Ecclesiastes 12:10

     In the sixties and seventies we saw the rise in the feminist movement (also known as the Women's Liberation, or Women's Lib).  This movement was an effort to increase the social standing of women in our society.  Girls were encouraged to throw off the traditional gender roles.  Feminists campaigned against cultural and political inequalities. Issues of equal pay, gender discrimination, sexual liberation and abortion all became “women’s” issues.  A concerted effort was made by groups to redefine the role of women.  Young girls were encouraged to do more and be more. Professions that were once just for men were now being open to women.        In those efforts, the teachings of the Bible came under fire.  How could you follow a book that taught “submit to your husband” (Titus 3:5, 1 st Peter 3:5) and that kept women from serving in leadership roles (1 st Timothy 2:12)?   We were told those Biblic...

Crazy hypothetical: Fame is Fleeting * You have a choice between forms of fame. #1. You can be famous for a specific role (like a spokesperson for a national company; i.e. Flo from Progressive, or the Maytag Man) Everyone will know you (recognize) but not know who you are (name, anything else about you) This role will make you a good amount of money and comfortable lifestyle but not super rich. This will be all you will ever do but people will remember you after your gone #2. You will be infamous, everyone will know you but for something negative. (Think Steve Bartman or reality show “villain”) You will have a mark in history that no one will ever forget and everyone will know all about you. This role won’t make you much money and be the sum of your career. #3. You will be “That guy” the person that has lots of roles in lots of movie and shows but is never the lead actor (sometimes referred to character actors). People might recognize you but not know your name. ...

Monday Morning scatter shooting  while wondering;   If they say 1/3 of all workplace accidents go unreported. How do they know?    I once had a elder describe a person as a Biblical since he “ appears for a little while and then vanishes away”( James 4:14). Some verses are easy to apply to people. I would like to think that someone might apply Acts 18:24 to me, (an eloquent man … mighty in the Scriptures). But my guess is it probably is one of these; Top Ten verses you don’t want applied to you as a preacher           1.  2nd Corinthians 10:10   For they say, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible ."           2.  Jeremiah 1:6  Then I said, "Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak,            3. Job 19:17   "My breath is offensive to my w...

            Ask anyone that has done benevolent work and they will have a story for you.  The woman that complained about the grocery given to her because it wasn't name brands.  The couple that threw a fit because the Christmas basket they received from the church had less than the one given to another family member.  The man that told a story that pulled at your heart strings so you gave him money, only to find out he is a con.  The lady that is now badmouthing to anyone that will listen about the “heartless” church that won’t help her, when you know good and well the church has been supporting her for years.   They are the stories that make us jaded and bitter .  Make us suspicious and hesitant to help others.  These experiences can make serving others hard and cause us to become weary of doing good.             These ty...

Crazy hypothetical:   Ghosts World* You have the choice to live in this world as a ghost. You will never experience pain, hunger, or any physical need. You will be able to see everything that goes on in the world but never able to interact with any person. You can travel anywhere visit anyplace, do anything (ride roller coasters,  be on the field at the Super Bowl,…) but not interact and change anything that goes on. You will be able to taste and smell food and drink but it will have no other effect on you. You can touch and feel anything but it won’t respond to your touch.  You will have no limits on what you can experience but with no contact. Your life will end just when it would if you don’t take the option (so if you would have died at 6o with a regular life you will have 60 years as a ghost.) Would you take the deal? Would you do it for a short time if it meant several years off your life? What if you take the deal in would never end, would you do it?...

Monday Morning Scatter shooting while wondering why people who say they don’t care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don’t care what people think     Ok, everybody calm down!  I feel the need to say that fairly often.  People get so worked up about everything anymore.  Any action, decision, or event must be debated in the public arena.  And all the indignation that comes to those that didn’t do things the way in hindsight I seems how they should have been done.  We have to have an opinion on everything that happens in the world.  Well, I’m done.  I only going to care about the things, I can shape and control.  Luckily for me I serve a God that knows all and sees all, so instead of getting worked up about everything, I’ll let him take care of it.  All these national crises and world cataclysms( Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkn...

            I always had a great admirer of the Boy Scouts.  Maybe it’s the motto, “Be prepared”, an idea that I believe in.  It could be the nature of a scout; he’s loyal, trustworthy, helpful, thrifty.  I sure it has to do with the oath they take to “do my duty to God”.  It could just be the young men I know that were scouts turn out pretty well. (Did you know that 11 of the 12 Americans that have walked on the moon were Boy Scouts?)  I think that is why the recent controversy involving the national Boy Scout Organization has me so upset.  If you are unfamiliar with the issue, the Boy Scouts are being pressured to remove the longstanding ban on homosexuals in their organization. Even in their own ranks, great amounts of political and public pressure are on the organization to abandon the policy.  This isn’t’ the first effort to do so.  In 2000, the Scouts were sued to force them to acc...

