Think About It

On this date in 1985 Coca-Cola made one of the biggest retail blunders in the history of beverage-selling.   In an effort to expand their market Coca-Cola changed their popular formula and introduced “New Coke”.   I am sure that there were some who liked it, but many more didn’t.   In fact, instead of gaining new customers, Coca-Cola lost several of their old faithfuls.   In a very real way, Coca-Cola proved that newer is not always better. The mistakes of a soda pop maker probably aren’t history-making, but it does remind us of some things of greater importance.   One of the challenges facing Christianity is trying to keep truth fresh and relevant.   We do not want to miss reaching out to any generation but, we must also be committed to doing what is right.   Change for change sake rarely produces the desired results, but we must be extra careful when those changes can have an eternal impact.   From the very beginning Jesus required that His d...

Wouldn’t it be great to start all over again?  As I look back at my life there are several times when I wish I would have known then what I know now.  It would have been nice to have had the zeal of youth with the wisdom of age ... but, alas, I am stuck in the here and now.  Well, not necessary.  You see, there is a way to begin again.            When Jesus was visiting with a man named Nicodemus about the kingdom of God, He told him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”, then expounded on it by saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3, 5).   From a physical perspective rebirth is an impossibility, but in the spiritual world it is not only possible, it is also required.  But, what does it mean to be reborn – the answer seems to be found in ...

Being a victim of crime can be a scary thing for people.  We live in a time when, with 24/7 media, there is a lot of coverage of the bad things that are happening – not just in our community, but throughout our nation and around the world.  In addition to accounts that can be validated, social media is filled with stories about friends of friends of friends that may (or may not) be true.  There is a lot of talk about victimization and that can be troubling. While being a victim can’t always be avoided (there are times when we can just be in the wrong place at the wrong time), the are a few things we can do to lessen our propensity to be victimized: 1.  Choose our friends and acquaintances wisely .   Even if we make good choices, we can find ourselves in the vicinity of those who don’t.  When that happens, we can be impacted by what might be termed collateral damage by their poor decision-making. 2.  Choose our times and locations wisely ....

The other day I was reading some information about leadership in which the author noted that we are called to lead by example, not by explanation.   The concept is pretty simple – people don’t want to hear what they are as supposed to do as much as they need to see how to go about doing it.   While good leadership combines both instruction and demonstration, the point is that unless we are willing to walk the walk, we aren’t going to do much good talking the talk. Most of us are familiar with this concept, but as I read this I got to thinking about another principle of leadership – we must lead by example, not by exception.   In other words, we are called to show people how they are supposed to live not merely tell people what they are supposed to do, then make excuses for why we don’t do what we should be doing.   Unless we are willing to live the right way, we should just save our excuses and our breath.   It is easy to tell people how to live but it is als...

How could anything good come from that Friday?  It began Thursday night when a posse came into the garden where Jesus had been praying with His disciples and arrested Him.  From there they took Him through a series of trials filled with trumped-up charges, ill-prepared prosecutors and lying witnesses.  The night was capped off by political posturing, deal-making and mob rule.  By the time Friday morning came, Jesus was on His way to the cross.  The Messiah and Lord would spend several hours exposed to pain and ridicule, then finally and mercifully, He was allowed to give up His life and accept the peace that came with death.  So, in light of all that happened on the Friday, what good was it?  Well, the answer seems to come, “... when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” (John 19:30).  You see, at this moment the sacrifice had been completed and mankind’s hope had been restored....

         It was on this date in 1775 that one of the most famous events of the American Revolution occurred.  While the details of Paul Revere’s ride have seen somewhat glamorized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, it truly was a part of American history in which a hero risked life and limb to warn people of the impending dangers of the British invasion in the Greater Boston area.  In part, because of Revere’s ride, our nation withdrew from an oppressive government and found the freedom they so desperately wanted.           As I thought about Paul Revere I got to wondering if people today are as willing to herald the dangers of oppression as he was in his day.  No, I am not talking about governmental intervention or an terroristic invasion – we need to be shouting the dangers of sin!  There are certain things that are invading our national make-up that can have a catastrophic impact.  Whether it is immoral behavior,...

During his time at Florida State University Warwick Dunn had a lot of people cheering for him, but like anyone involved in athletic competition, not everyone was his fan.  In fact, some of the people weren’t content to merely cheer for their team – they heckled him.  Some even went to the extreme of even making light of the fact that his mother had been killed in a robbery attempt a few years earlier.  Can you imagine, being so into your team that you would dig up something so painful as the loss of an opponent’s mother?  When Dunn reflected on heckling he recalled how it made him question the decency of people!  No, not everyone did it, but the pain caused by those that did tarnished his opinion of his fellow man.           Have you noticed how quick we are to heckle people today?  We take issue with and make fun of their sports teams – but, it has gotten even more prevalent to include other’s political belie...