Think About It

Over the last few weeks, I have been learning about the life of a friend of some friends. Not long ago, someone many of my friends knew passed away. I never had the chance meet her, but I am learning that that was my loss. As dozens of people have talked about her, I have not heard one negative comment. She was kind, caring, and deeply spiritual. She was funny and enjoyed life. While she tried other things, she found what she was good at and made the most of her opportunity. Unfortunately, she died too soon. (Of course, listening to the way people perceived her, she could have lived until she was 200 years-old and she would have still died too soon.) As I thought about Peggy’s life, I found hope. First of all, there are good people doing good things in the world; but maybe the most encouraging lesson from her life is that people noticed the good that good people are doing. In a world that seems to find and focus on the bad stuff, there is hope that if we stay on the straight...

The other night, Jeane and I decided that we wanted to watch something different than our typical diet of cop shows and comedies, so we picked out a movie that had a cute storyline and some well-known actors. We lasted about fifteen minutes. In that time, we were overwhelmed by the social stereotypes, sexual innuendo, foul language and racial slurs. I don’t know if I even liked the story – I couldn’t get passed all the other stuff. Folks, I don’t consider us to be prudes, but we just couldn’t take it! Now, the reason I share this with you is not to condemn a particular movie, but to comment about something I felt as I reflected on the experience. Over the last few years, Hollywood has been vocal about the evils of the American society. They have condemned our forefathers and current morays – then they produce something that puts many of the same failings on display. The next time I hear someone from the entertainment industry ridicule my beliefs, I will probably reflect on what...

One of the things I like the most about the Olympics is that it is an international stage for some great performances – especially the upsets. I am not as big a fan of the “scored” events as I am of the head-to-head tests of ability that are decided by speed or distance. I am thrilled to watch as someone comes from out of nowhere to win a race or place first in an event. We know that all those who show up in the stadium at this level have talent, the question is who will put forth the best effort to win. These competitions can be won by one extraordinary effort or a really good day. There is something warm and fuzzy about someone from a small country, an upstart or someone in the twilight of their career pulling off the upset. As they say, that’s why they play the game. The thing that will lead to Olympic victory is often summed up in two words -focus and effort. Often, the person who wants the victory the most is the one who wins. As I thought about this in the Olympic Game...

Do you have one of those perpetual projects at your house or at your office building? You know the one – for some reason there is something that has never really worked right and time after time repairs have had to be made, but they never truly fix the problem. Oh, it will work for a while, but before too much longer, things get fouled up and it’s time for more repairs. It would be nice to fix it once and for all, but that just doesn’t seem to be able to be done. For most of us, we just come to an understanding that we’ll keep repairing the issue without solving the problem. The other day, when I walked by one of those issues at my office, I had a revelation – this is what the New Testament writer was talking about in Hebrews 9:11-12, “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through ...

One of the things I have struggled with over the last year and a half is the lack of reliable information that has been presented. From the beginning there has been information, misinformation, mistakes and some out-and-out lies about issues. While this is bad enough on its own, when this information is filtered down through additional opinions, beliefs and agendas; things tend to get even more muddled. The fact that there is a lot of uncertainty hasn’t stopped us as a society from spreading our thoughts and beliefs. What I have found is that the more we “suppose” and support our suppositions, the more confusing things get. While this issue frustrates me as we deal with COVID, there is another place where it is even more dangerous. Have you ever thought about why there are so many “versions” of Christianity? How can a teaching based on a single point of influence be so diverse and divisive? The answer typically comes with the opening line, “In my opinion …”. The issue is less...

One of the most popular verses in the Bible is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”. This was one of the first verses many of us learned to quote and it has brought comfort to millions of others who were searching for meaning in life and deliverance from sin. While this is such a popular verse, have you noticed how odd it is (at least in the modern world)? This passage points out that God – who is superior and almighty focused His attention on others, not Himself. His love was directed at others (even those who would never agree with Him). His concern was equal for everyone, not partisan for His followers. Secondly, the way that God showed His love was through sacrifice. He gave up His most prized possession – His Son. He didn’t collect taxes or tariffs from those who were lesser than Him, He bestowed grace and mercy on people – including those who would reject His gift...

Have you done everything you said you were going to do when the COVID limitations were lifted? If you were like me just a few short months ago, you couldn’t imagine life getting back to “normal”. As we continued to face the uncertainty of the lock-down many of us made statements such as, “When we get our freedom back, I can’t wait to …”. You may have said, “I can’t wait things are back to normal so I can …”. Maybe it was travel, maybe it was heading back to the gym, maybe it was taking the children to the museum or maybe it was to go back to in-person church; but most of us had some very specific things we wanted to do when we were able to be out and about and again. The question is have you done them? It is easy to make all kinds of statements (and plans), the tough part is following through with them. Anyone can want to do something, purposeful people do it. While it is good for us to fulfill our promises to ourselves, how many of us made promises to others that we would do ...