Ecclesiastes 12:10

  The old proverb says that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” but I think it also holds to be true for wealth as well. Take for example the statement of Alexis du Pont de Bie Sr., a descendant   of the powerful and wealth du Pont family, about his 3,000 dollar a month allowance from his inherited trust. He said that amount had made him " literally destitute and homeless ." He still has 2 million dollars in the account but feels he is now indigent.     As Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, “ He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. ” True wealth does not come in abundance but in contentment.    In 1 Timothy 6:6-10, Paul writes “ But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptati...

  I often hear worries about the future of the church geared towards the younger generation. People will voice their concerns over the “graying of the church” and the lack of commitment in younger generations. The perception is the church is getting older and keeping less of its young people. But what do the statistics bear out?   In recent data from the pewforum.org* tells us in general the younger generation is less religious than previous generations. However, in the churches of Christ this is not the case. In fact, the average age among the members of churches of Christ is less than the general population. The Church of Christ has about 22% of its membership between the ages of 18-29, as compared to denominational world where that percentage is between 12% to 8%. Approximately 54% of the members of the church are under the age of 50. The church will retain 70% of its children while most denominations keep only 62%of theirs.   So what do these numbers tell us? Many ...

  In every congregation I have ever worked with a constant source of complaining is with the thermostat. There is always someone to hot or to cold. No matter what approaches the church tries to regulate the temperature, some one is not satisfied. I often wondered how the problem can be solved.   A few years back, I traveled with a group of young people to help in the recovery after Hurricane Katrina. During that time, I had to privilege to worship with the Chalmette church of Christ. Most of their building was washed away from the floods following the hurricane. The church had continued to meet in the building as soon as they were able to get in the area. The members had begun the slow process of rebuilding. When we met, some new sheetrock had been installed but the church was still without doors or windows. A church of 80 members now only had 5 still able to live in the community. But many still traveled in each week to worship, some from as far as fifty miles away. On this S...

  When Welsh Assembly Member Jenny Randerson was turned down in her request under Wales' Freedom of Information Act for government documents about the budget, the official explanation given was that, " The exposure of some of these discussions to the public domain may lead to individuals ... being targeted for ridicule through the media ." In other words, the documents would show how foolish the government officials had been and they didn’t want to be made fun of.   The better solution for the government is not to suppress this information but to work in such a way as not to be made fun of.   In 1 Peter 2:12, Christians are told ,” Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation .     People will always mock others, but we are to set an example in our lives so that those that mock have no real basis for ...

Kennedy Inaugural Address   In his inaugural speech John F. Kennedy said,   “ With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own. "       That last line has always been one that has stuck me as very important. Many times we make plans on our own and then ask God to bless them. This is an backwards approach. In any planning we do, we should begin by asking ourselves, “What would God have us do” and then make our plans in accordance with his will. This is the attitude that James was discussing in James 4:15-16 which says, “Instead , you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that."    But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.”   Before we try to get God on our side, we need to make sure we are on his!