Think About It

The other day, in a Bible Class, we discussed an interesting observation from the Apostle Peter. In a letter to the early Christians he blended two natures of God: Father and Judge. When he wrote, “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth …” (I Peter 1:17) he began a discussion on the redemption of mankind, but I want to stop us and focus on the first part of his description of the pure and perfect God. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to be effective as both a judge and a father – especially when the one needing your attention was your own child? Most judges I know realize their limitations and would recuse themselves from the case. Even if they felt like they could be impartial, I am sure that the “system” would require them to step away. Yet, our Creator has the ability to love and judge at the same time. His wisdom transcends man’s and His ability to both f...

I realize that the movie is beginning to get a little age on it, but every Groundhog Day I think back on Bill Murry’s movie by that name and smile a little bit. (For me, it is hard to believe the movie, released in 1993, is almost 30 years old, but I guess the math doesn’t lie.) If you haven’t seen the movie, the premise is that a man keeps redoing February 2 until he gets it right. Maybe I should have added a “Spoiler Alert”, but you wouldn’t be too many minutes into the film before you would have discovered that for yourself. Now, the reason I bring up Groundhog Day (the movie) is because I feel like we are living it – and have been ever since mid-March, 2020. Many of us probably feel like we have been doing the same thing every day for the past eleven months! Periodically we make some progress, but we are still wearing masks and listing to the medical and political debates over COVID. While this scenario might make an entertaining movie script, it is pretty discouraging in rea...

I did something yesterday I haven’t done much of – I participated in an online worship service. As you might imagine, as a minister, I don’t get much of an opportunity to stay home and worship through a computer screen, but due to a Winter Storm Warning, we decided to cancel the activities at the church building and do everything online. While it was a bit of a hassle getting ready, it was kind of nice sitting in my nice warm office tuned into what was being broadcast. I didn’t have to dress up. I could sip on my coffee. If I get distracted I could stop and rewind – or if I really wanted to enjoy the conveniences, I could fast forward thought the parts I didn’t like or didn’t feel applied to me. I can see the appeal of online church. Now, while I am thankful we had this option yesterday (and have had it for the last several months) I think it is important that we don’t allow it to become a spiritual crutch for us. Before too long, I believe we will be in a position to start saf...

Forgiveness is an incredible principle. Knowing that God, through His Son, has forgiven us of our sins is one of the most precious thoughts we can have. Feeling free and alive because we are no longer under Divine condemnation is one of the greatest sentiments there is. Now, while all of this brings us great comfort, it should also provide direction for our lives. God’s forgiveness does not give us a license for lusciousness; rather, it should transform us into good people. After discussing the greatness of God’s grace, the Apostle Paul observed, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (Romans 6:12-13). Forgiveness is necessary, but righteousness is important as well. As believers, let’s make sure we put our past behind us – not ju...

Have you ever dreaded talking to someone? You may have played it over and over in your mind and landed on the assumption that the discussions were going to be difficult so you either delayed the conversation or worried yourself sick. Then, when you gathered up the courage, you met with them and things went okay. It ended up not be a problem at all. While that can be a great relief, the fact remains that a lot of time was wasted worrying about something that didn’t matter. So how do we avoid the headaches? The simple answer is that we need to be willing to talk to people. Rather than dreading those types of conversations, we should be willing to be open and honest with each other and work together to resolve our differences or even potential problems. Instead of fearing what might happen, let’s take the initiative to communicate. Is there someone we are avoiding because the conversation might turn out to be difficult? Let’s take it upon ourselves to pick up the phone or wal...

One of the things that tends to bother me these days is how much foolishness there is in the world. While we live in an era of great advancements, too often it seems like the things that get the most attention are those that make the least amount of difference. While this has a tendency to keep us derailed, arguments over insignificant things also have the capacity to create barriers that prevent us from being able to agree in complex discussions. If we get crossways over something silly, there is a chance that we won’t be able to have enough of a relationship to work through things of importance. The other day I was reading through the Proverbs and came across this bit of wisdom, “The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, but the mouth of fools spouts folly.” (Proverbs 15:2). When we invest our time in things that matter and when we apply wisdom to those discussions we are going to make progress – not only in our topics of discussion, but also in our relationships. Let...

I have never really done much acting. I am sure that I was in an elementary school play or two and I appeared in a small part in an adult musical (no, I didn’t sing), but going to the movies is about as much theater as I have done. However, I was watching a show lately where they were discussing the secret to becoming good at improvisation in acting and they said that it is all about saying “Yes”. Improv is keeping the flow going by building on something that someone has already said or done. It is about starting where the discussion is and moving forward. Since that is about all I know about this topic, I will stop there and shift gears toward another topic, leadership. You see, often leadership is also about saying “yes” and moving forward. It goes without saying that there are going to be times when leaders have to stop something before it crashes, but good leaders are the ones who help people move forward by affirming their development and helping them to grow. Sure, leaders...