Think About It

I didn’t personally watch the Presidential debates last week, but I have heard a lot about them. The one thing I have not heard about them is anyone who thought they were good or productive. It seems odd that so much unity came out of such a divisive event. While I am not going spend much time assessing what happened last week, one thing that I will say is that that type of behavior is not what I want our nation to be known for. Folks, I don’t care who your candidate is, please don’t do what they did! If they want to be our leaders, they need to lead us in a better direction! Now, having said that, I want to ask us another question ... when our children or grandchildren watch us interact with others – especially those with whom we disagree – do we make them proud or do we embarrass them? When they hear us in the coffee shop talking about religion, politics or social issues, are they proud of our ability to present our case with dignity or are they shamed by what they hear? Whe...

Six months ago we scrambled to meet the demands of our rapidly changing environment. Not only did we pay attention to our physical environment by washing our hands and masking our faces, but we also suspended many of our activities and began doing many things remotely. In a matter of weeks, we put in motion a process by which we could work, worship and fellowship remotely. As I look back at what we have been able to do in the last six months, I am thankful for what we have been able to do, but we need to be reminded that much of what we have in place was intended to be temporary and must not become our new normal. Yes, we are able to function at a distance using interim solutions; but we are not operating at our best and we mustn’t be lulled into complacency. I will allow the education and business experts to weigh-in on the impact this will have on our schools and economy, but I want to focus on this as it relates to the work and worship of the church. Again, I am thankful we hav...

In yesterday’s thought, I mentioned a phrase my parents would periodically use on us, “I am not asking you to do this, I am telling you to do this.”. A parallel thought was, “I don’t care if you want to do it, do it anyway.”. No, my parents were not bullies or tyrants – they weren’t even mean; however, they had in mind a way that we are supposed to be raised and they were committed to making it happen. I will not say that we always followed willingly, but I do believe that my sister and I were raised in a way in which we became decent people and productive citizens. Now, the reason I bring this up is to circle back around to something that Jesus said to His disciples early on, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile...

While I grew up in the democratic republic known as the United States, I was raised in the monarchy known as the Wharton household. I will be the first to admit that I had a happy, healthy upbringing; but that is not to be confused with the fact that my parents had rules and expected us to follow them. When we were told to do something, we might object, but the bottom line was clear and was often punctuated by the edict, “I am not asking you to d o this, I am telling you to do it.”. The reason I raise this point is that our concept of democracy has a tendency to influence our response to aspects of our lives that are not a democracy. Take for example, the Lord’s church. Having grown up in the United States, we might feel comfortable in wanting to have a say in what the Lord wants done in His church, but the bottom line is that this is His church, run by His rules ... and this is never more obvious than when He said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I...

Do we feel special? Do we feel blessed? I think that one of the innate challenges of growing up when and where we have is that there is something unappealing about feeling like we have lived a life of advantage. Maybe it comes from our early opposition to the British Crown or the appeal of a frontier spirit, but throughout the history of American culture, there seems to be some kind of badge of honor about personally overcoming obstacles to find ou r own success. We want to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps! While it can feel fulling or inspiring to rising above our challenges, there is also something appealing to being able to enjoy the good life without having to work too hard to achieve it. Maybe this was on David’s mind when he praised God by noting, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the L...

Why do we go through difficult times? This is one of those age-old questions that has puzzled sages from all generations. Even today, we struggle with this dilemma and have come up with several reasons: it might be satan tempting us to reject God ... it could just be living life and experiencing the inherent consequences of earthly living ... maybe it is God putting us in trying situations so that we can grow and become better. There are several p ossibilities for why life is tough, but one that is not very popular these days is that we could be being disciplined for what we have done. We don’t talk about it a lot, but the New Testament reminds us of God’s interaction with us, “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”, then notes, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness....

On September 27, 1903 Southern Railway 1102 (or the Fast Mail train) was running behind schedule. After leaving Washington D. C. on its way to Spencer, North Carolina, it was an hour late as it pulled into Monroe, Virginia. It was unacceptable for the Fast Mail train to run late, so they threw away good sense and cranked up the steam. The normal speed was about 39 miles per hour, but to close the gap in time the train would have to average at least 51 mph for the 166-mile stretch. When the train reached the Stillhouse Trestle it was going too fast to navigate the curve and ended up in the ravine below killing eleven people. In today’s world of mass causalities this wreck might not make much of a headline, but at the turn of the 20th Century this story would become a national event etched in our memories in the old folk song, “Wreck of the Old 97”. I have been fascinated by the song for a long time, but when I recently learned of the historical background for the tune it reinforc...