Think About It

           One of the things we hear a lot of these days is how the “church” is not a building or an organization – the church is the people.  There have been several references to passages like Acts 2:46 that tells us, “ Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart ...”.  On one hand I am glad to hear that many Christians have come to an understanding of the individual nature of our religion, but this freedom comes with a caveat.  Yes, we are individual believers in God and it does open up opportunities for things like small group worship assemblies in times of crisis, but it also means that we are individually accountable for the being a part of God’s plan.  It is great that we can continue without having to “go to a church building”, but in addition to having “house church” we must personally be...

I had an interesting week last week.  (I should probably note that those closest to me might not have called it “interesting”, they probably would be more likely to say that I wasn’t a lot of fun!).  As I reflected on last week I saw how cyclical it was – I went from a place of skepticism to one of discouragement to (hopefully) one of refocus.  To be honest, like many people, I have struggled with trying to figure out who is telling the truth in this crisis.   Then once the reality of how the decisions of others seriously influenced those things I believed in and worked hard to preserve impacted what I was doing, I became pretty disheartened and felt defeated.  Now that I am more ready to accept the reality of how things are, I am beginning to move on to what I can do.  As I think about where I have been, I am not apologetic, I think my range of emotions was natural.  Now, hopefully, I am geared up for whatever lies ahead. As I thought about my re...

          What are you going to do this weekend?   Usually this time of year we are meeting ourselves coming and going, but with what is going on we have an opportunity to do spend some time doing something a little different.   If you are looking for some suggestions, here are a couple of things. 1.   Breathe .   This may seem a little weird, but how many of us have spent the last couple of weeks “wrapped around the axle”? (That’s a southernism, so if you don’t understand it let me know.)   Take some time to sit on the porch or go of a walk and just relax. 2.   Plant a flower .   Whether it is in your backyard, in your herb garden or in a Styrofoam cup, add to the beauty of the world by planting a flower.   No, it might not bloom for a while, but when it does it will bring the joy of remembering that God got us all through today’s challenges. 3.   Send someone a card .   Not an email ...

          One of the things I have noticed about my life over the last few years is that I have lost quite a bit of my sense of humor.   Not only did my time in Law Enforcement tend to temper my frivolity, I think that the presence of “political correctness” has made things more stoic.   Sure, some of this is a good thing, but I do miss some of those times when I seemed more relaxed and carefree.   This realization about myself has helped me appreciate the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes more today than in my past.   I used to think that Solomon (who was the wisest man around) was also an old stick-in-the-mud, but now I can understand his assessment, “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.”.             Now the reason I bring this up is to remind us of something that Solomon said at the conclusion of his work, “ Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before th...

Maria Sokolowski Curie is probably best known as Madam Curie, the Polish-born French physicist who pioneered research in radioactivity.  The 19 th Century scientist is the first woman to have received a Nobel Peace Prize and is remembered for the work she did that shaped modern science and medicine.  The other day I came across an interesting quote by Curie, “ Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”.  As I read her quote from decades ago, it struck me as to how relevant it is today.  We live in time laden with fear – not because of what has happened, but because we are concerned with what we don’t know.  One of the challenges we face today is the uncertainty of believable information, so we need to make sure we invest ourselves in doing good research. While this paragraph tends to make sense in health and science, one of the best places to apply it is in our spiritual lives....

           One of the things that I like about where I live is the incredible beauty of the springtime.  After a dreary winter season, the splashes of color as the plants come to life brighten my spirits.  Whether it is the yellow of the daffodils, the scarlet of tulip magnolia trees or the pinks of the cherry blossoms, the world just springs to life as the weather warms.  I realize that this is God’s natural cycle, but it seems like He has taken something that died at the end of the autumn and brought it back to life just for me to enjoy.           The concept of a new chance at life is something that is alluded to in nature, but it is a reality in the spiritual world.  When we alienate ourselves from God through sin, our lives are done.  We enter into the dark, dismal reality that the end is near; however, there is hope.  One of my favorite New Testament passages is, “ Therefore...

          When I pulled into Grand Forks, North Dakota that spring day back in 1997 I was overwhelmed by the sights.   There was water standing in the streets, the roadways under the overpasses were filled with water, the downtown looked like a war zone and houses had literally been moved off of their foundations by the force of the flood waters.   Within a matter of days, sheetrock, electrical supplies and personal property littered the streets and boulevards.   I hadn’t spent much time in Grand Forks before this, but even I felt the surreal effect of what had happened when the Red River flooded.   When I think back on this event, these images come to mind, but there is something else I remember.   You see, several years later I went back and the community had responded.   Sure, there was a park where one neighborhood had been, but all-in-all life had found a new normal and Grand Forks was thriving.  ...