Walking The Walk

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. ~Matthew 7:12 It's such a simple rule--the "Golden Rule."  Just think of all the pain and anger and frustration and disappointment that could be avoided if we'd just follow that simple idea to treat other people the way we want to be treated.  But it's more than just that.  If you look at that first part, it says "so in everything." In everything?  What's that mean?   Well, it means we're not just talking about being nice to people.  We're talking about empathy.  It means putting yourself in the place of other people. It's not difficult for us to come up with a lot of reasons why we think we have the right to be rotten to somebody.  He was rotten to me first.  He has it coming.  What's good for the goose . . .  We can use all those reasons to "justify" treating somebody in a way we certainly wouldn't want to be ...

I'm a pretty busy person.  I work full time.  I pastor a church part-time.  I have a big yard I keep up.  A wife and two daughters.  A couple dogs.  And I write quite a bit (and not just sermons).  I have plenty to do.  I get asked every once in awhile how I manage that.  I used to pride myself in the ability to do numerous things all at once.  I was a skilled practitioner of multitasking.  I made my calls during drive time to and from work.  I could answer texts during staff meetings.  I'd keep right on working on a spreadsheet while I was on a group call.  And I'd jump from project to project during the day making progress on each project every single day.   And then one day, harried and exhausted, I realized that multitasking was a myth.  It didn't make me more productive, it made me less productive.  I'd miss important details in a meeting because I was texting during that part.  I'd forge...

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful ~Colossians 3:15 (NIV) I was working at the church last week, and the secretary said I had a call.  I took it, and as I'm talking I got up from behind the desk to go get another cup of coffee, and about three steps from my desk, the phone went flying out of my hand!  The church still has a land line.  For you youngsters, that means the phone is hooked to the wall with a cord.  I grew up with those, but how quickly I had forgotten the limitations of that cord.  I remember that freedom of getting my first cellular phone--being able to walk and talk and make a call or get a call anywhere.  The possibilities seemed limitless on what I would be able to accomplish with this miraculous new tool! But I think about it differently now.  Those phones quickly went from being a liberator to being a master.  I was watching a group of young people ...

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’S purpose that prevails.” ~Proverbs 19:21 Think about how much happier we would be in our lives, if we simply focused on what we can change.  But we don’t.  Too often we are worried about things we can’t control. We are focused on the behavior of other people. Or are fretting about events that haven’t even happened yet and that are completely out of our control. It used to irritate me when somebody would tell me to fix what I can fix and leave the rest to God. I thought it unrealistic. I’m wiser now. I gained that wisdom by spending so much time worrying about things I can’t control. Trying to fix people that don’t want to be fixed.  Most of the things we worry about in life are things beyond our ability to control. Instead of fretting over it, pray over it. It might surprise you the difference that makes. Just acknowledging the fact you are powerless in a situation can take much of that burden from you. And ever...

"When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. " ~Psalm 56:3 For a good part of my life I believed that I was in charge of my own destiny. It was my decisions that would ultimately decide my fate. I believed the harder I worked the more I'd get ahead.  As Americans we're raised to be very independent. We believe in the American dream. That anything is possible for any individual with enough imagination, enough bravery, and enough elbow grease. That we're only limited by ourselves. And we work hard. And we fight hard. And we find ourselves always paddling against the current. Trying to get where it is we want to go. And by the time we get to where we want to go, if we get to where we want to go . . . we're too tired to enjoy it.  It's not an easy thing to admit you've been doing it wrong for decades. But I realized at some point that I was doing it wrong. The reason I was always paddling against a current was because I'd set the course. I'd set the ...

This week in the news, we're seeing some problems coming up with social media. There have been some big layoffs on social media platforms, driven by a decline in usage.  People are leaving social media. I think there's a weariness that's set in. And mistrust. And privacy concerns. And more and more people are realizing they don't really need it. And they're closing their accounts. Over the last six months, I've really been thinking a great deal about this device in my pocket. This endless source of convenience on one hand and a constant source of distraction on the other. My main focus over the last few months has been the amount of time I spent distracted by it, and working to establish some limits.   But last week, my focus shifted. I got a notification (again) that my information had been compromised by one of these platforms that I'm on.  Of course criminals can use that information in all kinds of nasty ways. And it bothered me. And I spent several hour...

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11  We always have a tendency at the end of the year to look back at what we've done and realize we didn't accomplish as much as we wanted to--or intended to.  And so we sit down and maybe we write a couple things down that we want to do this year.  Now I can tell you from experience that this list doesn't change very much from year to year.  But for some reason we think we'll be able to get done in the next 12 month what we failed to accomplish in the last 12 months, or maybe it's 24 months . . . or 36?   We fail because we're making our own plans usually.  We're relying on our own ability and our own will power and our own resolve to lose the weigh, and get in shape, and have better relationships at work, and be more productive. Instead of working our own plan in 2023, what if we resolved this year to ...