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“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  –  Romans 12:2 

When it comes to new technologies and innovations I am typically not among those classified as “early adopters.”  In other words, if you are familiar with the diffusion of innovations theory I am not, for example, one you will find standing in line to purchase the latest version of the i-Phone when it hits the market.  There are at least two reasons for this, one is I am too cheap to pay the premium price it usually commands, and two I am too lazy to spend the time learning how to use it.  I prefer to wait until my old phone wears out before I bother to upgrade hoping by then the price will have come down.

A few years ago my two sons convinced me to join one of those mail-order shaving clubs where I could buy quality razors and blades a lot cheaper than the corner drugstore chain.  So, I signed up, but typical of me, I opted for the cheapest and lowest-tech version which suited me just fine.  Recently, though, I tried to order some new blades only to learn they have discontinued the low-end model.  Now I’m in a quandary, do I upgrade to a higher-tech razor which (a) costs more, and (b) I have to adjust to, or go back to shopping at the corner drugstore, which again is going to cost more?  Such problems!

This is where the “diffusion of innovations theory” becomes helpful in explaining how the use of new technologies, processes, and innovations spread through a society, and why they are adopted over old methods.  Imagine a bell curve.  At the extremes, the bottom left lip of the bell represents the innovators, the risk takers who are first to jump in.  The bottom right lip represents the laggards, the very last group to accept new innovations, if at all.  The bell itself is populated by most everyone else, from left to right the early adopters, early majority, and the late majority.  As you can see, I probably land somewhere along the downward slope of the curve – at least with razors and i-Phones.

The Apostle Paul encourages us to “not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  Paul, of course, is not concerned about i-Phones or shaving products, although such things do matter.  Nor is he concerned where we reside along the bell curve.  Rather, are we progressing, renewing our minds in such ways that advance God’s Kingdom, and in ways that bring us nearer to Him?

“This is my command: Love each other.”  – John 15:17 

One sentence, seven words to be exact, and even though it did not come from a pulpit I would rank it among the most impactful sermons I have ever heard.  Someone was angry, having a bad day, throwing a tantrum with a raised voice spewing out venomous words.  Justified or not, the person’s behavior was over the edge, out of line and out of control.  They deserved to be called out, thrown out, and punched in the nose if I had my way.  Except, at the same time those thoughts were circling in my head I heard the calm voice of my friend and former pastor Johnny Cook speak softly, almost as if talking to himself, yet audible enough so that those around him were able to get the message of that powerful one-sentence sermon. “That person needs to be loved on,” he whispered.

Okay, okay, I confess!   The story, which sounds like something out of a barroom, didn’t happen exactly that way.  Actually, it is more of a composite of various instances of someone becoming angry and behaving badly to which the pastor and perhaps a few others were witnesses, or even victims.  What is true is that on multiple occasions our good pastor Johnny Cook would respond to such situations by preaching that same one-sentence sermon, both to himself and the small group of one or two or three from among his flock who happened to be present, and I had the good fortune to be one of them.

It is almost a certainty that each one of us will either witness or be victims of some sort of hostility today.  Someone will cut us off in traffic, be rude to a store clerk or a wait person in our presence, write a nasty email, or post something derogatory on social media – or never mind that, just read the news briefs or watch them on TV.  How easy it is to respond the way I so often do, to want to give them a piece of my mind, or have them thrown out, or smack them in the nose, when what they really need is to be loved on.

I wonder how many people out there, the ones who cut us off in traffic, who treat store clerks and wait staff rudely, who seem to be angry with the world, I wonder how many of them have never experienced what it is like to be loved on?  And for those of us who do, what a difference it could make if we respond by following Johnny Cook’s lead, “That person needs to be loved on.”  After all, Jesus stated plainly: “This is my command: Love each other.”

“What good is it . . . if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?”  – James 2:14 

“He (she) doesn’t smoke, drink, or cuss,” we used to say of people who supposedly are clean living and of high moral character – supposedly!  I say that because my experience has been that phrase has mostly been used tongue-in-cheek, a joke rather than a statement of fact, not that there aren’t certain people who might abstain from those three particular vices.  But even if they do they’re probably guilty of other character flaws.  Aren’t we all!  And if we don’t believe that, we are kidding ourselves; or as scripture says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves” (even if we don’t smoke, drink, or cuss).

I don’t know about you, but willpower is a struggle for me.  To not partake of something that gives me pleasure never comes easy, if at all, like giving up ice cream, for example, which is never going to happen.  Yet, it seems every time I visit the doctor he tells me to cut something out, something I really enjoy, mostly sugars and carbs.  Once he suggested I should substitute almonds for other salty, high carb snacks, only to be reprimanded by the dentist because almonds were cracking my teeth, and crowns are expensive.  The bottom line is, either because I’m confused about what habits to change, or I simply lack the willpower, I still have my own share of character flaws, and plenty of them.

