Think About It

A couple days ago Jeane made a statement that was not only true, it was quite catchy.   During a conversation about our lifestyle she noted, “Activity begets activity”.   While this quip can be accepted for its accuracy on the surface, it is also true as a philosophy of life.   It seems like the more we do, the more likely we are to do more things.   Activity tends to build positive inertia.   While this statement is correct, it also seems to produce a mirrored reflection – inactivity begets inactivity.   In other words, the less we do, the less we want to do.   I have noticed this declining principle in a couple places in my life:   First, as it has to do with sitting on the couch watching TV or surfing the ‘net.   The more time I spend in this type of inactivity, the easier it is to do nothing.   The other way this shows up in my life is when it comes to reaching out into the church or the community to do good works.   When I get...

          I had never heard of E. M. Bounds until I came across a quote of his a few days ago.   I still don’t know much about him, but the little I do know, it appears that he lived an interesting life during the latter part of the 19 th Century and the beginning of the 1900s.   While I won’t go into the details of his life, I do want to share his insight ... actually two quotes that are attributed to his book, “Power Through Prayer”.   The first is, “The church is looking for better methods – God is looking for better men.”   The second tends to expound on this thought, “ What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use – men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men – men of prayer.”  ...

          Last Sunday morning, a friend of mine preached a sermon about a guy by the name of Gehazi.   You may not be too familiar with him (I sure wasn’t), but his story comes near the end of the account of Naaman being miraculously cured of leprosy by Elisha.   You see, following his healing, Naaman wanted to repay Elisha, but the prophet refused to take anything in return.   However, Elisha’s servant, Gehazi decided to cash in on Naaman’s good fortune.   He used Naaman and lied to Elisha for some material gain; but, unfortunately for him as II Kings 5 comes to a close, it is Gehazi who ends up with leprosy.             There are several lessons in this text, but one that I want to highlight is God’s good (and free) gift.   Naaman followed God’s instructions and because of it was healed.   Elisha wasn’t going to put additional conditions on God’s miraculous ...

           I had originally intended to post this on New Year’s Eve, but those plans were interrupted by some thoughts about the recent church shooting.  Even if these thoughts might not be as timely on January 2, I still think they are worth considering so please bear with me.           What is the most poignant lesson you learned from 2019?  Typically, when we get to this time of year, we look forward to New Year’s Resolutions, but there is value in  taking a look back at the old year’s revelations.  2019 will be known for some significant historical events, but I encourage us to reflect on its personal importance.           As I look back on 2019, there are two things that really stand out to me.  Not only did I turn 60, I also had a pretty significant medical procedure midway through the year.  Even though I won’t dwell on eithe...

          Ahhh – New Year’s Day.  Today is a day known for sleeping-in late, football, finger foods and resolutions.  While I like all of these, my topic for this discussion is New Year’s Resolutions.  Now, as I begin this, let me tell you that I believe in making resolutions as long as we are focused on keeping the promises we are making to ourselves.  If we make the resolutions without commitment, they are more than useless, they may even be counterproductive.  You see, by starting off the new year with a pledge that we know we aren’t going to keep we lessen the impact commitments can have on us throughout the year.  (If we don’t intend to keep the resolutions made in January, why should we put any effort in following through with the commitments we make any other time of year?)  So, unless we plan on keeping them, let’s not go through the pretense of New Year’s Resolutions if we don’t have the resolve to make the change. ...

          There are certain aspects of Sunday’s church shooting in White Settlement, Texas that hit a bit closer to home than some of the others.  I have been watching information coming from the Metroplex over the past couple of days and I believe there are some lessons that can be learned.  Sure, there are some “security lessons” that can be taken away from the response, but I believe there is something even more important message – we cannot lose hope!  This incident is a painful reminder of one of the most fundamental truths in the world – satan is alive and well and will stop at NOTHING to promote his will and defeat his adversary.  We can argue all we want to about certain political and social issues, but at the heart of things like this is the presence of satan.  He will use tools such as hatred and fear to strike a blow against God’s people, but we cannot allow him to win.  Tragedies like this one tend to sap us of our stre...

          In his book, Christians In The Age Of Outrage , Ed Stetzer tells the story of a moment in Billy Graham’s life when he made an important decision.   Facing a world that was looking at the Bible with skepticism Mr. Graham offered this prayer, “Father, I am going to accept this as Thy Word – by faith!   I am going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be Your inspired Word.”.   As I read these words, I thought about how little has changed through the decades.   People are still challenging the validity of the Bible and others are having to make a decision based upon faith.   Sure, there are some elements of Scripture that can be confirmed by history or science, but at the heart of the matter is faith – no matter whether or not we can intellectually defend its pages from its critics or even from our own questions.   When we accept the Bible merely on what can be proven, ...