Think About It

What do we do when we feel like people are giving us a hard time because of our religion?  Do we give up and complain that those who are anti-religious get all the breaks?  Do we retaliate against them and call them names (after all, we have to defend ourselves, don’t we)?  Interestingly, this question is not something new in the 21st century.  Since its inception, there have been people opposed to Christianity so there should be some good training about how we should react to persecution and opposition.  Interestingly, the people in the 1 st Century may provide the most effective ways to deal with it.  First of all, they kept teaching.  Even if it meant that their detractors kept running them out of town.  An early Christian historian describes the persecution of the original believers then remarks, “Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.” (Acts 8:4).  Yet, there is another bit of advice given to the early Ch...

Living as close as I do to our nation’s capital, I have a love/hate with Washington D. C.  On one hand, I really enjoy the architecture and buildings found in the city – on the other hand driving in D. C. is crazy! Whenever I go into the city one of the first things I try to locate is the Washington Monument.  To me, this edifice to our Founding Father, symbolizes the city.  I recently learned that it took 50 years to complete the project that opened on October 9, 1885.  Interestingly, the obelisk has had it up-and-downs throughout the years (including some damage that needed to be repaired and maintenance that needed to be done); but it still stands as a beacon of the city.   As I think about the monument, I am reminded of what Jesus told His disciples, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who a...

I have always had a fascination with weather.  I not only enjoy the changes of season, I also enjoy playing along with those who forecast it.  I don’t have near the education of a beginning meteorologist, but I do know a little bit about climate, so I tend to analyze their forecasts.  Years ago, predicting the weather seemed to be more art than science and it was kind of fun to make sport of the forecasters when they missed on their prediction.  Now that we have so many tools at our disposal, forecasting has gotten more precise.  Using the tools available to those in the profession, the future is less uncertain.  Oh, they still miss sometimes, but their predictions are usually spot on.  We can have a good idea of how to prepare for the elements.   As I thought about the human prognosticators, I got to thinking about spiritual prophets.  You see, the difference between them and modern weather people is that those who were led by the Spirit of ...

I got to experience my first in-person NHL game over the weekend.   Thanks to my daughter and son-in-law, I got to watch the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins.   Even though it was a preseason game, it was pretty cool – literally!     As I sat and watched these professional athletes it was easy to spot the mistakes they made.   I saw missed shots, people go sprawling along the ice and even a few rules violations.   Even as a neophyte, I could see the mistakes they were making; then it dawned on me that they were doing this at full speed on skates on ice.   Honestly, I couldn’t do what they were doing in tennis shoes on dry ground, so I quickly gained an even greater respect for these guys.   Have you noticed how easy it is to criticize people when they make mistakes?   Whether it is a misstep, using the wrong word or just making a bad decision, it is pretty easy to spot another person’s errors.   Yet, when we do that do we reflec...

As a longtime Denver Broncos fan, I have a love/hate relationship with the Kansas City Chiefs.   From a day to day perspective, I love to hate them; but as a football fan I have an appreciation for their organization and their fan base.   Kansas City has been a football town for a lot of years and they have a passionate connection to their team.   I find it interesting how much attention Taylor Swift has brought to the Chiefs, but I have to admit that most Chiefs’ fans were onboard long before Travis Kelsey and they will be after he has gone.   They didn’t just jump on the bandwagon and aren’t likely to abandon them if/when the star couple fades into history.   As I thought about the Chief’s organization, I got to thinking about the Lord’s church.   Now, no, I am not saying that God has a favorite NFL team, but what I am saying is that the Christian church isn’t subject to popularity.   Its success is not based on whether it is cool to be a Christian...

Well, for most of Major League Baseball, the 2024 campaign is done.  Yes, there are a few teams still participating it the playoffs, but for the vast majority, it’s over.  This begins the “off season” which is designed to reflect and retool.  Many clubs will evaluate their managers, players and philosophies and decide whether they worked or not.  Some will stay the same, others will make adjustments and a few will make significant changes.  The front offices can’t impact the 2024 season, but they can set themselves up for a better 2025.    The reason I bring this up is that this is a pretty good application for all of us.   What do we do at the end of each day?   Do we come home and just collapse on the couch or do we take a little bit of our evening and evaluate how well the day did (or didn’t) go.   No, not every day will be a success; but every day can be a learning experience.   We might not get every decision correct, but when ...

I was recently scrolling through some quotes by past Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren who said, “To get what you want, STOP doing what isn’t working.”.  As I read that, I thought I detected a firm grasp of the obvious; however, the more I got to thinking about it the less obvious it seemed – or at the very least how much we have ignored it.  Warren’s observation seemed to remind me of an adage, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”.  Now, you might be wondering why I am waxing philosophically.  Well, the answer is that there seems to be a lot of complaining about how dissatisfied we are with things; but also seeing how little change we are trying to make.  We complain about disunity in our communities, but we keep turning up the flame on biased comments.  We fuss about how violence is up and morals are down but we keep putting up with bad behavior.  We lament the state of our young people, but keep ign...