Ecclesiastes 12:10

  It’s one of those cliches in movies and TV shows, when a person is being held by an adversary they exclaim, “Do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?”  Because who would want to do it the hard way?   Turns out a lot of us…   Good understanding produces favor, But the way of the treacherous is hard. Proverbs 13:15   In the preceding proverb, we are told that good understanding makes things work better, yet so many times we do things without much thought . The hard way it says is when one acts treacherously. The word here is used for people who act selfishly without thinking of anything but themselves.   If you want things to be easier, spend some time thinking about what and why you are doing what you are doing. Think about things from another’s perspective.  Think about what will and will not work. Think about the consequences. Think about it. Don’t just go headlong on a path without considering where that path might lead. ...

      Paul is one of the most significant people in the New Testament. His work, writings, and influence shaped the church. Yet he isn’t without faults.   Not just, like all of us, he sinned but even in the decisions he made, sometimes he chose poorly.   For example, in Acts 15 Paul and Barnabas are considering a follow-up visit to the places where they previously established churches. Yet when it comes to who will go, they can’t agree. Barnabas wants to take John Mark. Paul doesn’t. Since John Mark quit on them the first time, Paul thinks he will again.   Paul’s so adamant he and Barnabas end up going their separate ways.   It seems, however, that Paul was wrong about John Mark. Mark goes on to be an important worker in the cause of Christ. Paul himself will later say Mark was “ useful to me for service ” (2 nd Timothy 4:11).   Mark made something of himself.   However, let’s consider how Paul might have been ‘wrong’, it might not ha...

    Robert Todd Lincoln was at the White House when he heard what had happened to his father at Ford Theater. He immediately rushed to be by his side and stayed there till his death. After the death of his father, he would go on to be a very successful lawyer and an important figure in Republican politics. Yet He eventually refused to have to do with the presidency.    He felt it was too dangerous.   It wasn’t just at his father’s deathbed he saw what an assassin’s bullet could do. He was standing right next to James Garfield when a gunman fired the bullet that would eventually kill him. Then as he was waiting outside for William McKinley when he was shot. From then on he refused to go anywhere near a president.   He said "No, I'm not going, and they'd better not ask me, because there is a certain fatality about presidential functions when I am present.   It was just a coincidence but the tragedy still weighed on Robert Lincoln. He isn’t the on...

    Thomas Midgely was a mechanical and chemical engineer that had over 100 patents in his career. He has won the Priestly Medal the highest award of the American Chemical Society, was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences and hold two honoree degrees because of his work. He also might have done more damage to the atmosphere than any person that ever lived.     You see, Midgely is the man responsible for both leaded gasoline and Freon.  While both products had wonderful uses, they both had deadly consequences. Leaded gasoline is linked to all kinds of long term health problems. Freon was found to destroy the ozone layer. By 2018, both products made the Time’s list off worst inventions of all time.     At least with lead gasoline, he should have known better. The plants that manufacture the stuff had serval deaths attributed to lead poisoning, workers had bouts of insanity and hallucinations because of exposure to i...

  Here is some good advice: Don’t surround yourself with people that make you feel better, surround yourself with people that make you better.   I’ve seen it in lots of areas, business, church camp, teams, committees, work projects, you name it. People will often want to put in their friends, people that agree with them, folks that don’t challenge them, into their inner circle. Yet it is often a recipe for ruin.     Yes men don’t help you see problems. Friends might be more interested in having fun not achieving goals. The “cool kids” might not be the workers that get things done. It might be an easy fun group but it may also be a group that goes nowhere and gets nothing done. Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance Proverbs 20:18   The best friend you ever have is someone that tells you the truth even when it isn’t what you want to hear. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t mean they are against you. The dev...

  On occasion you will hear on a big issue someone exclaim "Doing nothing is not an option". But it is.  Doing nothing is an option. The proper way to express the idea might be “doing nothing is not an acceptable option” or doing nothing is not a proper option.  But is that true? Could doing nothing be not only an option but perhaps the best option?   Consider the parable of the prodigal son. And He said, "A man had two sons.  "The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between them.  "And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living . Luke 15:11-13    Here the father has a choice. He could refuse the request. He could punish the ingrate son. He could lock him in his room. It's not as if the father couldn’t see wh...

  Every so often you will hear about a person that is trapped under their possessions. Some hoarder whose house is full of junk that they become entrapped in when a pile overturns. It’s sad but not unexpected. If you keep all that junk it's going to end up hurting you.    It’s not just stuff however that can entangle us. Sin, temptation, bad company, poor habits can all be piled on until one day it comes crashing down to our ruin.  … let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us , Hebrews 12:1   So why don’t we clean house? Get rid of the junk. Castaway the sin. End the bad relationship. Change the way we act. Our lives can be so much better without a lot of the things we cling to. There is such a thing as addition by subtraction. Things can be better without certain persons. Life can have more meaning when we eliminate worries. Blessing can ...

