Think About It

A couple of weeks ago I watched a Division 3 Regional Baseball playoff game on my television in my office. While that might not sound too impressive, I want you to think about where I came from. While I don’t remember the initial television broadcasts of many of the major sporting events, I didn’t miss many of them by much. When I was a youngster, we had a black and white television set that might be able to pull in the three major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS). I watched the 1969 World Series between the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Mets on the first color television set we owned. Our remote control was typically telling the youngest member of the family to get up and change the channel. Not all of the channels came in clearly on the “rabbit ears” antenna, so it was often the task of the tallest person in the family to find the most effective place for the aerials to be place to get the best picture and the least amount of “snow”. (Now if you don’t understand any of these refe...

What are you doing to make this world a better place in which to live? As I read that question, it seems rather generic; so let me focus it a little bit more. What are you doing to promote the good of godliness and open up God’s will to the world? Yeah, that sounds a little more like it! It is easy to be content with “doing no harm”, but the key to godliness isn’t merely to cheer on God’s team from the sidelines, we must do our part to promote success. All of us have been given talents by God, it is up to us to put them to use. The Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the first century, “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:6-8). We hav...

In an address to Congress in 1852, President Millard Fillmore discussed the development of the nation as it approached the end of its first century. A quick peek at the date will show that the nation was about to undergo a lot of change – some of it economic and some social. In his presentation, President Fillmore stated, “It is not strange, however much it may be regretted, that such an exuberance of enterprise should cause some individuals to mistake change for progress and the invasion of the rights of others for national prowess and glory.”. I have to be honest with you, I don’t sit around reading Millard Fillmore’s speeches, but I recently came across an abridged version of this statement that summarized his thoughts into, “It is not strange … to mistake change for progress.”. It was that version of this selection that got my attention. One thing for certain about our world is that it is going to change. We can’t help it. Yet, the question we must ask is does our change equ...

When the early Christian church opened its doors to those with a Gentile (non-Jewish) background, some problems developed. Many of the first Christians had come out of Judaism, so Christianity didn’t create much of a lifestyle change; however, that wasn’t the case with many of the Gentiles. These folks had been pagans, had lived under the Greek and/or Roman cultures and were having to get used to the concept of monotheism. In and of itself, this blending of cultures created some issues; but one of the most challenging was whose needs were going to take precedence. Most Jews merely moved on with a deeper understanding of godliness, but a lot of the Gentiles started at Square One. I am sure that the Jewish Christians advocated their “right” to do what they felt comfortable doing, while the Gentile Christians needed to go slow and learn a paradigm for God-centered religion. Eventually, this would lead to a question of who would get their way – those whose faith is firmly establishe...

If my mom were alive, she and my dad would be celebrating their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary. Even though my mother passed a few years ago, she and my father had a marriage that lasted over fifty-five years. That seems pretty impressive – until I realize that Jeane and I are into our fourth decade together – and that just kind of reminds me that I am not as young as I used to be! As I look back at my parents’ marriage there are several things they did that provided a foundation for our own relationship: 1. They were friends . To me, this is the most important factor in a lasting marriage. Children come and go … problems persist … we all age; but, the one thing that can remain constant is a lasting friendship. When you enjoy each other’s company you can endure just about anything – and beyond that, it makes life fun. 2. They worked together . My parents had a pretty traditional marriage throughout the years, but no matter what roles they had, when they needed to work together...

A while back I had an exposure to COVID. It might have amounted to what the CDC considered a “close contact” exposure, but even according to those accounts, it was minor. Yet interestingly something happened with me. Since I have a pretty busy June and July I started to contemplate what might happen if I got the virus. In all honesty, I wasn’t all that worried about getting really sick, my concern was what if I couldn’t travel here or speak there? How bad do I need to feel before investigating this further? When do I test? Do I even test? After a few days of pondering (obsessing) about things I was worn out! Now, please hear me. I am not looking for medical advice – by the time this is published, the window for that contagion has long passed. My point is an awareness of what worry can do to us. I had no real reason to fear what might happen, but I still thought about it – and my thoughts weren’t healthy! Every time I coughed or if I didn’t feel 100% (which you never do at m...

I recently discussed forgiveness in a sermon. We talked about how one of the most basic acts of serving others was being willing to forgive them. The Bible is filled with examples of forgiveness as well as direct commands that we have an obligation to forgive others. In fact, Jesus was very straightforward when He said, “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (Matthew 6:14-15). Interestingly, after the sermon, someone came up to me and asked how many people actually tell other people that they forgive them. I have to be honest with you, I had never really considered this. We talk about the need to forgive others, but just think how much more effective forgiveness could be if the other people knew they were forgiven. When we wrong someone, we tend to be embarrassed around them and that can have a negative impact on us. Yet, when we k...