Think About It

          Last Sunday morning, during a prayer a church, one of our members used an alliteration to highlight the calling of Christians.   In his prayer he reminded us of our need to work, worship and witness.   As I reflected on his thoughts I was inspired by the three efforts: 1.   Work – While “work” is often looked down upon by many religious people, the fact remains that Christians a called to be active.   It isn’t enough to merely believe in Christ, we must “do something” to demonstrate our commitment to Him.   The New Testament reminds us, “ For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26).   No, we can’t earn our way into salvation, but we need to be doing something in His Name. 2.   Worship – The concept of worship can be twofold.   Worship can be the act of gathering together as a group in an assembly dedicated to God or it ca...

When we think about the world in which we live, we may be convinced that we are surrounded by violence, but the truth is that violence has always been an issue.   In fact, the first family on the earth had to deal with murder.   Many of us are familiar with the story of Cain killing Abel because God valued Abel’s sacrifice more than He did Cain’s.   The story of the first murder is found in Genesis 4, but there is an interesting exchange between God and Cain prior to the killing.   In warning Cain God observes, “ Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?   If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:6-7).   Cain didn’t heed the warning and he killed his brother.   As I got to thinking about this interaction I was intrigued by the question God asked Cain – why are you angry?   ...

I have been trying to do better with my eating over the last few months and feel like I am beginning to make some progress.  Pleased with how things were going, last night I decided to “cheat” a little bit and have a piece of cheesecake.  Now, let me clarify that – it was cheap, frozen cheesecake.  While I was eating it, it tasted pretty good; but afterwards, I got to wondering if it was worth it.  The sudden dump of excess sugar made me feel rather lethargic, but it was probably more that it just didn’t seem to be worth the calories.  I won’t say that I felt guilty, I just felt that it was kind of a waste. As I got to thinking about my cheesecake it got me to reflecting on how many times we choose to do things that don’t bring us as much enjoyment as we thought they would.  We pursue something frivolous that costs us a portion of our reputation.  We give into a temptation that separates us from a close relationship with God or with our friends and ...

How would you describe God?   We live in a world that is filled with all kinds of ideas and perspectives on God – some of which are good, others ... well, not so much.   So how can we describe God?   Maybe the place to start is by allowing Him to describe Himself.   When Jehovah God was cementing His relationship with the Jews He noted, “ Yahweh!   The Lord!   The God of compassion and mercy!   I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.    I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.     I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.   But I do not excuse the guilty.   I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected – even children in the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 34:6-7).   As I read God’s assessment of Himself, two things stood out to me.   First, God cares about His people.   He wants to offer forgiveness...

          It has been five weeks since my surgery.  Honestly, it is hard for me to comprehend what all has happened in the last thirty-five days.  I have gone from having them working inside my chest to being back at work.  During that time I have gone from looking pale to having a little bit of a tan.  I have been able to travel to Florida and speak at conference at the Gaylord Palms resort.  Several people have asked me how I am doing and my stock answer is my real answer – I am doing fine!           As I look back over the last month there are a lot of things I don’t understand about what happened, but one thing that I believe wholeheartedly is that my progress wasn’t my own doing – it is was a gift.  I was blessed by God with a quick recovery, but that’s isn’t the only gift I received – I was blessed by prayer.  The more I learn about the past few weeks the more humbled I am b...

What should we be doing with our lives?   No, I am not talking about the general call to be faithful to God – my question has more to do with specific opportunities we have been given.   Are we doing everything we should be doing to fulfill our potential or answer our calling?   This can be a daunting question, so maybe we can make it a little easier by breaking it down into a few simpler questions: 1.   Are there continuing opportunities we are have not capitalized on ?     Does it seem like we having this nagging compulsion that we should be doing something different in (or with) our lives?   Does it seem like we just can’t seem to shake a need to be doing something more.   Sure, we can ignore the feelings – but that doesn’t mean that they will go away! 2.   Are there talents we aren’t using ?   Are there projects that seem to be continually presenting themselves to us?   We didn’t do them yesterday, so they popped bac...

When I cite Scriptures, I usually quote from the New American Standard Bible, but the other day a friend of mine showed me something in the New Living Testament than caused me to see a passage in a new and different way.   I have read James 1:18 several times but I had never seen it translated in this way, “ He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.”   Imagine that – as people, especially godly believers – we are special in the eyes of God!   We live in a world that has done a good job of protecting our environment, but I believe that in doing so, we have diminished the value of people.   I may not make many friends here, but there is biblical evidence that humans (the only creation made in the image of God) occupy a special place in the heart of God.   Yes, we should take care of the rest of nature, but when it comes to appreciating value, we must remember that we (human beings) are God’...