Ecclesiastes 12:10

    There has always been something at the scene of the cross that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.   In reality, none of it makes sense. How could they do that? How could He go through that?  Why did this have to go that way? It all boggles the mind. But the way I am referring to is the motivations of some of the actions at the cross.   We are told that those in attendance at the crucifixion were insulting Jesus. The chief priest and scribe make sense. Not in it was right, but they had been out to get Jesus for some time; you can understand their animosity. The crowd, in the same way, has a logic to it. They had been whipped up into a stir against Jesus by the leaders. Those insults go hand in hand with a mob mentality. Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him. Mark 15:32    It’s those that were crucified with him I just don’t get. If anyone understood his agony, it would be those experiencing it beside him. They ha...

  The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s job is to protect the public from products that may be dangerous. They might fine companies for bad practices or force them to recall products that are too dangerous.  To facilitate that mission, they produced and distributed 80,000 lapel buttons, but they had to be recalled since the edges were too sharp.  And the paint used had too much lead.  And the clips could break off and be swallowed by children.  Maybe it is easier to see the mistakes than to make the product perfect.    Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door . James 5:9   It is easy to find fault in what others do. Maybe that fault is warranted but don’t make the mistake of thinking that in doing so you are in a superior position.  Criticizing is easy. Creating is hard.  Too many folks think they are doing something s...

  Madge Wallace hated Harry Truman.     Well, it was said she didn’t care much for anyone in Independence, Missouri but she seemed to really have it in for Harry. To her, he was just a “ filthy farm boy ”. Early on, she might have a point.   Harry lost his family farm and failed at two different businesses until he finally found his place in politics. But that wasn’t good enough in the eyes of Madge. As a senator, she constantly criticized him, as vice president she scorned him. Even when he was elevated to the Presidency after Roosevelt’s death people close to her said: “ It galls her to see him in the White House running the country ” .   When Truman famously fired MacArthur she ranted: “ Imagine a captain from the National Guard telling off a West Point general ! Why didn’t he let General MacArthur run the Korean War in his own way?” When Truman ran against Governor Thomas Dewey in 1948, Madge stood firmly behind his opponent. “ Why would Harry...

  Being critiqued isn’t very fun. Even when it is true on what you need to do better, it still feels like being hit with a sledgehammer. But imagine if it was Jesus swinging that hammer.   In Matthew 23 Jesus calls out the scribes and Pharisees for their behavior. He works them over pretty good. At the heart of his message is their hypocrisy. They lack consistency. They make rules to break them. They try to look good rather than being good. But notice where Jesus starts in his condemnation. “ Therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them . They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger .” Matthew 23:3-4   Jesus sees their error in telling others to do when they won’t. They have high expectations but low work ethics. They know what to do but expect others to do it   Now let’s appl...

  In Matthew 7:5 Jesus gives us a command: " You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye ”.   I think it is high time I start taking that literally.   Now before you think I have terrible woodshop safety, understand what I mean by literally. We use that word badly. This passage is figurative language and it is to be understood that way but it’s revealing a very exacting truth we all need to be doing. Before we say anything to another about their faults we need to clean up our own.   Years ago when I read Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends And Influence People, he said, “talk about your own mistakes before you criticize another”. Jordan Peterson sixth rule in his recent book 12 Rules for Life is “Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world”   It’s the same idea of what Jesus is saying here.   Yet today we just fail to do ...

  David sinned with Bathsheba and that led to more sin as he tried to cover it up. He tried his best to get Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, to do wrong in the process. Uriah didn’t.   So David convinced himself the solution was to have the noble warrior killed by the hands of the Ammonites.   His actions made him an adulterer, a liar, a despicable leader and a murder. But it also made him stupid.     You see in order to make the death of Uriah happen; he had to enlist the help of his commander Joab. Joab wasn’t the type to not take advantage of the situation. So when Joab made an error in battle by letting the men get too close to the wall, he used the information of Uriah’s death to distract David from criticism. “and if it happens that the king's wrath rises and he says to you, 'Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 'Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman throw...

  Enzo Ferrari felt he made a pretty good car.  So when a customer had a complaint about a weak clutch in one of his high-end sports cars, he was a bit miffed. What did he know! The customer in question worked on tractors!  Ferrari responded to the man, “You may be able to drive a tractor but you will never be able to handle a Ferrari properly."   So that customer, Ferruccio Lamborghini, decided to make an even better car, the perfect car in his mind.  He made his first production car in 1964, the 350 GTV. Today that particular car can go for $300,000 at auction.   Maybe the tractor guy did know a thing or two…   It is easy when we have people point out faults to dismiss what they say. They don’t know what I know. They have not been in my shoes. Who do they think they are? While there is a lot of undue criticism, we would be foolish to think that there isn't something we can be doing better. A scoffer does not love one who reproves...

  No one likes to be criticized. We don’t want to be the butt of the joke. We don’t enjoy being the punching bag for others. It hurts when it isn’t true. It really hurts when it is.  It might bruise our egos, hurt our feelings and make our faces red, but how much does it harm us.     Words can hurt but only damage us if we let them. And it might even help us.   It seems to me that folks today have much thinner skin than we used to. Maybe it’s because we have so many ways to talk about people, it’s worn down our skin. Maybe, we are a little wimpier since we have had not to suffer as many ‘real’ hardships.  Whatever the case, from the athletic field to the boardroom, to the capital, people seem to be much more oversensitive to the words of others.   I wonder if it is because we place too much concern on what others think of us. A lack of self-esteem is shown in how we respond to critics. A wise man listens to a critic and takes to he...