Ecclesiastes 1:2 4/23/2024

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

Have you read Ecclesiastes? It’s not what you would call light reading.  It is eleven chapters of making sure we understand that without God, life is pointless… The last chapter gives us the solution… but it takes a while to get there. So, why did God include this book in the Bible? 

Perhaps it is because disloyalty and distractions are our greatest temptations.  We constantly chase false gods who compete for our devotion. We search for idols in our lives to give us significance. That is problematic because as Spurgeon says: “If Christ is not all to you, He is nothing to you.”  

Is Christ everything to me? Or do I have little deities I pursue to make me feel important? Is growing my relationship with God my primary goal? My calendar and checkbook would argue against that. The time I spend meditating on scripture, compared to time spent pursuing the next dollar or accomplishment, would indicate that there is competition for my allegiance. 

So, Ecclesiastes  provides research data for me to contemplate.  The richest, wisest, most powerful king who ever lived methodically evaluates every possible angle to worldly fame, pleasure, possessions, and power… Read his report, examine the data, and contemplate his conclusion.  His examination is comprehensive and exhaustive and concludes that the world is unable to provide any true meaning. Nothing this planet offers can compete with what Paul calls “the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ.”

The summary is that the grief and pain this world thinly masks with trinkets and baubles is ever present - and unless there is something more -  we are gerbils running on our little wheel, and it is meaningless. 

So, God includes this book and demands  we choose our compass... Ecclesiastes is saying “Fish or cut bait”.  Is Jesus everything to you? God’s offer is to be your King… not an additive used to achieve your goals. Abandon your idols and follow Him - or quit talking about it. If you choose Christ, commit to Him completely and stop chasing the wind.

It is really pretty simple. We were created to worship God – We are here to bring as many people as we can to Heaven … everything else is redundant. 

“Your commitments can develop you or destroy you, but either way, they will define you.” - Rick Warren

PSALM 119: 52,55 4/46/2024

 “I have remembered Your judgments from of old Lord, And comfort myself.“

“ … I remember Your name in the night, And keep Your Law. “

Memory is a hot topic these days. According to Psalm 119, remembering God  provides comfort, calmness, and direction. Scripture tells us to work on our memory in numerous ways:

- Build monuments to remind us of His promises. 

- Be still and remember that He is God. 

- Take communion in remembrance of Him. 

- Hide His word in our hearts. (Memorize scripture)

In this passage David’s spirit is bolstered by remembering God’s judgements and law. Recalling God’s mercy and deliverance, and controlling our thoughts is an important strategy in limiting stress and anxiety. So, do you work at it? 

Exercising regularly and eating right are important physically. Exercising and caring for our brain is even more crucial. We are militant about diets, supplements, and avoiding toxins bodily, but seem careless with our thought life. Why is that? Why don’t we take daily dosages of scripture with the same discipline we take vitamins? Shouldn’t we approach time in prayer with the same consistency we apply to working out? 

My mother suffered from dementia and there were times she wasn’t sure who I was… but she never forgot a single hymn we sang in church.  So, whether you realize it or not, the music you listen to matters…  The images you allow to be seared into your brain matter. Regularly feeding your mind packaged fear from the media matters. Garbage in means garbage out… Your brain gives back to you, what you give it. You control the input, and that determines your mental and emotional strength. 

The benefit of a strong mind is the ability to remember His name when the darkness comes. When we face storms, He is our shelter… Train your heart to remember Him. Read His word. Build monuments. Regularly celebrate His faithfulness. Prepare for the storm by speaking, reading,  and meditating on scripture. 

No matter how my body decays I want His commandments tattooed on my mind, so the last thing that leaves my consciousness is His Holy Word. Even if the time comes when I can’t remember my own name, I never want to forget His.

“There is no place in my soul, no corner of my character, where God is not.” - Evelyn Underhill

2 Peter 2:21-22 4/9/2024

“For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, ‘A dog returns to its own vomit,’ and, ‘A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.’”

Tough verses this morning. We have discussed that “apples don’t make a tree an apple tree – they just show that it is one” … This passage is the flip side of that. Fruit shows what you are… and it can also show what you aren’t.

When the Holy Spirit indwells you, He changes you.  If you are only simulating Christianity, you may clean up for a while, but your true nature will eventually re-emerge.  Like a dog or a sow, you will return to what you love. Coming to Christ, is a transformation… We aren’t perfect, but our faith leads us to die to ourselves and walk differently.  

