Think About It

I don’t remember everything about the morning of September 11, 2001, but I do recall that it started out much like any other Tuesday.  We were expecting a busy weekend, but still thought we had plenty of time to get our plans in order.  I happened to walk by as the Principal of the school was looking in interest at the television saying, “A plane just flew into the World Trade Center.”.  My first thought was that it was sad that a small plane was off course and was damaged – then I witnessed the rest of the story!  September 11 was a day that changed a lot of lives.  Some people started their day by going to work, voting or beginning a relaxing trip, but before the morning was over thousands of people in New York City; Arlington, Virginia and Summerset, Pennsylvania we directly impacted while other ripples reverberated throughout the nation and the world. As I reflect on 9/11 several things come to mind, but one of the most striking is the uncertainty of life...

          During the First Century there was not the same type of Social Security system as we have today so families and churches were put in the position of taking care of those who needed help – especially widows.  When the Apostle Paul wrote to his protégé, Timothy, about how to set up the widow’s assistance, he gave him some pointers, then offered him a admonition – encourage the younger widows to remarry.  While this is not a biblical command, Paul seemed to understand the challenge facing younger women who accepted this assistance and warned, “ At the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention. ” (I Timothy 5:13)           The reason I bring this up is not to critique social services, rather to shine a spotlight on idleness.  Whether w...

           We live in an incredible time of communication … we’ll let me rephrase that … we have a lot of ways to express ourselves these days.  Whether it is with unlimited talk and text, social media or just good old fashioned chit chat, we have ample opportunities to communicate, but how effective are we?           Most of us are very good about saying what we think, but, that is just one part of the formula.  If we are going to be effective communicators we have to be willing to listen.  Listening isn’t just taking the time to catch our next breath or even politely waiting our turn to talk (which is even becoming a lost art in the loud and pushy society).   Listening is even more than waiting to hear what the other person has to say, it is wanting to hear what the other person has to say.  Listening is the ability to draw out the words and emotions of others so that we can und...

Through the years of my spiritual development I have noticed a trend that seems to be rather unique to our times.   After the 1940s and 1950s there seemed to be a philosophy shift toward what might be called “real-life Christianity”.  While I believe that the Word of God is relevant to all times and places, this theory seemed to pursue a path toward a gritty, earthy tone.  Instead of lauding the values of avoiding sin and temptation, many people believed that the blessing of Christianity was in just how close it could come to the edge.  Rather than trying to extract people from sinful situations and placing them in the idyllic pastoral setting of churches, they marched into the battle zone of good and evil and assisted people dealing with life and death struggles.  While there is value in this, sometimes the lines tended to be blurred and there was a willingness to accept situations that were not tolerated by the Scriptures.  To appeal to people in tu...

There are a lot of lessons that can be learned from Hurricane Harvey, but one of the most personal is “perspective”.  While you might think that I am referring to being appreciative for the blessing of good weather and safety – and those are valuable lessons – there are a couple of other things that came to mind.  One of the lessons comes from a baseball game – or more accurately, a series of baseball games that were supposed to be played in Houston last week.  The Astros and Rangers were supposed to play three games in Houston, but the flooding forced a change of venue.  There was a lot of give and take about the best way to handle the logistics and eventually Major League Baseball stepped in and scheduled the games in Tampa.  Interestingly, the lesson to be learned wasn’t about compromise, it was about perspective.  Astros fans felt shorted by the Rangers because of their proposal and Ranger’s fans weren’t pleased with the Astros’ counter offers.  E...

Have you ever asked yourself why you work?  I imagine that some people have this recurring conversation most Monday mornings, but on this “Labor Day” it is a good to reflect on the meaning of work.  To establish the roots of labor, all we have to do is go back to man’s first sin when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden.  As God issued His decree He said, “ Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.  Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”. (Genesis 3:17-19)  Throughout the years mankind has been compelled to work to provide for himself and his family because sin entered the world.  Yet, in a modern society, work is often more than laboring to provide food on the table – s...

          Have you ever felt like you were not having much of an impact?  Have you ever looked back at your life and wondered if you have ever had any influence on people? Logically we might know that surely, somewhere we have helped out someone, but emotionally it’s difficult to recall when it was and what we did.            These thoughts of inadequacy are pretty common especially when we see a culture that appears to be drifting away from the values we hold dear.   Not only do we wonder if we have had any positive impact, but we might even begin to question if the Word of God can have any substantial influence in modern life.  While these thoughts can be invasive that doesn’t mean they are true.  In fact, the Bible itself provides us with a message of hope.  An Old Testament prophet was reminded, “ For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there...