Crazy hypothetical: Witness Protection* You have just witnessed a major crime. The authorities want to put you in witness protection. These are your options.     #1. You can go by yourself and be absolutely guaranteed that everyone you care about including yourself will be safe. The person that committed the crime will most likely be convicted. You however will never be able to talk, see, and have contact with anyone or anything from your old life again. You must change everything that can that can connect you to your old life.          #2. You can go with your family. You and your family will be 90% likely to survive. Any friends or associates you leave behind will have a 75% chance of survival. The person that committed the crime has a 50/50 chance of being convicted. You will be able to live with your family but never be able to talk, see, and have contact with anyone or anything from your old life again. You must change everything t...

Monday morning scatter shooting    while wondering whose cruel idea it was to put but an S in the word LISP.     I was working on a lesson about John the Baptist last week when I noticed a practical lesson.  In Matthew 11, John sends his disciple to Jesus because he having his doubt if Jesus is really the Christ.  Jesus answers John’s doubt by citing his miracles and ministry and encourages him to not to stumble.  Then right after that he does something we might not expect.  He tells the crowds about how great John is.  He praises him about as highly as you can praise someone.  I thought about how I might have reacted.  Someone comes to me and questions my work, I’d defend myself but I don’t know if I would be so quick to build that person up to others.  Jesus knows better.  People that are having questions of faith are the ones that need to be built up.  A word of praise can be a great encouragement t...

    There is no doubt that we have become a “throwaway” society.  Between the start of New York City waste collections in 1905 and 2005 there was a tenfold rise in "product waste" (packaging and old products), from 92 to 1,242 pounds per person per year.  We throw away so much more than we used too, even food.  In 2004, a University of Arizona study indicates that forty to fifty percent of all edible food never gets eaten.  Every year $43 billion worth of edible food is estimated to be thrown away.  Products are not even designed to be repaired anymore.  Try to find a TV repair shop; they have gone the way of the dodo.  It’s cheaper and easier for most people to buy a new one than to have it repaired.  We waste because we want for not.  We have cheap products; why not get rid of the old stuff? The new model is out; why mess with the old one?  We have an abundance of food, why eat the leftovers?    ...

     There is a very real danger for preachers. You speak to hundreds (maybe more) of people a week.  You are viewed by people as an expert on everything from the Bible to morality to raising kids to happy marriages.  People call you for advice; quote you in the café, and brag about you to their friends.  Your words have a power to change people. Little old ladies dote on you.  You deny it but you do like it. Who wouldn't  You preach, it hard not to be a little bit proud , you do good work.      But then you find yourself smirking about how many people follow you on twitter.  Your favorite morning ritual is to see how many people read your blog.  You can’t wait to see how big of a hit the next sermon will be.  You’re popular.  They like what you have to say.  Sure there are some that don’t see it, but those people are little minded.  They can’t capture an audience like you can.  ...

Crazy Hypothetical* If you had to give up one form of entertainment (TV, Music, Movies, Books, Sports Etc.) completely or you would die, which one would you choose? You can’t cross platform, like watch TV on your computer, or wait till a book comes out as a movie. Whatever you choose it must be completely cut off, can’t hear music in an elevator, can read an instruction manual, or talk about the big game. What would be your choice? What would be your last choice? What choice would be the hardest to avoid? What choice would change your life the most? What choice would isolate you the most? What does this say about entertainment in our lives? * Crazy Hypothetical is a mental game that gives you a conditional choice that gets you thinking about a subject. I used these for several years as discussion starters in Bible class. The best ones can’t be answered “correctly”.  This one is a great way to focus on how much popular media is in our lives and how the negative aspects o...

Monday morning scatter shooting, while wondering why they call something 'new and improved!’ Which is it? If it's new, then there has never been anything before it.  If it's an improvement, then there must have been something before it, it couldn't be new.   I don’t like negative compliments.  Negative compliment are like the person that tells you “have you lost weight because you don’t look as fat as you used to” but usually the negative is directed at someone else.  The person that says “the other deacons don’t do half as much as you do” or “That was a great sermon on sin, some people here really needed to hear it!”  It seems on the surface to be praise to you but it really is way to hide complaint and criticism.  (A friend that does gospel meetings tells me he cringes every time someone comes up to him while the local preacher is right next to him and says “We haven’t heard preaching like that in a long time”.)  Don’t get suckered in whe...