Think About It

The other day I noticed that someone had attempted to throw something away in the trash can and missed.  It wasn’t anything too obtrusive or disgusting – they just missed the can.  I noticed it, but I didn’t do anything about it.  Then, the next day I noticed that the item was still there – again I noticed it but didn’t do anything about it.  Then the next day ... I am not sure if I even noticed it – oh, it was still there, I just didn’t notice it.  At this point, I think I just came to subconsciously expect that it was supposed to be there and just left it alone.  Today, I finally noticed it again and I realized that the piece of trash was going to be there until I finally did something about it.  Now, the reason for this discussion on a single piece of trash is to ask how many things have we come to accept just because we didn’t deal with them when we first noticed them?  No, I am not (necessarily) talking about trash I am talking about bad h...

Last week our church lost one of our long-time members, Clara Hess.  I didn’t have the privilege to know “Miss Clara” as well as did others, but when I posted her passing on our internal social network it was incredible to see the impact that she’d had on people.  In fact, one of the things that was mentioned was how she had knitted tissue box holders for people – many of whom still had these handmade gifts.  As I thought about Miss Clara’s death I was drawn back to a character of the Bible whom Luke described in this way, “ Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did.” (Acts 9:36).  When Dorcus died, her friends called on Peter to come to Joppa and showed him the gifts she had made for them.  Touched by their love for Miss Dorcus, Peter raised her from the dead!  What a great gift for such a wonderfu...

I cannot imagine what it must have been like to be Nelson Mandela.   Our nation continues to deal with challenges of the unity of diverse populations, but we are not alone.   Most nations have some sort of inequality including South Africa.   Through the years Mandela has been everything from a political prisoner to a national hero.   During that time, I am sure that Mandela learned a lot of life-lessons, including this one, “ I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”.   I can only imagine the fear that Mandela experienced, but because of his courage he endured. As I read that quote, I got to thinking about King David who noted, “ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4).   I don’t know enough about what kep...

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...