Think About It

Happy Independence Day! It is common to refer to today as the Fourth of July, but that is more of way to identify the date than the purpose of the holiday. Independence Day speaks to what happened a couple of centuries ago when the colonists sought to overthrow the crown of England and live in civil and religious freedom. Independence Day has come to mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but one that is commonly referenced is freedom. The Americans sought to find ways they could experience liberty. Interestingly, this has been a common goal throughout history and just as interestingly, people have searched out various ways to achieve it. In the late 18th Century the revolutionaries defied the British and developed their own Constitution by which they could practice freedom. As I thought about this national holiday, I got to looking at religious freedom and found an interesting approach. The Apostle Paul wrote to the early Christians, “For you were called to freedom, brethren...

Do you ever wish you could be like Mr. Spock from Star Trek fame? I have to be honest with you, I am not too familiar with the syfy show, but I do know enough about the characters to know that Spock was a mixture of human and Vulcan. While this did not make him free from emotion, but it sure cut down on about half the anxiety that we have to live with! I am full-blood human and with that comes 100% emotion. Sure, I can throw in some logic every once in a while, but even that is going to have to come through the lens of humanity and heart. Now, while at least a part of the previous paragraph is satire, there are times when I wish I was more logic than emotion – or do I? There are times when I do wish reason would overtake my emotional side, but that is also the side that houses compassion, forgiveness and humanity. If my whole life was guided by reason and logic, I would not be the caring person I hope to be. Yes, I would make fewer mistakes, but I would also take fewer chances....

On July 2, 1964 President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. While I do not have the time nor the inclination to address this from a civics or historic perspective, I do want to say that despite some struggles and setbacks this act put into motion legislation that sought to bring a greater sense of equality to citizens of the United States. As I thought about where our nation has been, it got me to reflecting to where the people of God have been. While I will not pretend that religious people have done things perfectly, the people of God have always had a responsibility to treat others with decency. The heart of the New Testament is love and even the Old Testament demanded fairness and justice. People didn’t always do it – but that was from sin, not misdirection. Centuries ago, the people of Israel were reminded, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do ...

How easy is it to give someone the benefit of the doubt? I am not a big advocate of bashing the 21st Century; but I do believe it used to be easier to give people the benefit of the doubt than it is today. Maybe it is because more people are getting caught doing things they shouldn’t be doing, but I believe it is easier to jump to conclusions than it used to be … and, coming from my background with Law Enforcement, I can find myself more easily swayed to the doubts of cynicism than a more healthy version – skepticism. Now, before you read too much further, let me line out where I am going with this. No, I am not going to provide insight into being more judicious in our assessments; rather, I want to take a look at it from the position of how do we receive those benefits of the doubt. While the first way is to not put ourselves in a position of being viewed in a questionable light, another way is to build a track record of making good, healthy decisions. Years ago, when the ch...

How certain is the possibility of judgement? How certain is the opportunity for salvation? Interestingly, when an early Christian writer tried to explain these concepts he used something familiar to everyone – death! One writer observed, “And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” (Hebrews 9:27-8). As the first generations of Christians were searching for a way to invest themselves in these new concepts, they were assured they could believe. The salvation of Jesus and the accountability of mankind we are certain as death! We live in a time when truth seems arbitrary – your truth … our truth … no truth – but the Bible makes a point of saying there are some things that can be counted on. A questionable faith is no way to live – it produces a lot of stress. That’s why a confiden...

What is the greatest era for Christian expansion? What about the 1st Century – one that was filled with the newness of Christian thought and miracles … but also featured archaic ways of communicating and martyrdom? What about the Victorian Era – one that highlighted chaste sexual thoughts … but also featured classism, slavery and child labor? What about the 21st Century – a time filled with blatant sexuality and political dysfunction … but one where everyone has access to the Word of God and unfettered (and unfiltered) access to evangelism? I think it is tempting to look back at the “good old days” and wish we could recreate the perceived openness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, the truth of the matter is that there is (and has never been) a golden age for Christianity. Since each era has been filled with people there have been problems and possibilities. In essence, the times that are most conducive to spreading the gospel throughout the world is the one in which we live. T...

Several years ago there was a push to develop mentorship programs. Some of these programs involved working with teenagers or other young people, but there was another movement in the business and community world. As I look back on these opportunities I recall them being designed to help younger people learn and develop their skills by spending time with people who have “been there, done that”. Now that I am getting a little older (and slower) I am starting to realize the value of mentorships – not just in developing younger people, but in replacing older people. Sociologists have warned that we are moving into an era where there would be less volunteerism and fewer people who would take on the social responsibilities that communities were relying on. In many ways, I believe we have arrived at that crossroads and one of the challenges many of us face is that we would like to step away from what we feel is important, but we are having trouble finding someone to hand our programs to....