Think About It

What is faith? Most religions and spiritual people use the word “faith”, but what does it mean? The Bible seeks to help us out when it is defined as, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1); but what does that mean? I am sure a lot smarter people have offered a commentary to this definition, but as I look at it, I see a couple things: First, faith allows us to believe in an unseen God. We don’t have to experience God through one of our five senses to know that He exists. What’s more, we don’t have to be able to prove everything the Bible says about Him – we are willing to accept His story as told in His book at face value. Second, faith allows us to hold out hope that what the Bible promises will happen. The Scripture as a treasure trove of great stories and biblical history, but the thing that offers the greatest hope are the promises it makes – specifically, those promises of salvation and eternity. We are told by ...

How do you determine what kind of day you are going to have? Do we plan for success or do we just wait to see what happens? Do we set out to make the most of the opportunities we get or do we just go with the flow? Are we convicted to choose our attitudes or do we just play it by ear? Life is easier if we merely react, but it is better if we live with purpose. Whether it is making up our mind to choose our attitudes or setting out to accomplish our goals, it takes much more of an effort, but we also have more of a say in what happens. Sure, we can stumble upon successes or wander our way into joy periodically; but if we want to enjoy consistent contentment, it takes focus, planning and persistence. I am not saying that we’ll always get what we want just by wishing for it, but we are more apt to accomplish productivity if we invest ourselves into living a purposeful life. What is today or tomorrow or the next day going to be like for you? If we merely wait to see, we’ll get wha...

What do you want to be when you grow up? How many times were we asked that as children? It seemed like every time we turned around, the older folks around us wanted to know our plans. We can also remember that, back in the day, we had some pretty cool answers to what we wanted to become. I am sure I was debating whether I was going to be a pro ball player or an astronaut. Others of you might have wanted to be a brain surgeon or even the president. There may have even been a secret agent wannabe among us. So, since few of us have lived our dream jobs, what happened? I think the issue is “life” happened. Whether the realities of what it took to chase our dreams or an understanding of our abilities tempered our plan, we gave up on it and became what we became. There may be nothing wrong with where we ended up, but it is interesting how few of us followed through. As I thought about our childhood dreams, I also got to wondering how many of us have compromised on our spiritual pla...

In days gone by – before you could file your taxes online and the prevalence of do-it-yourself tax software – April 15 was a hard day. It seems like more people owed a balance than in today’s society, so there was a dread of having to file and an even greater fear of having to come up with several hundred dollars to pay the bill. People loved the springtime, but hated Tax Day! While things are not as difficult (nor are people as testy) as they used to be, I think there can be something special about April 15. Since it is a fiscal day of accountability, I believe it can also serve as a reminder that we get what we pay for. Now, I am not advocating that we develop a balance sheet that compares what we get for what we pay; I do think it can serve as a time of appreciation for the nation in which we live. All of us benefit from something our government provides so maybe it is a good day to be thankful for the time and place in which we live. I am sure things could be better, bu...

Okay, here is today’s trivia question. (By the way, since it is the beginning baseball season, you can imagine where I am going with this.) Who is Hughie Jennings and what is his claim to fame? Give up? Hughie Jennings is the Hall of Fame baseball player who holds the record for being hit by pitches the most times in his career. Jennings who played in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century was hit by pitched balls 287 time. Now, for bonus points – Craig Biggio holds the modern era lead with 285 HBP and Anthony Rizzo is the active leader with 215 – including being hit twice this year. You might be wondering why I bring up this trivia – well actually it is simply to remind us to make the most of what opportunities we have been given. Being hit by a pitched ball is not the easiest way to get on base, but it is pretty productive. It can smart and leave a mark, but it does give the batter a chance to score. Striking out is typically painless – but it also isn’t very producti...

When we ask a question of someone we don’t necessarily get along with, what is our intent: are we hoping to learn something from them or are we trying to catch them doing or saying something foolish? I believe one of the reasons we have trouble having civil debates in our society is that we often go into them with ulterior motives. We don’t want to exchange information as much as we want to prove the other people wrong (or even stupid). While I am embarrassed by the way we treat each other, I have to admit that we aren’t the first society to deal with this. In fact, if we are the victims of this type of improperly motivated interaction, we are in good company because it happened to Jesus. Frankly, it happened to Him quite a bit. In one example of it, Matthew recalls, “Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said.” (Matthew 22:15). Thankfully, Jesus was wise enough to know what was happening and how to handle it. While we can’t alway...

On April 10, 1912, the “Millionaire’s Special” set sail from Southampton, England on its way to New York. It was the Titanic’s maiden voyage and was filled with a lot of excitement and expectations. In a modern era of luxury and jet service, it is hard for us to imagine the excitement surrounding the week long voyage, but it was big deal. While the lead-up to the event was news in 1912, it is how the trip ended that has been the story for the past century. In the early morning hours of April 15, the ship struck and iceberg and within a few minutes, the great ship was submerged in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. In the end, about 1500 people lost their lives. The sinking of the Titanic is an interesting tale, but I am also fascinated by the amount of time and energy put into assessing blame. In the aftermath of the tragedy everyone from the ship’s captain, Edward J. Smith, to another ship in the area, the Californian, were accused of adding to the tragedy – the captain for s...