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...

 Have you ever noticed how people respond when they are in front of a camera? Take weddings for example. A lot of pictures are taken to capture the moment for the bride and groom to treasure for years to come. A new trend that has emerged at these events is a photo booth. You get into the booth and put on a variety of costumes for three rapid-fire poses then pick the best one to paste to the new couples memory album. It’s a lot of fun. Looking over some of those snap shots it’s easy to see that some people know how to “turn it on.” Someone could be having a bad day, emotions all over the place, but when you hold a camera in front of them and say, “cheese,” they will flash one of the biggest, brightest smiles you have ever seen. It makes for great pictures, but I can’t help but think how often I do this myself. Instead of letting those close to me know how I feel and what is happening in my life, I simply put on the smile everyone wants to see. I don’t think that is always what ...

Last week’s Monday Night Football featured an AFC West divisional game pitting the Denver Broncos against the San Diego Chargers. Peyton Manning and the Broncos overcame a 24-0 halftime deficit to beat San Diego 35-24.  The four-time league MVP and 2006 Super Bowl winner completed 13 out of 14 passes for 167 yards and three scores in the third and fourth quarters hitting everything in a Denver jersey with precision. The result eclipsed Manning’s previous best second half turnaround of 21 points and equaled the second biggest halftime comeback in the Super Bowl era. It also tied for fourth as the greatest comeback from any point in a game in NFL history. Peyton will never forget this game. And we should never forget the lesson it teaches. “You're never too far behind to stage a comeback." Yeah, we desperately need to remember this fact. No matter how many times you have fallen, no matter how far from victory you may appear to be, there's still time to stage a comeback.  ...

A little boy wanted to meet God but didn’t know where God lived.   So the boy packed his backpack with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer and started out on his quest. When he had walked a few blocks, he met an old woman who was sitting in the park watching some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his backpack. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry, so he offered her a Twinkie. She gracefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so appealing that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Once again she returned the favor by smiling at him. The boy was delighted! Together, they sat all afternoon eating and smiling.    As darkness fell, the boy realized it was time to go home, after taking a few steps; he turned around, ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever. When the boy arrived back home a short time later, his mother was...