Ecclesiastes 12:10

    Maybe you think Mark Twain said it best: “ Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself ." - Mark Twain    It’s not hard to think less of our elected officials.  Whether we look to Washington, the State Capital or City Hall, it can be easy to find fault.  And with our form of government, we have the responsibility to involve ourselves in the political process.  So we have to choose candidates, voice our opinions and publicly discuss the issues.  However, it seems as of late the process has become a little more animated maybe than it ought to be.  While it is important to be good citizen of our country, we must also remember that our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).  And the Bible has something to say about how we speak about our government officials: Proverbs 24:21   My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise , Ti...

   Let's take a look at Jude 1:15-16: to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."    Here Jude brings the hammer down on the ungodly.  They will be convicted for their deeds, judged for their way and punished for the harsh things they have done.      Now when he rails against the ungodly, who do you have in mind? Murders? Rapist? Drug Dealers? It has to be the worst people in society, the dregs of the human race. After all, think about how many times he calls them ungodly?      So who does Jude have in mind?    Well he tells us exactly in verse 16, “ These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage”.    What? Complaining? Nitpicking...

            Over the past few months the sports world has been filled with stories of scandal and outrage.  An owners racist comments leaked out to the world.  A hidden video showing a player assaulting his girlfriend.  The indictment of a star for abusing his children.  Student athletes accused of several crimes that are seemingly swept under the rug.  These stories are not only dominating the sports section but also front page as well.           The stories, in what is typical for our modern news have been viewed and reviewed ad nauseam.  In all that reporting however I noticed one angle that never seems to be discussed much.  The owner whose racist statements were leaked by his mistress, no one made much of an issue of him having a relationship with a woman that was not his wife.  No one mentions that the couple living together outside of wedlock had been dri...

    When I was young, we had many anti-drug campaigns in our schools. If you ever had to set thru one of them you probably heard about Len Bias.  Len Bias was an All-American forward at the University of Maryland that was drafted by the Boston Celtics as the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft.  Two days after the draft, Bias went to a party to celebrate with some friend, where supposedly he used cocaine for the first time.  He died that night from cardiac arrhythmia induced by a cocaine overdose.  Bias was the poster case for why you should never try drugs. Just one time could kill you, don’t end up like Len Bias.    As strong of an illustration as it was, it seemed to me to have the very different effect than what was intended.  While the message was true (One time can kill you), it wasn’t the norm.  Kids that did end up trying drug and immediately didn’t fall over dead then began to look at all the anti-drug information t...

   In the book of 3 rd John, we see a church in turmoil.  Paul is writing to Gaius, a church elder, about a continual problem in the church that seems to surround one man Diotrephes. Two Views of One Man    We don't know the role Diotrephes played in the church.  He could have been a minister, elder, deacon or just a member. We do however see he has enough influence that he is attempting to run the show.  If you talked to him, he is the one that is keeping the church straight. He’s the leader they need. He can tell you all about the negative influences, who you shouldn't be listening to and what you should be doing.  He has the answers and there is no need to consider anyone else’s point of view.    John however sees something very different. He sees a man full of arrogance and ambition.  One who is doing harm to the church there and the work of spreading the Gospel elsewhere.  John sees a man that need to be ca...