Think About It

I find it pretty easy to fuss and complain about the last several months. From my job to my exercise routine to my social and sporting life a lot of stuff has been disrupted. How could anyone find any redeeming value come out of the last few months? Well, why not ask the Miami Marlins? In 2019 the South Florida based Major League Baseball franchise had the worst record in the National League – by a long way! They were almost 50 games under .500 and were 40 games behind the team that won their division. Now, fast forward to a very forgettable 2020 season for most of us and they were two games above .500 and made the playoffs. Not only did they make the playoffs, they won their Wild Card Playoff series and faced the Braves in the Division Championship Series. While their “Cinderella Season” came to an end on October 8; the 2020 campaign was anything but disappointing. No, they didn’t make the World Series and they had some tough times during the year; but the team that lost 105...

Who can you believe? If one party prevails, we will lose our civil rights. If the other party wins, our morality and economy will take a nose dive. We must remain vigilant in our defense against COVID-19 or we will have an increased spike in cases and deaths. All of this health talk is just something to sway an election, and if we aren’t careful it will destroy our way of life. Humans have ruined the planet to the point that climate change will forever alter the face of the earth. The change in our weather is merely cyclical and it will return eventually balance itself out. The next generation has the wisdom, insight and lack of historical baggage to raise us to new social heights. If left unchecked, our young people will drive humanity into despair and destruction. I repeat, who can you believe? There are a lot of opinions in our world these days – and many are diametrically opposed to each other. People are passionate about their beliefs – to the point that if you don’t be...

Our house is one great big mess right now. We have two big chunks of carpet ripped up, appliances in temporary locations, noisy fans blowing 24/7 and contents from two rooms and a closet stacked in our dining room. If you have ever had a water heater leak, you understand what I am talking about. It is amazing what 50 gallons of water can do to a floor! Actually, it wasn’t the last 50 gallons of water that caused the problem, it was the gallons of water that leaked into the flooring, subfloor and wall before we knew what was going on! By the time my bare feet squished on the soggy carpet our fate was sealed! As you might imagine, I have spent a lot of time thinking about water heaters and such, but the other day it dawned on me how our damage parallels spiritual living. Rarely is the damage sudden and catastrophic, our problems tend to creep up on us slowly but steadily. There may be a few times when we are stunned by something that rocks of our world, but most of the time the ...

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...