This passage says it would be better for people not to think they tried Christ – when all they tried was religion. They built a house on sand, and when the storm came, it crashed… This makes them less likely to pursue God, thinking they have tried Christianity, and it failed them… When what they tried was church without any relationship, or commitment to Jesus.  Sure, they believed there is a God (so do demons). They were willing to receive gifts from The Lord, but never intended to follow Him. 

Scripture says that in the end there will be people like this listing the “works” they did for God - and Jesus will say I didn’t know you… He won’t say you didn’t come to church enough, or  put enough in the offering … He will say He never knew you…. What a heartbreaking verse. 

If your life is full of the wrong “fruit”, get to know Jesus.  That is what changes you. The cross makes fellowship possible, so spend time with Him. Salvation comes through faith, but make sure your faith has gone from your head to your heart. There is a deceptive enemy lying to you. 

By grace through faith alone is the only path – and that path produces fruit. 

“Make sure you “catch” true Christianity… When you get the disease, you won’t have to fake the symptoms.” - Anonymous

James 1:5-8 4/2/2024

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”

Do I trust God? … I mean really TRUST God. When it is all on the line, do I rely on the fact that God loves me and is on the throne…  or does my heart doubt God’s goodness?  Do these doubts eliminate my wisdom and make me unstable?

James doesn’t beat around the bush … if you don’t have wisdom, it is because you haven’t asked for it, and believed God would deliver.  God wants you to be wise… But wisdom requires faith. It is impossible to have one without the other because, wisdom is trusting God and tenaciously acting on the fact that He is Good.  You cannot be “sort of” wise.  You either are, or you are not, and it all depends on the power of your faith .

When I was young, we had a trampoline. I quickly learned that the surest way to get hurt was to attempt a flip and change my mind in the middle of the attempt. “Chickening out” in the middle never ended well.  Being double minded with weak faith is the same way.  Wisdom is about finishing. The wise either commit to completion or don’t start. 

Commitment and faith are the cornerstones of  wisdom … Bailing out of your faith when it gets scary can cause you to “crash and burn”. God wants you to look fear in the eye and keep walking, confident in the direction He is taking you.  He wants you to cast your worries on Him and have peace when your head hits the pillow tonight… But you must ask for wisdom,  and trust that He will carry you all the way through the storm.   Let your faith go from your head to your heart, and then to your feet.  Don’t bail out of what He has called you to do. He’ll carry you through it,  just stay the course. 

“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” - Saint Augustine

1 Corinthians 15:14-15 3/26/2024

“…if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain.  Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.“

If all Easter means to you is wearing fancy clothes, and eating some chocolate eggs, you are in danger of  overlooking the most profound occurrence in all human history.  Hallmark treats Easter as a secondary holiday, but Easter is the lynchpin to our salvation.  

Paul makes it clear that Easter is ground zero.  If  the resurrection didn’t happen, then all our preaching is useless, this blog is futile, your faith is in vain …  The resurrection is absolutely essential to the gospel, and without it there is not the slightest bit of  “Good News”.

Paul goes a step further and says we should be looked on with pity if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. We would be idiots to worship a god who is rotting in a grave somewhere… But the inverse is true as well, if Jesus came out of that tomb, you would be foolish, not to worship Him.  Paul then doubles down and says if Jesus is still dead, we aren’t only stupid, we’re liars as well. We are false prophets. Logic demands that either Easter is the most critical day in the history of  humanity… or meaningless. And that determination is based solely on the resurrection. 

So, as you can see, there is not a lot of middle ground here – and still that is where many of us try to stand.  Don’t do that this Easter.  This time  look for truth instead of eggs.  Examine the evidence and decide what you believe. There is literally nothing more important than what you do with the historically documented empty grave of Jesus. 

If He rose from the dead, then radically commit your life to following Him.  If you think they stole His lifeless body, then just dress up and hunt for eggs … Nothing between those two responses makes sense. He is either everything to you – or He is nothing to you.  Make your choice carefully – because those who choose incorrectly are truly the ones who should be looked on with pity.

"It's not about the bunny; it's about the lamb." - Anonymous

Psalm 119:108 3/19/2024*0320*

“Be pleased to accept the voluntary offerings of my mouth, Lord, And teach me Your judgments.”

