Worthy Words

Lou Holtz an ESPN college football analyst and former coach said something once that rings true both on and off the field of play — The one who complains about the way ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it. I've also noticed that when many people drop the ball, their first reaction is not, "Oops, I dropped the ball." Their first reaction is, "Who can I pin this on? Whose fault is it? There must be something wrong with the ball. There must be something wrong the way the quarterback handed it to me. There must be something wrong with the coach. There must be something wrong with the rules of the game..." And in an election year, it's the Republicans' fault or it's the Democrats' fault. But it never seems to be the fault of the guy who dropped the ball. There are those who spend their entire lives this way— every dropped ball is a reason to complain and a reason to place blame. I think we all have this tendency. In fact, this tendency goe...

When I was preparing to graduate from seminary, I began working on my resumé. As a graduate, I was proud of my education, my honors and achievements, and of the experiences I had accumulated. I was ready to meet the lost world and for the lost world to meet me! I had every intention of landing the perfect church situation after the first interview and beginning my life as a pastor. I only faced one small obstacle: I wanted a letter of reference from one of the hardest professors in my department. This particular professor was happy to be a reference if the student wrote his own letter describing his or her strengths, weaknesses, areas of growth, and personal assessment of future potential. He would read the letter, make any suggestions for change and then sign the finished product. It was a daunting task and one that made me nauseous. I don’t remember what I wrote in my letter, but I do remember his comment. “You have a good grasp of Romans 12:3.” At the time I had little understand...

I have always tried to comply with the saying: “I am thankful that God is God and I am not.” While reading the story of Joseph, this cornerstone phrase hit me with a new insight. As a boy, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. He was bought by an Egyptian, who learned to trust him and put him in charge of his entire household; however, his master’s wife plotted against him and he was thrown into jail. Joseph spent a number of years in prison, but while there, he successfully interpreted the dreams of two of Pharaoh’s workers. Two years later, when Pharaoh finally heard of this, he called for Joseph to interpret his dreams. Pharaoh saw great wisdom in Joseph and knew God was with him, so he put Joseph second in command over all of Egypt.  Years later, Joseph’s brothers came looking for food because of famine in the land. Joseph has the perfect opportunity to pay back the wrong inflicted on him by his brothers, but he does not. He embraces them, gives them gifts a...

Ask a person to describe a fruit tree during each of the four different seasons and you’ll receive four very different answers. In winter, a barren tree exists. In spring, the tree will have leaves and colorful blossoms. In summer, a tree full of fruit is seen. And, in autumn, the tree is fading in color and its leaves are falling. If a person is asked to describe the tree at a certain time of the year, he or she will describe it based on its current condition; however, that description, although accurate at the time, is not the whole story. The tree changes through the different seasons and the person would have to be patient in order to see the tree in all its seasons and capture a complete description.  Many times, the same concept can be applied to how we judge people in times of conflict. What we may describe at any given point may be an accurate description, but may not reflect the whole story. Both circumstances and people change.  The specific situations in which peopl...