Think About It

Through the years, I have been around some rather intense situations where tempers flared up.  Often, these events are so horrific that all that is left are bare emotions.  Interestingly, as I talked to people who work to resolve these situations – and are often on the receiving end of some pretty terse comments – their reflections are usually quite empathetic.  No, they didn’t necessarily like what was said to them or about them, but they understand where it comes from.  A common response from the people who are berated is acceptance and the remark, “I can’t imagine going through what they were going through.”.   As I thought about this I got to wondering where the cutoff line is between understanding that people are having a horrible day (and, thus, ignoring what is said to us) and taking offense to what is said because we not willing to bear the brunt of someone else’s rotten day.  At what point do we allow comments to slide off of us like the proverbial...

Over the last few days we have been looking for a place to take relief supplies to the Southeast part of the U. S.  First, let me tell you just how impressed I am of our fellow Americans.  You might not believe it, but in just about every instance people – especially churches – are saying they are filled to overflowing with stuff.  Many of them say they could use workers, but most of them asked that we didn’t bring supplies to them.  Folks, that is incredible news and highlights the generosity of our neighbors!   As I went through this process it did provide me with a reminder of how important it is to be both a giver and a receiver.  So often, we focus on the need to give, but there is another side to this equation.  To enable giving, we must be willing to accept the gift.  Many of us grew up in a time when it was uncool to accept something from others.  Some of us were taught that accepting charity was a sign of weakness.    As I ...

As I drove to church the other morning, I heard an old favorite song, “(Give Me That) Old Time Religion”.   The version I heard was relatively new, but song seems to date back at least to the late 1800s.   The song has a catchy tune and the lyric harkens us back to an old time religion that was good enough for our ancestors – and as such, should be good enough for us.   Interestingly, even though I like the song, the sentiment has kind of troubled me throughout the years.   I remember hearing it as a child and, while I was drawn to traditional religion, I can see the challenge of doing the things we have always done them just because we have always done them that way.   As a child of the ‘60s and ‘70s that logic tended to fall on deaf ears – and I can only imagine the message it would receive today.   Again, I tend to like that old-time religion, but we must make sure it is built on truth and not just tradition.   I believe there is value in doing thin...

What is important to you?   For some of us, it is our job so we are extremely sensitive to the office environment.   Others are tuned into our health so we take how we feel very seriously.   Some people are invested in politics, so we feel like we are living and dying with what is happening over the next few weeks.   Those who are into finances find their moods rising and falling with the stock market.   There are a lot of things that can capture our attention, but one that we must watch is our spiritual well-being.   It may not be as invigorating as watching as presidential race or as instantaneous as taking our temperature, but we have to take an interest in how we are doing with our spiritual lives.   Are we doing good?   Are we right with God?   There are a several things that can influence our day-to-day existence, but our righteousness has eternal consequences.     When Jesus was establishing the baseline for His God-cente...

Throughout the years, I have thrived on crisis.  I like being the guy in the thick of things – especially when things are going sideways.  I am probably not the guy that you would want to send into the fray, but I have found my niche by working with the people who are coming out of it.    While many of you may not understand what I am about to write, I think there are several who will agree with me.  When I watch crisis in distant places I get a disheartening feeling – not necessarily because of what people are going through, but because I am not right there with them, helping them work through it.  The other day as I was watching a crisis, Jeane looked at me and said, “I know you want to be there, but I am you aren’t.”.  She understands and is supportive, but that doesn’t always quash the desire to be in the mix.   As I think about my reaction to difficult events, it is easy for me to just sit on the sidelines and pout because I am not in the gam...

I recently rekindled a friendship with someone I hadn’t visited with in years.  He’d had a direct influence on me decades ago, but as I looked back on the years that followed I realized just how much his influence had shaped me through the years.  It was interesting, as we visited on the phone not long ago I felt like I picked up on a conversation we’d had just a few days before – the only difference was we had decades (rather than days) of details to catch up on.   I believe it is easy to honor our current friendships, so we tend for forget those relationships that have influenced us through the years.  Sure, the people conspicuously present in our lives today have a significant influence on our mood, but have you ever looked back at those relationships that brought you to where you are today?  Their influence probably isn’t just limited to your physical location, but it also includes the development of who you have become.  Maybe it is time to rekindle th...

When most of us read the conversion story involving Cornielius we think about one of the early Gentile believers.  Up to this point in the history of the Christian church, most of the disciples came from a Jewish background, Cornielius blew open the gates to all types of believers.  While this is a cool story, I think there is another “conversion story” in this account.  The Apostle Peter had grown up with a Jewish mindset that probably extended beyond his dietary restrictions, but as God was preparing Cornielus to accept Jesus, He was also preparing Peter to accept Cornielus by giving him a vision.  We learn of Peter’s change when Luke reports Peter’s interaction with the Romans, “ And he said to them, ‘You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.’” (Acts 10:28).  Not only was Peter changed, so were many ...