Think About It

Do we have any unused Christmas parents laying around?  It is now the middle of March but if some of us looked we would probably find some Christmas gift still sitting in a closet or drawer.  We may have looked at it and we may have acknowledged our thanks to the giver, but we just haven’t done anything with it.  When we ignore these gifts (whether we are thankful or not) we are missing out on taking advantage of the joy or blessing the gift was meant to provide. The reason for this question is less related to Christmas than it is to Christ.  Before Jesus left the earth He told his disciples, “   Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” (John 14:27).  Wow, that sounds pretty cool doesn’t it?  Yet the problem is that many of us have not taken advantage of the gift of peace that Jesus has offered us!  We still find ourselves at odds wit...

          We live in a caustic, confrontive world – and honestly I think it is getting louder.  Today’s personalities coupled with the expansion of media outlets and the removal of social and emotional limiters have paved the way for an argumentative culture.  We are becoming more apt to ruffle people’s feathers than we are to smooth things over.  Even religion has the tendency to fall in this trap – and unfortunately Christians tend to be louder and more boisterous.  On one hand, we might be able to justify our argumentative style by saying we are “fighting fire with fire”, but is that what we are called to do?  The other day I came across a passage that instructed early Christians, “T o sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;   not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very pur...

If you are like me you are finding all those old-school clocks that don’t have the capacity to automatically adjust to the time changes.   I have changed a few over the last couple of days, but I am sure there will be a few more in some out of the ordinary places that will be an hour off for the next few days (or weeks).   As I was changing one clock in my office I got to thinking how nice it might be to adjust the times in our lives as easily as it is to change our clocks.   Wouldn’t it be neat to fast forward through the tough times or go back in time and change some of the things from our past?   We all know that this isn’t possible, so how do we deal with living life in real time?   Here are a few suggestions: 1).   Practice forgiveness .   Whether it is forgiving others for wrongs they have committed against us or forgiving ourselves for the mistakes we have made, forgiveness (also known as “letting go and moving on”) can make a world of differ...

I have been doing some sort of “daily devotional” most weekdays since about 1989 and, after reflecting on things during that period of time, I have come to realize something – I have become a grump!   When I look back, many of those messages from the early years were much more positive – and even humorous – but, those types of messages have become fewer and further in between.   I pray that I do offer hope on most days, but I often feel like Solomon who wrote, “... I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge  results in increasing pain.” (Ecclesiastes 1:17-18).   Yep, I am beginning to sound (and look) like Eeyore. Do you ever find yourself feeling like Solomon (and me)?   What can we do to reverse the cynicism?   Here are a couple of suggestions for us: 1.   Hang around younger people .   ...

           On September 8, 1974 President Gerald Ford appeared before the American people to let them know that his intent was to offer a pardon to disgraced former president, Richard Nixon.  With the wounds left by the Nixon administration still fresh in many people’s minds, this decision was controversial at best and considered inexcusable by some.  As President Ford related his decision to the nation, his reasoning was that it was time to put what he had previously descried as a “national nightmare” to rest – it was time to move on so that the hurts could heal.  He understood that he could allow the “legal process” to meander on for years or he could make the executive decision to end the drama here and now.  In his speech he highlighted his reasoning by saying, “ During this long period of delay and potential litigation, ugly passions would again be aroused. And our people would again be polarized in their opinions. And the credibil...

One of the best known stories in the New Testament is often referred to as “The Temptation Of Jesus”.  While there are only three of satan’s temptations listed in the text, we have a broader summary of the event when we are told, “ Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.” (Luke 4:1-2).  Those who know the rest of the story remember that Jesus passed the test with flying colors, but have you ever given much thought to how He did it?  I am sure there are several qualities that made Jesus sinless during this time, but here are three that stand out to me: 1.  Jesus was aware of what was going on .  Jesus knew that satan was trying to tempt Him, trying to derail His path to providing salvation to the world.  Do we acknowledge that satan is out to get us just as he sought to get Jesus?  To be successful, we better be aware of the devi...

          Have you noticed how easy it can be to become spiritually soft?  I am not (necessarily) talking about diluting our message, rather I am referring to expecting that satan’s world should treat us “fair”.  Modern religious people are tempted to complain about not being giving equal footing with the non-believing world.  We feel put upon when we don’t get treated the same way as the non-churched world.  In essence, it has become easy to stomp our foot and shout, “They are being mean to us!”.  You know what – they are being mean to us and guess what, it is going to continue!  When Jesus assessed the world for His earliest disciples He remarked, “ If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.   If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. ” (John 15:18-19)...