Think About It

Have you noticed how easy it is to solve other people’s problems?  Isn’t it interesting that outsiders can claim to have a greater insight into what other people should be doing?  While this is true in so many aspects of life, it is commonly found in the world of religion.  A lot of people who are not members of our church are more than willing to offer commentary on what we should be doing in our churches.  In all reality, there really isn’t anything we can do to prevent people from making suggestions or value judgements about what we do, but we must also remember that just because someone has a comment doesn’t mean that we have to heed it or even take it seriously.  Sure anyone can have an opinion, but the opinions of outsiders probably are not built upon the foundation of our faith and therefore may not lead to an accurate assessment of what we should be doing.  This might appear to be a 21 st Century problem fueled by the social media craze, but the f...

Have you ever done something that offended someone?   Have you either done something (or not done something) that let someone down?   If we were all true to ourselves, the answer to both of those questions is “yes”.   Because we are people we are going make mistakes and because we are people we are going to find ourselves either missing cues or just not doing what was expected of us in the complex emotional exchanges we have with each other.   Now that we have established the fact that we are going to disappoint others, that leads us to the real question, “What are we going to do when we mess up?”.   When I let someone down my first response is to feel bad about it.   I am a “people pleaser” by nature, so when I don’t measure up to the expectations, I take it personally.   Yet, is it enough to just feel bad?   Do we gain anything by merely lamenting our failures?   When we don’t get our interpersonal relationships right, there are a few co...

The other day I sat down at the desk in my home office and had to face a harsh reality – it was filled with clutter.   For the last several weeks I would work on something, then set it over in one pile.   I would wind up a cord and set it in another part of the desk.   I had sticky notes (some active, some obsolete) pasted all over my desk.   It was a mess and it was a bit overwhelming, but there was one more thing about it … it needed to be cleared!   I was going to be using my home office for a while, so I had to do something about the mess.   I couldn’t live with it, I couldn’t ignore it, so I just had to take the time to get my workspace in order. I am sure that many people can relate to my desk, but there is another lesson that can be learned from my clutter – how many of us life with clutter in our lives?   Emotional clutter can come in a variety of forms:    holding a grudge against one person, being envious of another person, never...

Who is responsible for our personal safety?   The other day I noticed a news story about a person who was injured by a foul ball at a Major League Baseball game and several people pondered what should be done to keep fans safe.   I have been around a lot of baseball games and one thing that is very clear is the danger of balls (and even bats) flying into the stands.   The concept of assumed risk is something entrenched in our society, but we still struggle with personal responsibility.   When an onlooker is injured at an entertainment event where the risks are known, who is at fault? Now, the reason I raise this question has little to do with fans at ballgames; rather, I use it as foundation for another question – who is responsible for our safety?   It is easy to rely upon our government to keep us safe, in fact we have become so dependent on it that we make unsafe choices and hope that someone will intervene when we get in trouble.   Yet, there is anot...

As we roll through the graduation season, one question on a lot of people’s minds is “Did I make it?”.   For our graduates that answer is found in their High School records – did they successfully pass enough classes to receive their diploma?   This question can often be emotional, but the answer is usually straight-forward.   While graduates have a cut and dried answer to their question, their parents are often left to ponder how they did – did they successfully raise their children?   Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not always as clear as graduation requirements.   So, how can parents tell if they succeeded in raising their children appropriately?   One answer might come for the upbringing of Jesus where we are told, “ And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52).   No, we don’t have Jesus’ SAT scores to tell us how Joseph and Mary did, but we have His life as the demonstration of th...

Have you noticed the lengths to which we will go to protect our stuff?  We have zippers on our pockets, locks on our cars, security systems in our homes and passwords on our phones.  We do everything we can to keep our stuff our stuff!  It would be inconceivable to walk around with money sticking our of our pockets and it is ill-advised to leave our prized possessions out in the open for someone to take.  If we really like something, we’ll do our part to protect it. The reason for this statement of the obvious is to question why we are so willing to put our joy at risk.  We have been blessed by God with something so valuable as joy, but we seem to be tempted to allow others to take it from us.  We see what others have and our lust robs us of our joy.  We listen to the whining and fussing of the world and we allow other people’s negativity to steal our joy.  We become so wrapped up in the cares of the world that we allow our anxiety to strip us ...

Several days ago I was thinking about the events of the past couple weeks and I was struck with a question – why me?   I would imagine this is a pretty common question for people who experience sudden changes in their lives, but this came to me in a bit of a different way – why was I blessed in the way that I was blessed?   The way the events of the past several days unfolded were highly unusual, but the result was more than I could have expected.   Things worked out well – exceedingly well.   As I processed through these thoughts I was led back to something that someone(s) had recently said, “God must not be finished with you, yet.”.   In essence, the events I experience could have been a reminder for me to refocus or an intervention to allow me to continue on a journey designed for me.   (I wish the answer would have been provided to me in bright lights – but for now, I just need to accept that my purpose has been reconfirmed.) Why does God bless us in...