We all know we are better off if we don’t smoke, drink, or cuss, and we know we will be healthier if we follow the doctor’s orders.  But even if we do, that is only half the equation, for if we’re not doing the “do’s” in life then the “don’ts” don’t really matter.  Jesus, in his constant sparring with the Pharisees, told a couple of tongue-in-cheek stories himself.  One was about a Pharisee praying in the temple, proud that he did all the right things (which means he probably didn’t smoke, drink, or cuss), unlike the tax-collector across the room, who was quick to admit his own flaws.  In another story he told about two religious leaders who for very legitimate religious reasons, refused care to a wounded traveler along the road.  Yet, a Samaritan came along, a religious outcast (who knows but that he smoked, drank, and cussed) – who stopped and rendered aid, thus saving the man’s life.  And who does Jesus present as the obvious heroes in these two stories?

So, what’s the point of the “don’ts” if we don’t do the “do’s”?  And “What good is it . . . if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?”

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”  – Matthew 22:39 

Loving America

Several years ago while on a road trip with one of our granddaughters we stopped in St. Louis to visit the Arch.  While there I recall standing in line next to an elderly gentleman on a walker wearing a baseball cap bearing the Stars and Stripes.  In a gesture to be nice I remarked to the man, “I like your cap.” Smiling back at me, this was his reply.  “I still love America, don’t you?”  Ironically, when that occurred I happened to be in the midst of reading a recently published book by Eric Metaxas, If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty which included a chapter entitled “Loving America”.

Prior to those simultaneous experiences I’m not sure I had given much thought about loving my native America and what that means, especially in light of the widespread ideological polarization and negative political rhetoric we are exposed to today.  But Lincoln believed, according to Metaxas, “that love of country is necessary, that America cannot and will not survive without it.”  To do so, though, requires taking a realistic view of America as being both heroically great, yet also deeply flawed.  We should, for example, feel a healthy sense of pride for the “greatest generation” who saved our country and the world from tyranny in World War II; or the courageous responders to the 9/11 attacks.  By the same token America has made shameful blunders in its history, the most obvious and egregious being slavery, and the racism that plagues our culture still.  As Metaxas points out, “Heroism and ignominy both are part of our history.  The only question is whether, having seen both, we can repent of the one and rejoice and be inspired by the other.”  Considering both, then, can we still love America?

But there’s another factor yet to be mentioned, which has to do with Jesus’ command to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  America is blessed with good citizens from all over and from every walk who live out those words – good, kind, caring, generous folks looking out for each other.  There may be scant mention of them in the media, but there is no need, for we can witness them first-hand anywhere we turn if we only take the time to notice.  Therein, I believe, lies the true heartbeat of America and hope for its future.  And that’s why I still love America.  Happy 4^th of July . . .  and may God bless America!

“That the generations to come might know, and the children yet unborn; that they in their turn might tell it to their children.”  Psalm 78:6 

As we were cleaning out our previous house a few years ago preparing to move we came across a dusty old King James Bible propped up against some other old books on one of the high built-in bookshelves in our living room. It had belonged to my great-grandfather.  Age had taken a toll on the leather binding, but judging by the tattered pages and notes in the margins, the inside was worn not from age but from usage.  According to the inscription the Bible had been a Christmas gift to my great-grandfather back in 1911 from his two daughters, my grandmother and great-aunt.

My great-grandfather, Robert Boyle, died in 1924 long before I was born, so needless to say I never knew him.  What little I know about him is that he was an Irish immigrant, moving his young family to the U.S. in 1889 where he established a sheep ranch in northern Texas.  His grandchildren called him Grandpa, same as my grandkids call me – a mere coincidence, though touching.  In his younger days I’m told he had studied theology at the University of Edinburgh in preparation for ministry in the Presbyterian Church, so the fact he read scripture regularly comes as no surprise.

I don’t know a lot of other details about his life other than these, except that I realized something I had never considered before when I discovered his old King James Bible.  My great-grandfather left a great legacy to his successors; for in reading the notes he scribbled in the margins and the verses that were dog-eared it is obvious he was a man of great character, high moral values, a student of scripture and a man of God.  Now here it is a hundred years later and he’s still making a difference in people’s lives – mine in particular.  What a legacy!

I wonder in this day and age if we consider our own legacies the way we should, the ones that really matter.  Grandpa Boyle’s old Bible made me pause and give some thought to that.  Will I leave that kind of inspired legacy that will endure a hundred years or more?  I need to be thinking about that so “that the generations to come might know, and the children yet unborn.”  As a reminder we have given his old Bible a prominent place in our new home where it lays open to Psalm 78.