How many times will God speak about the power of the tongue before we decide to regulate our words?  Excuse the pun, but we give this dangerous sin “lip service” on Sunday morning and then unbridle our tongues for the rest of the week to spread, gossip, lies, and hurtful words toward any and everybody who is the slightest bit different than we are.  

The tongue is called a fire that comes straight from Hell.  We are told that it controls the whole body and can lead us into complete destruction… Yet we smirk and say things like, “I probably shouldn’t say this but…”, or “did you hear about so and so ?”  And Heaven forbid if someone has a different political opinion than we do – We will rip them to pieces with a smile on our faces. We spew venom at them with the  same mouth that praised their Heavenly Father on Sunday morning…  The book of James says, that ain’t right.  

The psalmist asks God to accept the  “voluntary offerings of my mouth”.  So, let me ask you point blank –   Did God see the things you said yesterday afternoon as offerings?  Were they fragrant and pleasing in His sight?  The answer to that question is important.  Yesterday, no one made me say what I chose to say, and between you and me – few of my comments reached the level of sacred offerings… This makes the end of the verse where David requests to be “taught His judgement” a bit dicey. 

So let me challenge you to take gossip, slander, and using words as weapons, off the “acceptable sin list” today.  If we hear ourselves misuse our tongues, let’s react to that as we would to physically attacking someone or stealing.  Stop tolerating our disparaging comments as though they were junior varsity sins and start seeing them for what they are … evil.  

Today let’s make our words honoring and sacrificial to His glory,  less degrading to others,  and less self-aggrandizing. The best way to do that is to just keep our mouths shut until we purge our hearts of the pride that pollutes our words.  

Make everything that comes out of your mouth an offering today.

“Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit, YOU choose.”  - Solomon 

2 Timothy 4:1…5 3/12/2024*1227*

 “…Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and exhort, with great patience and instruction.  For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; …  But as for you, use self-restraint in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.“

This chapter challenges me every time I read it. 

I am pretty good “in season”… I can speak truth at weddings, graduations, funerals … no problem. But I am not as good at a restaurant or a business meeting.  Probably because I understand what Paul says in verse 3,  “… the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine”… Make no mistake, that time has come. 

Most people today don’t want to hear the truth. So, occasionally I hesitate to speak it to those not expecting it, aware that their response may be less positive than those at a Bible study. But Paul says to Preach… doesn’t matter who’s expecting it or not. Like a good coach, he says “get your head in the game and … endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”  Apparently, winning popularity contests is not part of my job description. I cannot conduct myself in a way that avoids hardship because ministry is hard. 

Being an ambassador in a country that wants nothing to do with you involves suffering. Evangelism isn’t for sissies.  But it is for rescued souls like me, who have been redeemed, reborn, and repurposed to become disciple makers.

This passage says to expect some hardship.  You put on football equipment before a game, expecting to be hit – You better put on the full armor of God for the same reason.  Because unless you’re on the sideline, you are going to take some shots…  Like a linebacker on the goal line, I should know an attack is coming.  It’s my job to not only take the hit, but step into it and stand my ground.  My response to the collision is the game changer.   

Paul has delivered a pretty clear pregame speech this morning, and it is directed at me… He’s saying “Buckle up, Cupcake … You win the race, but you better be prepared for some bumps along the way”.

"It's your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life's story will develop." – Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Nehemiah 4:16…18 3/5/2024

 “From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows, and armor … Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked...” 

Nehemiah had a mission… He was rebuilding the wall that protected God’s people.  At first, Nehemiah’s enemies laughed, but as the wall began to come together, his enemies decided to attack the builders.  So, Nehemiah called an audible… He adapted and adjusted job assignments and equipment.

I learned early in my coaching career that clinging to your game plan after your opponent makes effective adjustments is unwise.  So, at times we would modify our approach, but we never abandoned our objective of winning the game.  

The church must remember the same principle … As our ministries become successful, the enemy may attempt to hinder our plans. When that happens, we may need to alter our method… But we can never stop doing what we have been called to do.  We have been commissioned  to make disciples, and nothing can interfere with that objective.

The devil will mock, threaten, and attack. Our success may cause him to intensify his  assaults. Don’t ignore the escalation . You may need to adjust. Sometimes you will need to build with one hand, and fight with the other.  But keep building …  and keep fighting, trusting God for the outcome. 

