Think About It

In an era when we like to pigeon-hole people based upon superficial characteristics Condoleezza Rice gives us problems.  She was raised in Alabama and educated at Notre Dame.  She is an African-American Republican who served as the Secretary of State under President George Bush.  In a sense, she is kind of a breath of fresh air in the modern world of preconceptions.  Now, the reason I bring her up isn’t about what she has done, rather it is because of what she said.  The other day I read a quote where she observed, “ What has always made our country special is that it doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you're going. Our job is to make certain the pathways are open to both our boys and our girls.”.  Folks, I grew up in a time and place where we were told that anyone could grow up and become president.  While I don’t believe that is 100% accurate, I do believe that Ms. Rice hits the nail on the head when she says that our society will ...

I am not about to launch into the debate about the legalization of marijuana.   Yes, I have an opinion (and if you really care about what I think, I will be happy to share it with you), but now is not the time and place.   However, as I have watched this discussion throughout my lifetime I have come to believe that we have fallen into a dangerous trap of justification.   In other words, are we having this debate merely because “everyone is doing it”?   Based on this thought, if everyone is doing it, should we just go ahead and legalize it and be done with it?   We would alleviate pressures on the court system by just going ahead and allowing it.   It doesn’t have anything to do with right and wrong, it is just more expedient to allow it than to incur the expense of sticking to the old standards. Again, my point is not to debate this as it applies to marijuana, rather to discuss this type of rationalization as a whole.   Interestingly, this thought h...

There are times that I just want to go hide out for a while.  Depending upon my mood, I might want to head out in the woods or move to my remote island – but in all honesty, when I get to that point the location isn’t as important as the isolation.  While there are times when I get fed up with life’s problems, more often than not my desire for isolationism is based on a need for quiet.  We live in a noisy world – not just in volume, but in content as well.  It seems that wherever we turn people are using foul language, gossiping, being overly critical and just talking foolishness.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just figure out a way to moderate the noise in our world? Interestingly, the Bible addressing this problem when it states, “ Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29).  Th...

Most of us are familiar with the concept of the separation between church and state as guaranteed in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.   The Founding Fathers guaranteed, “ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...”.     Simply put, our nation was not going to be known for a “national religion”.   This concept of a freedom of religion may have been unique in the 18 th Century, but separation between church and state goes back a long way – but, maybe not in a way we might think.   When Jesus was being tried by Pilate He was faced by an adversarial Jewish aristocracy which seemed to turn on a favorite son.   This confused Pilate who thought He might have held Himself out as the king of the Jews, but Jesus quickly set the record straight by saying, “ My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would ...

I came across a Facebook post the other day that made me say, “Hmmmm ...”.   According the post a guy named Jeremy Goldberg observed, “Courage is knowing it might hurt, and doing it anyway.   Stupidity is the same.   And that’s why life is hard.”.   I am not sure if this is supposed to make me laugh or cry – but I do know it made me think.   I look back over times in my life when I have stood on the brink of a decisions understanding that the likely result was something that was going to put me in an uncomfortable situation – should I do it or not?   Was it venturing into stupidity or stepping out in faith?   Folks, I would like to say that after some pondering I figured it out, but in all honesty there are many times when the answer still isn’t all that clear! As I thought about this dilemma that we face on a consistent basis, I realized that there is something that can help us know the difference between courage and stupidity – wisdom.   We...

Spending as much time as I have in Texas I think it is a requirement to be a Nolan Ryan fan.  Throughout the years, I have been fascinated by Ryan’s ability on the baseball field so I recently purchased one of his biographies that gave me more of an insight into what made him a Hall of Fame pitcher.  What were some of the qualities that lead to his success – and how can they be translated into lessons for us?  Let’s take a look: 1.  Talent .  The first thing that stands out with Ryan is his natural ability – he could throw the baseball hard and he could throw it hard for a long period of time.  Success begins with ability.  What talent have we been given that makes us “world-class”?  Let’s remember that not everyone has the same talent, so let’s find out what makes us special (even if it appears to be unique). 2.  Hard Work .  Nolan had a strong right arm, but it was his training regiment that kept him in the game for decades. ...

Have you ever looked at something dozens of times, then all of sudden, it seems like it just finally gets your attention?   The other day I pulled up my online Bible and came face to face with this passage:   Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.”  (Romans 15:7).   I know I have read this before and I am pretty sure that I have preached on it (and maybe even wrote an article or two about it), but for some reason when I saw it the other day it just jumped out to me!   As I sat there and absorbed the truth of the message I was struck by its depth.   How in the world could I rationally look down on anyone when Jesus was willing to accept me warts and all?   How could I question anyone’s value when Jesus was willing to make my sorry-self glorious enough to stand before God?   How could I flippantly criticize someone else knowing that I had been judged and condemned for my sinful self; then vindicated...