious groups is how to make the message of God germane to our society.  I understand the challenge of getting people interested in the message of God, but when we begin to focus on God’s relevance to the world we may be missing a major point.  You see, God doesn’t need to prove His place in our lives … this is God’s world, it is our job to be pleasing to Him.  A person who refrains from living a spiritual life...

Why do you love your spouse?  Why do you love your children?  These are interesting questions because I don’t know there is a logical answer to them.  We might be able to describe some things about their personalities that we like or some things they do for us that make us feel good, but is that really why we love them?  If they stopped doing those things would we stop loving them?  No, love is much deeper than a reciprocation for the actions of others.  It is heartfelt; it maybe illogical; it is a choice we make that is not based upon circumstances but on commitment. Why do we love God?  We might be in a better position to explain why we should love God than why we love the frail humans in our lives (including the fact that He first loved us), but when get down to the core of the matter it is because we choose to love Him.  We take Him at His word and accept Him unconditionally as the God.  We don’t over-analyze His commands or His bles...

Have you noticed how dedicated we are to finetuning our “Instant Society”?  We can point a finger at each of the past generations and critique them for not being satisfied with the status quo, but we are all guilty.  We want what we want when we want it.  From instant coffee to drive-through fast food to same-day shipping we continue the march to instant gratification.  When we step back and look at the impact this is having on our society one of the most notable impacts is impatience, but I think there might be something else – a lack of coping.  Our view of the here-and-now has elevated it to being perceived as the most important era of all times.  In an effort to elevate what is happening today to a place of global and historic importance we tend to overstate things:  Today’s thunderstorm is the “most horrific” on record!  Today’s society is the “worst in history”!  Today’s political turmoil will lead us into “national obscurity”!  I...

          The other day I was reading an article from a secular media outlet about how there had been a downturn in the number of people who believed in creationism.  I don’t recall the numbers, but the essence of the article was two-fold:  fewer people (even Christians) believe in a Bible-only version of creation and, if the Christianity is going to be successful it needs to acknowledge the value of science in explaining things like creation.  My goal is not to challenge that author’s number or even debate his premise, rather I merely want to ask the question – What happened to faith?  Often, when we use the word “faith” we are referring to a system of doctrines that outline our religion, but there is another side to faith.  Faith is believing in what we cannot see and what we cannot explain using human reason.  Faith, in Christianity, is accepting God at His word whether it can verified by science and history or not.  The bo...

The other night Jeane and I spent the evening watching the of biographies of General Robert E. Lee and President Jimmy Carter.  (Yes, our lives are that exciting!)  I enjoyed the programs because they brought to light some very interesting conflicts.  Each of these men had some incredible traits and each of them endured some unimaginable struggles.  The assessment of their success is often determined by a person’s understanding of the times in which they lived and the values they shared (or despised). At the conclusion of the evening I got to thinking about the word “legacy”.  The end of General Lee’s life was played out in Western Virginia as he contemplated the role he played in the history of the United States.  President Carter’s legacy continues to be shaped, but he, too, struggled with the mark he had made after his defeat by Ronald Reagan.   These men faced the challenge of pondering their own personal use of the gifts and opportunities ...

          Have you ever found yourself rooting for someone else’s failure?  Now, on the surface this may sound a bit mean, but it may be more common than we might like to admit.  When another person’s idea is accepted over ours do we think, “Fine, I hope that they go ahead with it and it falls flat on its face”?  When those who have been rough on us in the past find themselves in a bind do we reason, “It serves them right, now I hope they find out how I felt”?  When another person makes a bad choice, do we hope, “I can’t wait until they get what they have coming to them”? Often, there is a fine line between vindication and vindictiveness.  Sure there are natural consequences for all of our actions – both good and bad – but we must be careful not to wish ill on others.  Who actually wins when people fail – often the answer is no one.  When people suffer (even because of choices that they made) we need to be careful not to glo...

Last week, one of the church members who takes care of preparing for our weekly Communion Service was carrying in several bottles of grape juice.  As we got to talking about the jugs of juice she said, “Wow, this stuff cost a lot.”   When she said that my first thought was, “Yes, it cost our Savior His life.”.  I am not a deep thinker, so I was a bit surprised that my mind headed in that direction, but it did.  The money we expend for the sips of “the fruit of the vine” pales in contrast to the real expense.  When the Apostle Paul tried to help the early church understand their Communion Service he wrote, “ In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’”  (I Corinthians 11:25)  Jesus wasn’t satisfied to go down to the local grocery store and purchase grape juice so that we could commune with Him, He was willing to...