  It all came down to a missed phone call.   Hulk Hogan, the famous wrestling star, missed a call from his agent about a possible endorsement deal.  Now the story has shifted over the years, but basically, his agent had set up some potential sponsorship on some kitchen items. These companies felt a celebrity name on their product could rocket them to success. Hulk favored a meatball maker but the agent had another product in mind.  So he rang up Hogan. But he never answered.   So the agent moved on to his next client to see if he wanted to put his name on a personal grilling machine. That client, ex-boxer George Forman, took the call and the offer.  Currently 100 million George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machines have now been sold worldwide. It is estimated that Forman has made over 500 million dollars from that deal, more than he made in his entire boxing career.  I bet the Hulk wishes he had answered his phone. ...

 Robert E. Lee had his choice of his command in the Civil War.  The commanding general of the Union Army, Winfield Scott, told Lincoln he wanted Lee for a top command. With the Civil War looming, both sides wanted this top general to lead their forces.   So why did Lee make the wrong choice?   It wasn’t because he was on board with the Confederacy.  Lee was against the idea of succession seeing it as rebellion and betraying the work for the founding fathers.  He even recognized the issue for the war, slavery, “ as an evil institution’ , that was a cancer harming ‘ not only to the black population but to the white as well  ’ and believe the institution would eventually come to an end.   If he didn’t believe in the act and wasn’t set on the cause why did he betray his country?   In his own words, Lee said " I look upon secession as anarchy. If I owned the four millions of slaves in the South I would sacrifice them all...

  Jesus often demanded people give up something to follow him. For the rich young ruler, it was money. For another man, it was his comfortable lifestyle. For another, it was his family. For another, it was his perceived responsibilities. For others, it was their possessions.   The ‘what’ didn’t seem to be the issue as much as the ‘what it meant to the person’. Think about the thing that feels most important to you and that was probably what Jesus was going to ask you to give up. It wasn’t a mean streak in him, rather he wanted to consider what you were getting into (Luke 14:26-33).   It is easy to think that it wouldn’t be a problem for you to give up whatever until the moment it happens. Yet time and time again, people walk away saddened since they just can’t give up it up.   For some it is an experience, for others, it is a place. For some it is friends, for others it is family. Yet the question is still the same. Can we leave it behind to foll...

  When you look at groups that immigrated to the US, it’s not hard to tell they tended to congregate in certain regions or cities.  As these groups took hold of a place you can see why people might flock to that area as they would share a language or might have some family ties. But how did it start?   For example, why did so many Irish immigrants to America settle in Boston rather than New York? The answer is very simple: The boat fare was $ 6.50 cheaper.   It amazes me how many decisions that are made, that turn out to have a great effect, are often made for trivial reasons.  My wife chose the college, where we would eventual meet and get married, for the fact that it allowed freshman to not have a roommate. How different would my life be if she had been a little less reclusive?   The most important decision we make is our faith. How did we arrive at that decision? Is it because we considered the Bible teachings? Have we expl...

  John Archer is a former police officer turned comedy magician.  Though he has had a sterling career, his biggest moment in the spotlight came on January 7 th , 2011.  He appeared on 'Fool Us' a program where magicians from Great Britain and around the world attempted to trick the magic greats, Penn & Teller.  If they do, their prize was to open the Penn and Teller show at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas.  Archer was the first magician on the program to ever fool Penn & Teller.   His presentation is humorous and clever.  The trick consists of giving the audience members a chance to pick from a series of envelopes to try a get one the one that contains a money prize.  It always seems that Archer is one step ahead and they never can pick the right one.  What makes the trick is that each envelope has a word printed on them and that thru  “Carrollian” language, Archer make each choice seem like he knows exactly what choice each...

 ( The Equal time Rule originated in The Radio Act of 1927 ,later the Communication Act, stated U.S. radio and television broadcast stations must provide an equivalent opportunity to any opposing political candidates who request it. Though this not required of preacher’s blogs, I thought in fairness I might give equal time to the other side with this post!).   Why wouldn’t you want to go to hell?   Oh sure, there are a lot of thing people like Jesus saying bad things about hell but what the great traits? Do we ever consider them?   For example, Hell is quite the popular destination (Mathew 7:13-14).  Many of your friends and family will be there (Luke 13:23).  It not hard to get into Hell, you don’t have to do anything to get there. You don’t have to listen and do anything anybody tells you to do (Matthew 7:21).    On earth, you always have God looking over your shoulder (Jeremiah 23:23-24) but in Hell, you won’t have to...