Legend has it, that during the attack on Pearl Harbor a Chaplain was asked to pray for his men as an enemy plane was zeroing in on them … He put his bible down, manned a gun and said, “praise the Lord and pass the ammunition”.  Similarly, Nehemiah in essence says, “praise the Lord and give me a hammer”.  Though threatened, his faith in God, and his resolve to complete the mission were unwavering. 

So, I have two questions for you:  

1. Are you building anything for the Kingdom worthy of being attacked? 

2. Are you prepared to fight for it?  

Our commission is clear.  No one said it would be easy. So, get busy, pray,  and pass the ammunition.  Adjust, evolve, multitask when you need to - but never forget your calling. 

“God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply.” - Hudson Taylor

Obadiah 1:11-12 2/27/2024*

“On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune...”

This  short book is a prophecy against Edom, who stood by as God’s people were ravaged in war. But it speaks to God’s opinion of our callousness.  The church could be accused of this same aloofness today.  We at times self-righteously stand by as our brothers are wrecked and looted by their sin, and God says that makes us just like the ones doing the looting. 

Arrogant self-righteousness is a problem.  It is the antithesis of humility and  gratefulness, so how can our hearts hold both? If we are rightfully overwhelmed by the grace that has been offered to us, how can we not offer that same grace to other people?  Celebrating over the devastation of others is dangerous, even if they deserve it… because we deserve it too. 

Still,  I am tempted to cheer when my enemies suffer ...  I tend to find it satisfying when people whose agendas I oppose are destroyed by their own virtue signaling.  I can be indifferent when people actively embrace sin and receive its outcome.  

But is that a biblical response?  Shouldn’t  I instead hurt for their blindness, and entrapment in sin? … Have I forgotten that I have been commissioned to fight for them, not against them?  I am clearly commanded to love my enemies… actively.  It doesn’t take outward rejoicing at their destruction … just standing aloof as they suffer is enough to anger my Lord. 

When I was lost in sin, Jesus did not celebrate the pain I brought on myself, He didn’t condescendingly say “I told you so” … He died for me… Now He tells me to love in the same way.  New or Old Testament, God doesn’t change, and  He does not expect aloofness from me. I should be running towards the fire to save others, since I was pulled from the fire myself … 

And just like Jesus’ love for me,  my love for sinners should be undeterred by their sin. 

“The only way love can last … is if it's unconditional. … love is not determined by the one being loved but rather by the one choosing to love.” - Stephen Kendrick

Leviticus 5:19 2/20/2024*

 “It is a guilt offering; he was certainly guilty before the Lord.”

This chapter is not what you would call “seeker sensitive”.  It provides no loopholes and allows no excuses when confessing sin.  This last verse emphasizes the theme of the chapter.  If you miss the mark – it is sin, and it is a capital offence as the penalty of sin is death.  

Guilt is not relative.  Post modern Christianity would do well to study this chapter.   Sin is sin… doesn’t matter if you agree… doesn’t matter if you think it’s minor…. doesn’t even matter if you don’t know you did it… You are guilty before the Lord which means you have a choice to make.  

Either stand and argue your innocence or confess your sin and repent. Sin’s definition is static. It is not evolving , it is not relative, and it is not up for debate. There is one Arbitrator, and He will serve as Judge and Jury.  He is aware of your sin, and there is no viable defense.

Paul reinforces this in 1 Corinthians 4:4 “For I am not aware of anything against myself; however, I am not vindicated by this, but the one who examines me is the Lord.”  So, Paul, who God used to write much of the New Testament, realized his awareness of his own transgressions was not comprehensive.  

There is sin in my life that I am aware of, and battling, but I also need to be still and ask God to reveal the sin I have managed to ignore.  You can’t see what you’re not looking for, so stop and evaluate your walk.  God doesn’t grade on a curve so don’t compare yourself to others, but to His perfection.  Schedule a recurring time to examine your heart.   Look for your own sin with the same intensity with which you investigate those who sin against you. 

Recognizing I am tainted by sin will make me “poor in spirit” and provide humility. I am no better than you. We are both broken without Christ.  Our sin made the cross necessary, and His love permitted the Cross to happen. We can never minimize the price He paid, nor entertain the thought that we don’t need it as badly as others.

“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” - James