Think About It

The day had been filled with all kinds of excitement. There had been a trial, the potential for a riot, mass chaos and executions. Weird stuff had happened – the sun had gone out, the earth had quaked, dead people were up walking and the temple curtain had ripped. People cried, screamed, pondered and died. The day that lead up to the Sabbath had been one for the ages. Now, it was time for rest and reflection. Some would recount the day as a tragedy while others saw it as a victory. It was all a matter of perspective – but one thing for sure, Sunday was coming. Oh there had been other first days of the weeks, but this one would be something special. Luke would describe it this way, “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” (Luke 24:1-3). How is your day going? Are you happy or sad ...

Today is the day I have been looking forward to since November 1, 2023. Major League Baseball is back and my Texas Rangers are the reigning World Champions. Honestly, I never thought I’d get to write that – but it feels really good! As I look back on the 2023 season, the thing that stands out to me is how much of a marathon the baseball season is. It is full of ups and downs – ebbs and flows – wins and losses. A season that is 162 games long will be filled with good and bad streaks. Then there are the playoffs where the difference between quality teams is miniscule. As I look back on 2023, I can smile … but only for a little while … because here we go again! I believe baseball emulates life as well as any other sport because it requires stamina. Even the best batters fail two-thirds of the time; but at the end of the day, the stats are put in the book and we try again tomorrow. You can’t carry yesterday’s win into today’s game nor do you have to overcome yesterday’s loss a...

You might find it odd that I compared Judas to Peter and Paul in last week’s sermon. Noticed that I chose to use the word “compared”. Peter, Paul and Judas were probably a lot more alike than what we’d expect because when it came to their relationship with Jesus, they failed. We are quick to point out that Judas betrayed Jesus, but Peter denied he knew Him and Paul persecuted His believers. Each one of their relationships with Jesus left something to be desired. However – and this is a big however – the difference between Paul and Peter and Judas was that Judas gave up. Peter and Paul hung around long enough to seek forgiveness; Judas quit. Peter and Paul sought a life after their rejection of Jesus; Judas was so overwhelmed with guilt that he killed himself. As I was thinking about this, I remembered something Paul wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the ...

A popular scripture on sin is Paul’s observation, “… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …” (Romans 3:23). This is one of those complex concepts – should we take comfort in the fact that we are all sinners and feel like that when we sin we are in good company or should we feel the sting of the realization that we are all a bunch of mess-ups? In all honesty, I think the answer is “yes” to both of those concepts. While most of us have embraced this from an individual perspective, I think a broader concept can be seen. Not only have all people (individuals) sinned, so have all peoples (nations, genders, religions, etc.). None of us – no matter who we are or where we’ve come from – is innocent; we all have issues that need to be resolved. It doesn’t matter if we are Asian or American, black or white, male or female, we all have enough sin problems to need the help of Jesus. It is hard to be arrogant and bigoted when we have to accept the blame given to everyone. L...

Every so often I will see something and my mind will immediately go back to something that was engrained in me when I was small. It might be a thought, a rationale, a word or a concept. I may not have thought of that particular idea for a long time – I might have even outgrown the belief that was instilled in me, but there it is popping out of somewhere deep inside me. I may not act on it, but it’s there. As I thought about this phenomenon the other day, it reminded me of the importance of raising our children correctly and properly. Deep seeded thoughts are established early and may not be properly evaluated by the immature brain. Even in the years to come, we may have to work twice as hard to overcome what we were exposed to in those early years. Thousands of years ago, the wise man Solomon reminded us, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6). Even though each one of us will eventually make our own choices abo...

When I was a youngster, I liked to go fishing. Let me reiterate that fact that I liked fishing – the going part got a little tedious. Before we could go fishing we had to pack the sandwiches and the cooler (because there wasn’t a McDonalds on every lakeshore) … we had to fill the car with the tackle we needed … if we were lucky enough to be taking a boat, we had to load it and gas it up … we had to stop and get bait … and if it was the first trip of the season, we may have to stop and pick up a license. It seemed like “going fishing” took a lot of the fun and excitement out of the fishing. Yet, without all the preparations, we wouldn’t be able to be successful. Now, you might be wondering what this analogy has to do with this life – well, that’s exactly what I am talking about. Most of us would love to be successful in life, but we don’t necessarily want to invest in the things that make us successful. Take the noble task of helping people. Most of us like to assist people in ov...

Why can’t things be easy? Why can’t life just flow along without any rapids? In essence, why can’t things just go the way that I want them to go? The other day I was thinking about this as I reached into my desk drawer for another allergy pill. I like springtime, but I don’t like the way I feel throughout a lot of it. I sneeze, my eyes water and, when the pollen is really flying, I think my joints ache. As I reached into drawer I was fussing about why things couldn’t be better, then I realized that even though I had allergies, I live in a time when – for the most part – a small pill will correct most of what annoys me. Sure, I am impacted by the season, but when I follow a simple routine, it’s almost unnoticeable … or at least manageable. Let’s not get so focused on our problems that we forget to recognize the solutions. Various aspects of our lives may be less than perfect, but we have ways to deal with them so let’s appreciate the answers rather than focusing on the quest...