Think About It

When you think about God, what comes to mind? Many of us who claim a belief in the Lord like to wrap our hearts around the patriarchal nature of God. We enjoy talking about His forgiveness, compassion, sacrifice and even His love for us. We see God as longsuffering and caring. Now, while all of this is true, there is more to God than a warm-and-fuzzy Father-figure. When David reflected on God, he noted, “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; no evil dwells with You. The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. You destroy those who speak falsehood; the Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.” (Psalm 5:4-6). King David was a close to God as almost anyone who walked on this earth, but even the man whom God loved recognized the fiery side of God. Words such as hate, destroy and abhors paint a clear picture of God’s opinion of sin. God will not tolerate those who oppose Him or oppress His people. Centuries after David wrote ...

I do my best to stay clear of political biases in our daily observations, but periodically there are current events that capture my interest. The other day I read a portion of the statement Amy Coney Barrett sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee and came across an interesting statement. In citing a major influence in her life, Justice Antonin Scalia, she noted, “His judicial philosophy was straightforward: A judge must apply the law as written, not as the judge wishes it were. Sometimes that approach meant reaching results that he did not like. But as he put it in one of his best known opinions, that is what it means to say we have a government of laws, not of men.”. Now, before we go any future, please understand that I am not promoting a debate about either Justice Scalia or Judge Barrett; nor am I comparing the laws of the United States with the Bible, but when I read that it got me to thinking about our approach to Scripture. When it comes to interpreting the Bible, do we look...

  “I want what I want when I want it.” While most of us would not dare say this openly, how many of us wrestle with this internally? In fact, isn’t this one of the innate struggles of humanity? How much of our sin is born from this simple statement? We are good about trying to teach sharing and selflessness to our children, but living it is not as easy as teaching it. Centuries ago, the wise man of the Old Testament observed, “He who separates himself seeks his own desire, he quarrels against all sound wisdom. A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own mind.” (Proverbs 18:1-2). A spirit that is self-promoting and self-serving might receive immediate satisfaction but will fail in the long run. When we pursue our own ways and promote our own will over the good of others will we not only limit the number of people who want to collaborate with us, we decrease the number of people who will support us. Eventually, when we promote our own ways, we end...

The classic TV show “M*A*S*H*” dealt with a lot of topics through their years including heroism. While I didn’t always agree with all the ideals the show’s producers pushed, I remember one episode in which Hawkeye Pierce and Frank Burns were facing a scary situation. They found themselves having to make a choice – do nothing and wait to see what happens or take action (be the hero) and put themselves in danger. Pierce finally makes a speech in which he said that a ninety-nine percent of the time a hero is someone who is tired enough, cold enough and hungry enough not to care what happens to them (Charlie’s G-Rated paraphrase). In essence, often heroes are just people fed up with the current conditions to the point that they are willing to step outside their zone of safety and do something about it. I realize that this is an entertainment show, but there may be something to this type of reasoning. I don’t know about you, but I am growing weary of watching our communities, our co...

Of all the historic figures to have their reputation take a whack over the last few years, few of them have been hit any harder than Christopher Columbus. The man who was said to have opened up a “new world” – and subsequently have a day remembered for him – is not nearly as popular as he was decades ago. I am not here to defend what he did centuries ago, but on the day that many places still honor his legacy, I would like draw upon his memory to challenge us. The reason Columbus became so popular was that he was willing to take risks to broaden himself. Whether driven by opportunity, information, finances or a quest for adventure; Columbus was willing to leave the comfort of his own homeland and see what was out there in the great big world. While there is a discussion as to whether he “discovered” the world, one thing that can be said for him was that he “experienced” new and exciting places. Again, I am not defending what he did when he arrived in those places, but I am intrig...

There are several lessons that come from age – one of which is that aging is not all that it is cracked up to be. Through the years I have found that old cars break down, old houses fall apart, investments fail and archaic ideologies are (most often) replaced. Maybe the most painful lesson I have learned is that our physical bodies were not built for the long-term and most of the parts will eventually begin to show an incredible about of wear and tear. I don’t want to sound like a pessimist, but the realist side of me is beginning to experience the certainty of aging. With this in mind, how would you feel if I could show you something that doesn’t tarnish with age – would you be interested? If so, listen to this, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade...

Today would have been my Mom’s 81st birthday, so in her honor I would like to share a few life lessons she left me. (By the way, she tried to teach me many of these lessons throughout much of my life, but with many of them, I was a rather slow learner.) In honor of her birthday, here are a few Momisms: 1. Act like you know better. I still hear these words ringing in the corners of my memory. Mom expected us to behave, not only in a way that didn’t embarrass her and my Dad, but in a way that was appropriate it. They had provided us with a good background, they expected good behavior. 2. You marry who you date. As a teenage boy, it was exciting to go out on dates, but Mom would always try to keep me grounded by reminding me to date girls with similar morals and values. Romantic love is fickle and you never knew which girl you could fall for, so before starting a dating a relationship, you’d better make sure she shared a common belief system. (Now that I am married, this transl...