Think About It

How do you celebrate Christmas? There are some who gather around a nativity scene and honor the Christ-child by singing “Silent Night”. Others sit around the Christmas tree and sing “Santa Clause Is Coming To Town”. There are still others who don’t do anything special on the day. As I have pondered Christmas, I have come to the realization that it is open to a lot of interpretations and I am not going to critique what you and your family does. All I ask is that you have a good time. Whether you spend the day eating goose or roast beast … opening presents or reading from Luke 2 … watching the Charlie Brown Christmas Show or Christmas Story – it doesn’t matter to me, just have a great day. If you will allow me a little latitude, here is my holiday wish to you (even though it is from the Old Testament). “The Lord bless you, and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift His countenance on you, and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26). From o...

Have you found that perfect gift? We are getting down to the wire and I am sure that some of us are still holding out so that we can find the once-in-a-lifetime gift that will set the gold standard for gift-giving. Not only will it endear us to the recipient, we might even secure a place in the gift givers all of fame. Now, we might have made some purchases just in case, but there is still hope that we’ll find THE one. If you are on this quest – first of all, I wish you the best of luck – but, maybe I can give you a little hint. The perfect gift isn’t going to be available at your local jeweler or even online on Amazon. In fact, the perfect gift isn’t even a thing, it is an attitude. When the Apostle Paul wrapped up his assessment of how believers should behave toward each other he observed, “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (I Corinthians 13:13). In other words, we can look all around the world for the perfect gift, when in fac...

When Jesus began His ministry, He found Himself in a challenging era. He was the Messiah who had been promised to save the world, but the religious environment didn’t necessarily feel like they needed any help. They took pride that they had figured it out and any attempts to “fix” them wouldn’t be looked on favorably. However, Jesus didn’t give up and continued to show them a better way. In fact, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasted the phase, “You have heard that it was said …” with “But I say to you …” several times. Jesus understood the value of the Law of Moses, but He also realized there was a better way – and His disciples would be required to adopt it. Interestingly, it is easy to find ourselves in a similar situation today. Whether it is religious, political or even social beliefs, many of us are content with the way things are. We have grown up with our beliefs and we are comfortable with them – however, there might be a better way of doing things – Jesus’ w...

On this date in 1803 the Louisiana Purchase was completed. Now if you remember from your U.S. History class in Middle School, you’ll recall that when this chunk of land in the midsection of North America was purchased from the French it was not only massive, it was also wild. The 530,000,000 acres the U. S. Government secured from France was mostly unsettled and contained some of the harshest weather in the hemisphere. Yet, when we look back on this investment we see that not only did it serve as a piece of the puzzle that united the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, it also contains a lot of land that has been America’s breadbasket for years. This wilderness was transformed into a big part of America’s farmland that made us healthy and happy. As I thought about this transaction I was reminded of how something that initially seems difficult or even unimpressive can be transformed into something wonderful. We may not initially see a circumstance in life or a personality in a person as...

Recently, a Bible Class I have been teaching, has been discussing the temple(s) in Jerusalem. During one of the discussions, someone pointed out something interesting about the temple Solomon built for God, “The house, while it was being built, was built of stone prepared at the quarry, and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any iron tool heard in the house while it was being built.” (I Kings 6:7). In essence, the stones used to construct the temple were measured, shaped, pre-fitted and sent to the worksite ready to be used to put into place. They didn’t need to be shaped on site, they arrived on scene ready to be used. As we reflected on this statement of fact, I came across another passage, this one in the New Testament, which uses the analogy of temple stones in this way, “… you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (I Peter 2:5). In describing Christians...

Do we have to be perfect or can we accept good enough? Some who read the preceding sentence may be confused, but I would imagine that there are many who understand exactly what I mean. For those of you who are able to live with an acceptable standard, I commend you and encourage you to make sure you strive to make good better and better best. However, for those that struggle with anything less than perfect, I encourage you to find a way to accept a more human reality – from others and from yourselves. Interestingly, this not only applies to people, it is also important that we don’t wait until circumstances are perfect to enjoy them. We can still have a good time on a vacation if it rains one day. We can still have fun being around people who have a personality quirk. We can still live fulfilled lives if we don’t always get outstanding marks during our reviews. As the old saying goes, let’s do ourselves a favor and find a way to chill out. It may not be easy, but it will make ...

We are just a couple weeks away from the full-blown holiday season, so let’s stop and take a deep breath. It is easy to get sucked into the promise of a perfect holiday, but let’s remember that relationships are still more important than gifts, parties or even decor. The thing that makes this time of year special is who we spend it with and not just how it looks on the outside. When we keep the value of the relationships in mind, we will be able to overcome any struggle we’ll face coming into crunch time! As I thought about what might be able to speak to us this time of year, I was reminded of Paul’s love list, “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (I Corinthians 13:4-7). ...