Think About It

One of the more popular community outreaches this time of year is back to school shopping.   Whether it’s for school clothes or classroom school supplies there are not only a lot of sales, there are also a lot of groups involved in shopping for students or even taking the children shopping so they can buy things for themselves.   Success in school can begin in having the proper tools for the tasks.   Now, while equipment can help our children to achieve success, there is something even more important.   Our children need stuff; but they need support as well.   They need to be able to feel safe – in the classroom and at home.   They need to have well-grounded adults helping them make good decisions.   They need consistent quality food and lodging to help them to be fueled up for their school days.   They need comfortable places to go and confident people to talk to when their parents aren’t available to them.   I am glad that we have taken...

What does it mean to be purposeful in life?   We live in a time when it is easy to be distracted by things that don’t really matter all that much.   We have a lot of free time and a lot of ways to fritter away the time we have.   Have you ever found yourselves sitting in front of a screen or monitor and not known where the last half hour went or even what you had been looking at for the past fifteen minutes?   I am thankful that we can enjoy modern technology, but I do believe that its availability makes it even more important to carefully pursue purpose. When Jesus directed His earliest disciples, He challenged them, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.   For everyone who asks receives, and who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8).   We often attribute these words to spiritual life, but I think that it can help us find purpose in every aspect of life.   Whe...

What is important to us?  I think that, anecdotally, we can try to tell our story; but is there a way we can quantify our priorities?  Now, I realize this is not a scientific calculation, but I think there are some ways to figure out what is important to us: 1.  Look at our finances .  As we go through our checkbooks or our debit card receipts, where are we spending our money?  We work hard for our money, so whether we do it intentionally or not, we invest in what is important to us.  This is especially important when it comes to our discretionary income.  If we want to know what’s important, let’s do the calculations. 2.  Look at our calendars .  If you are like me, it is easy to allow time to get away from us, however, we make urgent things our priorities.  We will find time for what we want to do.  Now, interestingly, they may not be specific appointments in our calendar, but if we did an actual accounting of our time, we’d find ...

How well do we listen?  The older I get the harder it seems for me to hear.  I am not saying that I need to be fitted for hearing aids, but I have noticed that people seem to be whispering a lot more.  Now, while our ability to hear might diminish with the years, there is another kind of hearing problem that has nothing to do with our chronological age.  Centuries ago, the wise man of the Old Testament observed, “He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him.” (Proverbs 18:13).  In essence, if we talk before we know what we are talking about, we are apt to look (and act) foolish.  Now, while this may seem to be absurd, it is probably more common than we expect.  Have you ever been trying to explain something to someone only to be brushed away with the comment, “I know, I know.”.  Maybe – more importantly – how many times have we heard ourselves dismiss someone’s observation with the wave of a hand and a flippant, “Yeah, I ge...

When we think about Christianity, it is easy to imagine it as a worldwide organization of which we are a part.   It is tempting to see ourselves as a small cog in a large mechanism that rolls on around the world and into eternity.   Even when we reduce the concept to the church, it is possible to envision it as a collection of people with whom we join forces in a spiritual battle.   However, when we take this view I think it is easy to miss out on the individual nature of our own personal relationship with God.   In essence, Christianity is a personal life lived in a collective environment.   Yes, Christians are a part of something larger than themselves, but each one of us has our own responsibility.     While this may be a rather academic discussion, I think we can reduce it down to something very personal.   Are we doing what we are supposed to be doing as a disciple of Jesus Christ?   Sure, it’s great to be part of Christianity, but are...

The other day I was visiting with someone about salvation and asked them if they could explain the concept to me.  Their response was that salvation was comparable to “salvaging” something.  At first, when I heard that, I was a little confused, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me.  Now, while the academic explanation of salvation may be different, the idea is comparable.  Salvation takes a messed up life and makes it valuable.  In essence, it salvages our lives from ruin and despair and makes it means something.  It takes what has been spiritually trashed and makes it a treasure! When Jesus came to earth He found mankind awash in a sea of evil and He saved us from our sins.  In fact, this was the essence of why Jesus came to earth.  In identifying His reason for leaving heaven and coming to earth He didn’t say it was to set up some sort of religious organization, He came to make something out of our messed up condition....

There are a lot of reasons for being a part of a church.   From the fellowship to the cooperation to the ability to teach and learn, Christians are blessed to be part of a faith community.   Yet, there is a reason that doesn’t get discussed too often.   Being a part of a church gives us a first-hand view of watching good people do good things!   We live in a world that is so dark that it often overshadows the good being done all around us.   By being a part of a church we get to know people who make a difference and we get to watch them do it.   The good that is done by these righteous folks isn’t something we have to wait to see on the evening news or follow on some remote social media account, we get to see it first-hand day after day. Are you struggling with seeing the good in the world?   The first thing we can do is become involved in the work of the church.   The second is to make it a point to look for the acts of kindness being done all ...