Think About It

As an avid baseball fan, I spend a lot of time scoreboard watching. At any given time I can probably tell you the record of my team and where they are in the standings. In addition to knowing where my team stands, I know what it will take for my guys to stay on top or get back into race. The problem with this is that over a 162 game schedule, it takes a lot of emotional energy. As a fan, I can afford to watch the standings, but how do the people who play the game keep from wearing out? The answer seems to be to win. If you play well and win the games you play, you don’t have to worry about where you are in the standings. Coming in first will happen if you win. As I thought about this, it reminded me of something that can translate into life itself. If we continue to do good and do what we are supposed to do, the accolades and appreciation will happen. We won’t have worry about whether people will think positively of us if we spend enough of our time doing what is right...

Growing up when and where I did May Day wasn’t much of a deal. I had heard something about the day being observed in Europe, but attributed it more to the Soviet Union than anything we would have to do with. Then, when we moved to rural areas of the Midwest, I learned more about what it means in that part of the world. Basically, it is a chance to do something nice and simple for other people … and do it secretly. By leaving a small token of affection on someone’s doorstep one friend or neighbor is able to reinforce their relationship with another. As I thought about May Day celebrations, I got thinking about something Jesus told His disciples, “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:3-4). Simply put, Jesus encourages His disciples to give … and do it anonymously (or at least without fanfare). People who want t...

What does it mean to be a Christian nation? I imagine if you asked a lot of people, you’d get a lot of answers. Some might point to the Judeo/Christian principles upon which our law seem to be built. Others might mention the concept of Manifest Destiny that claims God put us here for some larger purpose. Still others might point to Christianity as a major influence in the lives of a lot of people. While a case might be made for each of these concepts, that still begs the question “What does it mean to be a Christian nation?”. At the risk of upsetting the American apple cart, if we are truly serious about wanting to be seen as a Christian nation the one thing that must be included is a desire to love our fellow man. When Jesus (the Christ) identified His disciples He said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35). If we are going to be true to a legitimate Christian identity, we’d better pay more attention to how we l...

When most people think of the New Testament book of Revelation, they conjure up images of wild-eyed beasts and severe tribulation.  While you can’t miss these themes in the material, there is something that I think is even more important.  Throughout the book believers are told they need to overcome or persevere anything and everything they will face.  A key concept of the vision is power and strength, but it is more than mere physical strength – the winners have an emotional and spiritual prowess.  In fact, John records a time, “ Then He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.   He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.’” (Revelation 21:6-7).      We live in a time when it is almost cool to be seen as a victim – but the truth is that God’s people can be v...

One of the struggles we typically have with God is His timing. Oh, we have faith to believe that everything is going to be okay … our challenge is in waiting for His timing. As humans we are bound by certain motivators and “time” is definitely one of them. We count minutes and plan our hours. We look at our watches – even when we don’t acknowledge what we see. One of the most often asked questions is, “When are we going to be there?”. I wish that we, as humans, could free ourselves from the dimension of time, but it’s probably always going to be with us. The problem with this is that we serve (and depend on) a God who is not bound by time and, at times, doesn’t seem to care too much about it. He literally lives on His own time. When finite humans meet an infinite God, there are bound to be conflicts – so what can we do? The answer is “wait”. Since we see the world though a sense of incompleteness we cannot fully understand what is going on – or how long it is going to take ...

How do we assess the value of our leaders? For some of us, it might be what they do for us … for others of us it might be how well they leave us alone to do what we want to do with our lives. Some assess leadership by how much they get done while others value how they make us feel. I guess there are a variety of answers to that original question depending up what we hope to get out of life. Interestingly, when Jesus considered this question, His answer was pretty straight-forward … leaders (like anyone) do good things. And how do we know if they are doing good things? The answer is found in what they are producing. Jesus mixed a couple of metaphors in the Sermon on the Mount when He observed, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.” (...

I realize 1988 was a long time ago, but when I listen to my music it seems like yesterday. During that time I was listening to Country Music and a singer by the name of Earl Thomas Conley had a song called “What She Is (Is A Woman In Love)”. The essence of the song is how this woman makes the most out of her situation. After listing a variety of ways her man has let her down, the singer notes, “And she's looking at him with her heart and not her eyes. What she sees is only what she wants to … What she has, she thinks is enough, … What she does is just look at the good things and what she is … Is a woman in love.” Through the years there have been a lot of songs that may lean toward a good-hearted woman being in love with a good timing man (Waylon Jennings); but this song struck me as something different. It’s not about enduring abuse or being mistreated, it is about looking for and finding the good in your situation. It is more than looking for the good in a bad situation,...