Think About It

One of the great stories of the Bible is found in I Samuel 17. David, the young Israelite, answers the challenge of Goliath, the giant Philistine. Here, the young man armed with a slingshot, a few stones and a faith in God, killed the nemesis of his people. While most people are familiar with the David and Goliath story, there is something that is tucked away in I Chronicles 20 that is an interesting inspiration. Sometime after David’s feat, the Scriptures state, “And there was war with the Philistines again, and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. Again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot; and he also was descended from the giants. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him. These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the han...

I am not really sure when “Black Friday” became an unofficial holiday, but it has become such a major sales event that it is no longer confined to one day … we have had the ultimate sales events for several weeks now. I am not going to complain about Black Friday deals because I have taken advantage of a few of them – not just as I begin my holiday shopping, but I have pocketed a few deals for myself. I don’t know that I have saved all that much money, but I have been convinced to do a little extra shopping just because someone told me I was getting a deal. Have you noticed how renaming something can change our perspective on it? It works in retail, but it works in morality as well. We have taken the “sin” out of our vocabulary and replaced it with concepts like “challenges” or “personal choice” and “struggles”. Sure, sin sounds so old-fashioned and judgmental, but unfortunately when we make it sound “soft”, we have a tendency to take it less seriously. By removing the label, we ...

Happy Thanksgiving! This is my favorite holiday of the year – and I recently learned that a good portion of America feels the same way. People like Thanksgiving. While a part of this might be the intersection of food, family and football; but I also believe that we like the idea of giving thanks. It makes us feel good to reflect on the good things that are going on in our lives and to realize there is Someone more powerful than us that makes it happen. We echo the proclamation that was issued in 1864, “Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they may then be, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe.” While Abraham Lincoln may have placed a spotlight on a Thanksgiving holiday, King David captured the spirit years before him when he wrote, “Praise the L...

Have you noticed how easy it is to feel defeated in the world? It is tempting to look at satan and his minions and feel like we are overwhelmed by evil. The world is bad – and it is going to stay that way. We are a moral minority that is stuck with trying to keep the whole world from going up in flames – and failing miserably. While it can be tempting to believe this (and live our lives like this is the truth), one of the best kept secrets in the world today is the power of God. The devil and his disciples want us to feel outmatched and overwhelmed, but God wants us to understand His control over the world and His power in us. When John was trying to uplift Christians in the later part of the 1st Century he wrote, “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” (I John 4:4). What could happen if we really believed this? How would it reshape our thoughts about what could be done in our country today? Ho...

As people, we are pretty good at seeing problems. We have a keen sense of being able to determine the snags in life; however, what we do with that information will determine what happens next. When we see problem, do we initially set out to find a solution or are we more focused on finding out who is at fault? When we identify a failure in the system, is our first step to fix it or to affix blame on someone? How much precious time do we waste addressing problems by trying to figure out who did something wrong? Imagine the amount of effort that could be invested in problem-solving that is spent finger-pointing! Whether it is at work, in our homes, at church or in our communities we should spend less time identifying who led us into the trainwreck and more time repairing the tracks for the next trip down the line. Let’s retrain ourselves to look for solutions rather than scapegoats. Let’s make it a point fix the issues rather than fixate on who can be blamed. When we work togethe...

What does successful living look like? Let me refine that even further – what does spiritually successful living look like? I believe that, too often, when we think about being in a good relationship with God, we envision an idealistic existence. As long as we are good with God, He will keep us free from struggles and hardships. The problem is that this perception just isn’t accurate. We don’t have to look any further than the life of Jesus to see that closeness with God isn’t measured by freedom from concerns. There was no one any closer to God; but His life was filled with trials and, eventually, suffering. When God was reflecting on His commitment with His people He promised, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.” (Isaiah 43:2). The thing that jumps out to me in this verse isn’t necessarily what is said as much as what i...

Do we ever feel like people don’t respect us? Does it seem that no matter how good we try to be, people are constantly critical of us? Wouldn’t it be nice if people would just see that we are good, caring people who want to do what is best for people? Well, while this might sound like it makes sense, I hate to break the news to you, but we probably shouldn’t count on it. Most of us have grown up to believe that if we just do good and try hard, people will respect us; but the truth is that that isn’t a guarantee. In fact, all we have to do is look to the life of Jesus our Lord and Master and realize that it doesn’t work that way. When John reflected on His life he noted, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:4-5). While this sounds pretty depressing, it gets even worse. Not only did the people not understand Jesus, they killed Him. They didn’t just ignore His light … they sought ...