   Michael was a sculptor. At age 33, he was just starting to make his mark in the art world, working on a piece for the biggest art patron in the world. So when that patron asked him to switch projects from the one he had his heart set on and paint a fresco instead, he balked. He wasn’t a painter; he had never done a fresco in his life. There were suspicions that his rivals had cooked up the job because they knew Michael wouldn’t want to do it, and his refusal might end his relationship with the wealthy patron.   Then there was the job itself. It was going to be grueling work that would take years to complete. It would make him miserable and cost him physically. The art itself wouldn’t be the easy to see either since it wasn’t to be painted on the wall but rather on the ceiling.  A job he didn’t want, doing something he was prepared for, in miserable conditions for something no one would be able to see.   Sound like a job you sluff off right? ...

  On April 7, 1865 the armies led by U.S. Grant were chasing down Robert E. Lee's forces. If those forces could be captured it would effectively mean the end of the Civil War. Lee was still not ready to surrender, holding out hope he could escape the growing Union stranglehold. At ten o’clock that morning Grant received a simple telegram from the commander in chief.  It read: Gen. Sheridan says “If the thing is pressed I think that Lee will surrender.” Let the thing be pressed. A. LINCOLN   So Grant pressed for surrender and two days later, Lee surrendered to General Grant, in the town of Appomattox Court House, thus ended four years of Civil War.      For several years various Generals had Lee on the run, only to delay and let him escape to continue the fight. That’s why Lincoln words were so necessary. The thing needed to be pressed   What needs to be pressed in your life today? A friend needing to be told the Gospel, a slight f...

  In a contest for the toughest president of the United States, it would be hard to go against Theodore Roosevelt.  He was known for his “manly” pursuits hunting big game, climbing the Matterhorn, participating in boxing match while president. (These weren’t play fights, he lost the vision on one eye because of them!)  Once before he was about to give a speech an assassin shot him in the chest.  Roosevelt refused to go to a hospital and insisted on giving his speech, still wearing his blood-soaked shirt!   Teddy might have become tough but he wasn’t born that way.  He was a sickly child that suffered from severe asthma that almost proved fatal.  As was a young boy, doctors discovered that he had a weak heart, and advised him to get a desk job and not strain himself.  He was homeschooled because of his many illnesses and spent most of his time indoors.   But then as a teen his father, whom Teddy Roosevelt revered, told his son, “ ...

  It was a great nation.  One of the most powerful, wealthy, influential, and important kingdoms of it time.  But for the last several years, there were signs things were falling apart.  Marriage was under attack.  The case from government was marry whoever you want, there are no limits. That however wasn’t what God had said.  The heart of the leaders were moving away from God.   So now a time of choice came for the people.  Two leaders had emerged. Who would rule the land? The people had a choice to make, even if it seemed like either choice would be a mistake.     On one side, a person that had been in public service for a long time right in the middle of going on in the kingdom.  While there seemed to be some promise early, there were now some great concerns. This person would show a willingness to compromise God’s clear commands in order to keep power.  They used division and schemes to try and win the people...

  Did you know that in 2010 the United States government burned away 2.6 billion one dollar bills! You may think this article is about government waste or excessive spending but it is not. You see money doesn’t last forever. The currency we use is very susceptible to wearing out. On average, a bill will last maybe 5 years. For the more used denomination like ones and twenties, it is closer to 3. So what do you do with the cash that is worn out? The old money is exchanged for newly printed cash. Since the old money is still usable, it must be destroyed.  While there are some creative ways of using that old cash, it is still mostly burned.  Can you imagine being the person to light fire to a pallet full of cash?  To know that many dollars is going up in smoke?    The truth is however cash really isn’t worth anything. It is just sheets of linen (not paper as is commonly believed) dyed and painted a certain way. Its value only comes in our belief in ...

    Abraham Lincoln was once quoted about prayer by saying: “ I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day”    I often have remind myself when I am faced with the confusion of choice about the old hymn, Did You Think To Pray ?   Foolishly, I’ll wait till I have made up my mind to then go and ask for it from God. In all my debate and decision, I don’t factor in the Lord till the end.  But why wait?  The best decisions come when we let God make them.     Consider what Jesus did when he had a big decision to make. In Luke 6:12-13, we read: “ It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.  And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles ”   ...

   It happens to all of us when want to do the thing we know we shouldn't do.   When we want to fire back to a snotty Facebook comment or eat the extra cookie our waist lines can’t afford, or slough off the task that needs to get done.   There is little voice in the back of your head that says, “Don’t”.   It may be small, and barely a whisper but let me give you some advice, listen to it.     Don’t.  Don’t take that drink. Don’t click that link.  Don’t say what you know you shouldn’t.  Don’t succumb.  Don’t go there.  Don’t do that.  Don’t give in to the temptation.    Just don’t.    Think, how much misery has it given you when you disregarded that voice?  The quick drop of pleasure you get from not listening will quickly be drowned in the sea of regret at the consequences of ignoring what you are really saying to yourself.    That voice may be weak and p...