Think About It

There sure seems to be a lot of news about protesting recently.   Whether its major professional sports stars protesting what they feel to be social injustices, political advocates protesting potential appointees, consumers protesting advertising campaigns or a number of other things, people are taking stands for what they believe.   Now, before we go any further, I am not going to offer an opinion on any of these particular incidences, but I am going to make a generic comment:   if we are going to take a stand on something we had better be willing to accept the consequences.   We are blessed to live in a nation where we can openly express our dissatisfaction, but just because we have the freedom to voice our opinion doesn’t mean that we are immune from having to pay a price for our beliefs.   Convictions have consequences – so before we take a stand, we’d better understand that not everyone will agree with us and some people might respond to the stand we take....

           If you live in most of the rest of the county you may have heard about Hurricane Florence, but those of us along the Eastern Seaboard are already well acquainted with her.  After several days of cloudy, rainy weather we are watching the storm’s development and trying to plan accordingly.  Jeane and I seem to be out of the main track of the storm, but we had some travel plans that were taking us into the path of the hurricane so we have been watching that aspect of its impact.            Now, the reason for this observation isn’t really about the storm – it is about sunshine.  Yesterday afternoon I walked outside and the sun was shining.  There was a bright blue sky – and I almost missed it!  I have been so focused on lamenting the cloudiness and preparing for the worst that I just about forgot to bask in the glow of a beautiful sunny moment.  S...

It wasn’t too many years ago that the word “hurricane” was met with a collective yawn.  While these were massive storms, people didn’t seem to be all that concerned – I mean, after all it’s just wind and rain, right?  Over the last few decades folks have begun taking hurricanes more seriously.  People are watching the weather with more interest.  Those who are in the direct path of the storm’s impact pack up quicker and leave sooner.  Even those who are on the outer edges of the forecast area begin to make more serious preparations.  Through the years, we have seen the power of the storms and are going to do whatever we need to do to get ready. Do we believe in an end to this world and an eternal judgement?  Are we as apt to prepare for the second coming of Christ as we are to ready ourselves for an approaching hurricane?  The Bible declares the Lord’s power through this reminder, “...  by His word  the present heavens and earth are b...

On the morning of September 11, 2001 I went to work burdened by a lot of things that seemed important to me.  It was Homecoming Week for our High School and, as the School Resource Officer, I was already concerned about the shenanigans I was going to have to deal with throughout the week.  To add to that, our community was hosting a huge celebration for World War II veterans that was going impact the entire community.  We were going to have thousands of visitors come into to town and we were going to be working twelve hour shifts to deal with the influx.  Yes, I was pretty worked up about the upcoming week.  Then, at 7:46 a.m. Central Time, my issues seemed very small.  We watched in horror and disbelief as the world seem to unravel right before our eyes.  The attacks on the United States on 9/11 adjusted the way we think about a lot of things – but there are a couple of lessons that we must never forget:  First of all, life can change quickly....

          I spent some of my youth in South Florida so, naturally, I was interested in hurricanes.   I think it was a thought of filling up the bathtub with potable water that fascinated me, but no matter the prompt, I remember being intrigued by these massive storms.   I remember getting the grocery bags from Publix (the ones with the storm tracking maps) and listening to the 6:00 p.m. newscast so we could track if/when the storm would hit.   I recall my grandfather watching the barometer and adding his experience into the equation.   There were fewer sources of   “information” available to us back then and there was an overriding philosophy that said you can never predict a storm so as I look back, I recall us talking about the storms and planning for the storms, but I don’t recall it gripping our attention the way the storms do today.             The reason for ...

What would you do if someone gave you $1000 on the condition that you gave it away to ten people?   You couldn’t give it to anyone who earned it by doing a task for you, it had to be given out to people just because it made them feel good to receive the gift.   I am sure that some of us would be uninterested and others would probably fuss because no one ever gave us $100 out of the goodness of their heart, but I also know that several of us would be happy to play along.   I mean after all, how many times do we have the chance to make someone feel good without it costing us a thing – right?   We’ll, maybe more often than we think. How free are we with our compliments?   It is easy to be verbose in complaining about things, but how many of us take the opportunity to offer up compliments for no reason at all – not because people deserve them, but just because we want to make their day better.   The great thing about complimenting someone is that it doesn’t ...

          In 1972 Luther Ingram hit the charts with the soulfully-charged song, “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want To Be Right”.   Through the years, the song has been redone by several other artists, most notably Barbara Mandrell who had a monster hit with it on the Country Charts in 1979.   The song, which chronicles a couple’s struggle with their adulterous relationship, seems to capture the dissonance in the battle between good and evil.   The principles in the song know that what they are doing is wrong, but for the sake of their relationship, they continue the affair.   They are willing to live with their consequences of their sin rather than change their ways.           While this song might be considered “romantic” by some, it signifies a spiritual challenge that transcends sexual purity.   This type of logic – an unwillingness to give up sin because it feel...