Constructive Or Destructive

I got angry this morning.  I know those of you who know me are extremely surprised but guess what I got angry yesterday as well.  Most likely you got angry within the last two days.  Sometimes our anger is justified and sometimes it is silly and stupid.  I think for me yesterday it was justified when a rock hit my windshield and cracked it because it can’t be repaired.  So there was anger that I would have to spend more money to take care of a vehicle.  Today it was because the Mercedes parked right in front of Starbucks and the lady that parked there couldn’t walk ten more feet and park in a spot.  That anger or frustration or pet-peeve was not constructive.

There are times when our anger is justified and sometimes needed but we have to be careful that we don’t take our anger too far.  I get angry when I see natural disasters take out a population because they don’t deserve that and most of the time I can’t do anything about it.  I get angry when I see social justice issues.  I get angry when I see people being hurt or taken advantage of and they can’t stand up for themselves.  I believe those are constructive angers because hopefully it will compel me to do something.  It evokes a passion in me to do something.  Our anger can be destructive when we use it to hurt others or to tear down.  When our anger gets out of control or when it is over things that are silly that don’t really make a difference.

So the question for you today: Is your anger constructive or destructive.  Does your anger improve the situation or make it worse?

Picket Lines & Boycotting

I honestly believe there is a time and place for everything.  With that being said I don’t know the exact specifics about this situation I’ve seen the last couple weeks but I have a couple questions.  Outside where I pull into my local Starbucks there is a group of men with picket signs and they are standing there at 7:30 every morning picketing a local business that is going in.  They apparently are boycotting because of what they call an unfair wage incentive. I have no idea how this works or how the Union works.  On one sign I saw .50 cents is .5o cents…pay up.  I would assume that they are upset that they are missing out on .50 cents an hour for working.  Now in a typical forty hour work week that adds up to $20 pre tax.  The business is still being built by other employees because this is not a full on strike.  These guys have lost three weeks pay since they have been out there all to earn another $20 a week?  To me that just doesn’t make sense.

What makes sense is the civil rights marches demanding equality.  Begging for equal rights to vote and for the simple right to live.  I’ve always laughed at boycotts and pickets.  I’m sure some are justified and really do work and get what they want or feel they need by pressing the hand of their employer.  Growing up I have seen some denominations boycott: Disney, Coke, Pepsi, Abortion, Foreign Cars, Legos, Chicken, Motor Companies, Styrofoam Cups and Beer Companies.  Ok, obviously I am kidding with that list, secretly nobody was really boycotting the beer companies, but several on that list were boycotted.  Even today there are some who are calling for the boycott of Glenn Beck.  I wonder, does it really matter?  Did Disney freak out when the local church boycotted them when they were still experiencing record sales?

My big question today is, do we sometimes waste our time majoring in the minors?  From our personal lives, professional lives, family lives and even our church lives, do we spend to much energy investing in minor things instead of focusing on what is really important?  I’m not saying those other things and what they may or may not have stood for are not important but is it worth our energy?

I would challenge you today to get passionate about the things that would make Jesus’ heart beat faster.  Get passionate about things that will make a long term difference and impact.  Just a thought.

I Love…

The last couple days I have heard one word thrown out for everything.  It’s a powerful word love and although it has so many meetings I think that it can be cheapened if not used in the right context.  Here are a few ways that I have heard it used in and I may have used it myself.

• I love this weather.
• I love this song.
• I love pizza.
• I love March Madness.
• I love Starbucks.
• I love the Sweet Lord Baby Jesus.
• I love you.
• I love those shoes.
• I love to ________________…

I think you get my point that we use that word love without realizing the power of that word.  I was taught in college that to love in it’s proper context is to provide, promote & protect.  Something to think about when we are throwing out our words to not say it unless we really mean it.

What’s your thoughts on the word love and how it is used?