Ecclesiastes 12:10

  Dreams are strange things. Scientists are still not sure why we do it.   What good does it to lay out a scene where I’m back in high school and didn’t study for a test? Or worse forget to get dressed. Trying to tell somebody about your dream seems to be an exercise in futility. The more you explain the less it makes sense. Yet they affect us on an emotional level. Why do we call our hopes for something better dreams?   Dreams are hard enough when that doesn’t mean anything, just imagine how it was who knew God was trying to communicate thru them   Joseph, Pharaoh, Gideon Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, and many others struggled with the dreams God sent them. What does it mean? How should I respond? It didn’t seem like the best form of communication.   Why did God do it that way? My guess is that human being couldn’t handle a more direct communication. Just look at how the people of Israel respond to God trying to talk to them (Hebrew12:18-19). ...

  It might seem Paul contradicts himself in just a few verses. In Galatians 6:3 He tells us to “ Bear ye one another's burdens ”, then just three verses later he tells us to “ every man shall bear his own burden ”   What gives?   Well, a bit of understanding of the original text is in order. The burden in verse 2 is a word that describes an overload, one that would drop you to your knees, a heavy load. The word in verse 5 is a responsibility, the load any person would be expected to carry in their travels. One is a carry-on bag, the other is a fully loaded down steamer trunk.   There is the difference. Christians are to help when we see those overburdened by life. We are to grab one end and help lift up the load faced by those struggling with the effort. But that doesn’t mean we are to be responsible for taking away ever weight from a person. Some folks would love to offload all their responsibilities for someone else to handle. That’s not a good ...

  It must have been the ultimate heartbreak for Adam and Eve to be kicked out of the garden.   For a couple that had enjoyed the presence of God in their home in paradise, the cruel thorns and thistles of the world must have been a harsh shock. Any hope of heading back home was crushed by the angel with the flaming sword guarding the way.   But guardian was not a sign of God disfavor with them. It wasn’t protection against them but for them Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever-- " Genesis 3:22   God wants man to come home but only in a state where he can stay there. A man that lives forever with sin is one that will never get to be in the presence of God again (Isiah 59:2). Only those have had their sins washed away will dwell with him again. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they ...

  T he Hebrew writer warns us about the danger of retreat: But my righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.   But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. Hebrews 10:38-39   It’s an interesting turn of phrase he uses here. It a word would be visually represented by a deflating balloon. One that is incorporates the idea one not finishing what he has started. Not just of one turning and running away but one refusing to advance.   Faithful living isn’t just standing in one spot unmoved. It is advancing to the goal. A Christian can be in full retreat even when they are standing still. Either you are growing or you are shrinking.   Look around, is everything the same, are we doing the same things, struggling with the same old problems. If so we are not moving anywhere.   This needs to be a shocking reminder to us. We can’t...

  The preacher gets a different view of the church on Sunday mornings. The crowd’s looking at you but you get to see the crowd. On occasion, you see a mother struggling to try to corral little ones. You can almost see in her face the thought “ What am I even trying to do here ?”   Let me tell you a story.   In college, I worked at a little mom and pop lunch counter. We’d also do catering. We didn’t have a large crew so my boss always pushed us to do lots of prep work before the crowds came at mealtime. Bring up the stock, make the tea, cut up the veggies, move everything you might to your station beforehand. Why? She said, “Work harder now so you don’t have to work so hard when it gets even more hectic .”   Any parent that has sat through a sermon and couldn’t tell you anything that was said, might be tempted to think it isn’t worth it to be at the assembly. But the work you do now makes the work less when it gets even more hectic. That early trai...

  It was the day Abraham Lincoln succumbed to the wounds inflicted by his assassin in 1865. It was also the day the Titanic sank. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the most destructive river flood in US history happened on the date as well. So did the Boston Marathon Bombing. Maybe worst of all every year you have to pony up and pay your taxes on it as well.   April 15 th .   Ok maybe paying your taxes isn’t as bad as all of those things. Still, I don’t like to do it. Yet it isn’t just a legal obligation or my duty as a citizen of the United States, it’s also commanded by God. “ Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake.   For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.   Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor .” Romans 13:5-7   Go...

    In Acts 20, there is the tragicomic event surrounding a young man by the name of Eutychus. He did what a lot of folks before and after him did, he fell asleep during a sermon. Unfortunately, he was setting in in the third story window at the time. So instead of nodding off and hitting the pew in front of him, he fell to his death. The good news was the apostle Paul was delivering the sermon and had the ability to bring him back.       I don’t know, however, if we can judge Eutychus too harshly. The sermon had gone on till midnight. Paul wouldn’t finish it up till daybreak. That’s a long lesson. I know some folks that might want to jump out of a window if I had a lesson that long, yet these Christians wanted to be there to hear Paul.   Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pushing for all night sermons but I think we might need to adopt these folks' dedication. They knew that Paul was only in town for a limited time only and they were determined to ...