Think About It

In years past I would almost feel foolish reminding people that we were approaching Super Bowl Sunday; but I am not sure how many people realize the Super Bowl will be played this weekend between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Like many other years, this game features an interesting quarterback comparison … one that hasn’t been possible before now. With Tom Brady playing in New England, he never got to face Patrick Mahomes in the Big Game, yet this year the young whipper-snapper will come face-to-face with one of the greats of all time. There will be a lot of pressure on the whole NFL during this year’s game, but the two quarterbacks may feel it the most. Sure, their teams are playing against each other, but the one-to-one comparison will produce its own kind of heat. As I got to thinking about personal pressure, it got me to thinking about the greatest pressure of all time – being called on the save the whole world. What Jesus, the Christ experienced was more th...

One of the things I have seen over the past several decades is how our approach to noticeability has changed. When I was younger, I believe that more of us did our best not to be noticed. Sure, we wanted to get good grades in school or earn the raise at work, but when it came to our personality, we tended to be comfortable not standing out in the crowd. Yet, things began to change and more and more people started making a concerted effort to stand out; many of them did it by acting in ways that defied social norms. Sometimes, it was done in the name of bringing justice, but many other times it was in pursuit of a personal agenda. Again, in and of itself, this may not necessarily be bad, but before long standing out from the crowd required more and more outrageous behavior. Now, often the easiest way to promote ourselves is by doing something morally egregious. While this may get us noticed, not all the notoriety is good. When we do things designed to call attention to ourselves...

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...