Think About It

John F. Kennedy is one of the most recognizable figures in our nation’s recent history. Not only did he look different (more like a leading man) he also had the ability to compel people with his words. You have a lot to choose from if you want to reference JFK, but on this anniversary of his birth I want to cite a segment of “The City Upon A Hill” Speech. This speech delivered in The State House in Boston on January 9, 1961 discussed his perspective on creating a new national government. Interestingly for a man who would become known for being forward-looking he looked back for his inspiration – all the way back to John Winthrop. When President Kennedy thought about his administration’s future he drew on Winthrop’s example and quoted him, “We must consider,” he said, “that we shall be as a city upon a hill – the eyes of all people are upon us.”. Kennedy went on to observe, “Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us – and our governments, in every branch, at every level, nati...

I do not like car shopping. It’s not that I don’t like having a new car, I just don’t like the process of buying one. One of the reasons I don’t like buying a car is that it seems like it take forever; but maybe the biggest reason is that price that is quoted is too often not the price you get. The $30,000 car is quickly inflated by adding taxes, title, interest, add-ons, and a variety of other charges. I don’t like bargaining and I don’t like hidden fees. I would like the process a lot better if they just told me what it was going to cost me and let me make the decision if I want to pay that price. Not long ago I thought about the “true cost” of a car and it reminded me of the price we pay for sin. Initially, doing wrong things may not seem to be as expensive as they end up. What begins as a minor infraction or causing some insignificant issues can balloon into a costly experience. By the time satan gets through with us, what seemed to start out as reasonably-acceptable conseq...

If today is Memorial Day, what are you remembering? The name of the day implies that we are reflecting on something, so what is it for you? Are you thinking about one particular soldier, sailor or airman who gave their life for our country? Are you reminiscing about all the men and women who died in defense of our nation so that we might stay free? Maybe you don’t have a close connection to the military, but you are thinking about a friend, family member or mentor who did something to influence your life but has since passed. As I thought about Memorial Day I got to thinking about another aspect to it. What if we don’t just think about what they did, but what if we expanded it out and reflected on how what they did can influence what we do? How can the sacrifice of those service members help us be better citizens? How can those who make their mark in our lives influence us to do better? When I contemplated this, I was reminded of a passage of Scripture that called upon bel...

Would you like to please the Lord? Of course we would! We like being right in God’s sight – but have you ever thought about how we do that? Typically, when we think about doing righteousness, we imagine getting our worship in order. We look at what God has ordained in worship and invest in doing it to the best of our ability. Now, while that is a good place to begin, that is not all we ought to be doing. Centuries ago an Old Testament prophet observed, “Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:7-8). The prophet is not downplaying appropriate worship, he was also reminding us that in addition to worshipping in the proper way, we need to make sure we treat each other the right way. Not on...

Why should we live productive lives? What is the value in having a job and filling the remainder of our time with productive activities? Well, on one hand doing good things produces good results – we can make money, help people and make a positive difference by being involved in good works. Yet, there is another benefit to staying busy – it keeps us out of trouble. In addition to keeping us from doing illegal activities, it also helps us to avoid pitfalls in our social interactions. The Apostle Paul warned a certain group against inactivity by noting, “At the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention.” (I Timothy 5:13-14). He commanded another group to work, then observed, “For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.” (II Thessalonians 3:11). Have you noticed how easy it is to...

When I was a young parent, people would warn me about children. Now, while some of the things they said made a lot of sense, there were other things that I just wasn’t sure about. One of the things people would talk about was children who acted up just so they would get attention – even negative attention. This didn’t make sense to me because when I was a child I did everything I could to avoid negative attention. I was such a people pleaser that I would choose to be invisible before I would chose to illicit the wrath of an adult, especially my parents. Now, while I still wonder about this childlike reasoning, I have no doubt that it exists in adults. I believe there are some people who do things for shock value. In fact, they will do things that are so inappropriate that people can’t help but react to them. They value attention over acceptance, so their goal is to be noticed. The reason I bring this up is to ask about the best way to deal with this shocking behavior. If we en...

Five years ago I went to Urgent Care to get some relief for my flulike symptoms and, before the week was over, I had been replumbed. Come to find out I didn’t have the flu, I had five blockages. (I am still not sure how I could I have that many blockages – I thought the max was four; maybe I just arrived on “free bonus bypass day”.) I can joke about what I went through today, but it was kind of scary – not just for me, but probably more so for my family! As I look back on that time, I do so with a lot of appreciation. First, had it been a year later, we would have been deep in the COVID pandemic and things would have been much different. Additionally, had I not done what I did when I did it, my cardiologist said what I had is usually referred to as a “widow-maker” and that doesn’t sound too promising! May, 2019 wasn’t the best month of my life; but it sure wasn’t the worst either. As I look back at this time in my life, I am grateful for the way things ended up. For me, it rem...