Think About It

One of the things that I have noticed about growing older is that I am exposed to a lot more death. On the surface this might seem a bit odd, but when you think about it, it’s pretty understandable. First, the older I get the older my friends and acquaintances get – and the older they get, the more apt they are to die. Another reason for a higher number of deaths around me is the fact that the older I get, the more people I know and with that comes more exposure to death. I always thought it odd that older people talked a lot about sickness and death – now I understand it why. While being around death can be a challenge to us, it doesn’t mean that we are on our own to deal with it. In fact, Jesus seems to offer us hope early in His ministry by saying, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4). While this is a nice sentiment, have you ever thought about how this will be accomplished? I think the comfort promised by Jesus comes in a couple of forms. ...

What does it take to be successful in the world? If we are able to hold our own in an argument with people who disagree with us – will we be the winner? If we are able to embarrass those who think differently than we do – will we be victorious? If we are so committed to our principles that we are able outlast those who confront us – does that make us triumphant? While being proficient and tenacious can be beneficial, the thing that makes us impressive is what we believe. You see, being opinionated isn’t in-and-of itself important, it is holding the right beliefs. The early church was reminded, “Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (I John 5:5). In essence, it isn’t how well we can express our opinions, it is developing a reliance on our Lord and Savior. Let’s not get too reliant on our ability to win. Let’s just make sure we are on the winning team. Think About It!

Have you ever had someone expect from something some you – but they never told you what they expected? When this happens (and they get upset with us), we usually have a snippy retort, “Well, I’m not a mind reader!”. While this is true, it is also a good reminder to us. You see, they aren’t mind readers either. It is easy for us to know what we want people to do – and just as easy for us not to tell them. Whether it is that we expect them to know what we want from them or we fail to explicitly tell them what we hope from them, it is easy for there to be a failure to communicate between us. The problem with this type of situation if two-fold: First, what we want to get done doesn’t get done; then, second, there are apt to be some hard feelings. The best way to avoid this problem is through simple and direct communication. By telling people what we expect from them and, if necessary, reinforce it or restating it again in the future, we can avoid a failure to implement and a failur...

One of the blessings of living in a democracy is that the law is applied equally. It doesn’t matter who you are, you are held to the same accountability as everyone else. One of the challenges of a democracy is holding everyone to the same standard as everyone else. Interestingly, as simple as this sounds, it isn’t always applied across the board. Sometimes because the system plays favorites and other times because we vacillate between equal justice and equitable justice. Through the years our nation has struggled with this challenge – and modern times are no different. However, rather than blasting our nation, what if we all took it upon ourselves to do what is right? Rather than excusing our inappropriate behavior because we are too rich or too poor … or because I didn’t know any better … what if we just followed the law? Sure our legal system has the responsibility of applying the law justly, but we could make it a lot easer on everyone if we just committed to being law-...

In the midst of a rather busy stretch, Jeane, my wife, encouraged me to slowdown and take some time off. Thankfully, she does a good job of keeping me balanced, but I didn’t heed her counsel. The answer I gave was that I was not charge of my schedule – I was doing things other people planned for me. Now, while there was some truth in what I said, I began to realize that if I allowed people to keep me busy, I would always be doing something. At some point, I needed to take control and say enough is enough. The reason that I bring this up is not in hopes that you would feel sorry for me, rather it is to try to help you do what you already know you should be doing. If we allow it, we will stay too busy for our own good. Whether it is our office agenda, our children’s schedule or our entertainment calendar; when other people are directing our lives, we are bound to be overwhelmed. The only way for us to balance our lives is to create it because we’ll never find it. It won’t happ...

The other day I was intrigued by an article in a national publication about how difficult the last few years have been on ministers. The headlines indicated that additional workloads, social unrest and the post-COVID world have made it harder to do what we do. Interestingly though, as I made my way through the article, the thing that tended to exacerbate the mental and emotional stress on many of these individuals were the personal choices they made. I will grant that there have been some challenging issues, but how much have we done to ourselves through the decisions we have made? While I can see this play out in modern ministry, we aren’t the only ones. Sure, there are times when things outside our control create hardships for us, but how much more often are the injuries self-inflicted? When we make poor choices, we might try to blame society or complain because things are stacked against us, but the truth of the matter is our suffering is often based on personal consequences. ...

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...