Ecclesiastes 12:10

Auty always got away with it. Till He didn’t.   At West Point he set the record of 726 demerits (that still stands today as one of worst in the over two-hundred-year history of the academy), yet never got expelled. He put little effort into his studies yet still managed to graduate even if it was at the bottom of the class. He was a notorious practical joker, but everyone still liked him no matter what pranks he pulled. As a cavalry officer, he would brazenly charge into battle with “a hoop and a holler” exposing himself to enemy fire and having one horse after another shot out from under him, yet would emerge alive. People spoke of his “luck” because he always seemed to win and never suffered career-ending injuries   Maybe it was his good looks and his golden hair, his charm, or his bravado, but whatever it was it kept him moving up the ladder till he reached the rank of Major General. Auty, at least his family called him, never knew serious defeat until the age of 38. M...

  Samuel had watched as the sons of Eli defiled the sacrifice of the Lord. He was around to know how Eli warned, scolded and begged with his boys to straighten up. He also knew how they had ignored Eli.   Samuel was the one thru whom God proclaimed the end of Eli families’ reign as priests since Eli had not heeded God’s earlier warning and disciplined his sons. He knew of the fate Eli, a man broken when he heard his son’s death and the loss of the ark.   Samuel had seen what happens when a man serving the Lord forgets to instill that in his offspring. When he doesn’t bring up his children ‘ in the discipline and instruction of the Lord’ .  Yet, he went and did it himself And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel….. His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice. 1 Samuel 8:1,3  How could the one who had seen it happen and knew...

  Enzo Ferrari felt he made a pretty good car.  So when a customer had a complaint about a weak clutch in one of his high-end sports cars, he was a bit miffed. What did he know! The customer in question worked on tractors!  Ferrari responded to the man, “You may be able to drive a tractor but you will never be able to handle a Ferrari properly."   So that customer, Ferruccio Lamborghini, decided to make an even better car, the perfect car in his mind.  He made his first production car in 1964, the 350 GTV. Today that particular car can go for $300,000 at auction.   Maybe the tractor guy did know a thing or two…   It is easy when we have people point out faults to dismiss what they say. They don’t know what I know. They have not been in my shoes. Who do they think they are? While there is a lot of undue criticism, we would be foolish to think that there isn't something we can be doing better. A scoffer does not love one who reproves...

  I’ve had people argue with me (maybe better said at me), that the church can’t exclude anyone. Now I not talking about checking IDs at the door before worship services, but rather that a person must remain in the fellowship no matter the actions that are involved in.  Since we all are sinners, it would be the height of hypocrisy for us to suggest that someone in error could be kept away. It wouldn’t be loving! No real Christian would ever make a stand that might keep someone from being a part of the saints.   However the Bible is full or reason to exclude someone from the church, such as; A person that lives disorderly and refuses to work to provide for themselves (2 Thessalonians 3:6-10) One that causes division and hindrances (Romans16:17) A person that refuses to repent of sin (Matthew 18:17) A person engaged in obvious immoral behavior (1 st Corinthians 5:11-13) Those that claim Christianity yet exhibits very non-Christian behavior (2 nd Timot...

  Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen better known as the Red Baron was the top flying ace of the First World War with eighty combat victories.  He was a meticulous and disciplined fighter pilot that established a set of rules to never chase an enemy too long or too far and never go to low into enemy territory.   But the Baron broke those rules on April 21, 1918, when he encountered a rookie Canadian pilot Wilfred May.  May was out on his first mission but had been ordered to keep out of combat but was lured by an enemy triplane that passed close by.  His inexperienced cost him as he jammed his gun by firing them too much and was forced to flee.   That is when the Baron spotted him. May, panicking and losing altitude, tried every wild maneuver he could think of to stay out of the Baron’s sights. It was only the unpredictability of the inexperienced pilot’s maneuvers that kept Richthofen from picking him off quickly. ‘T he only thing ...

  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 is a simple truth that we might miss the significance of; large things are made up of smaller things.   As one author put it;   Drops of ink are shaped into letter, letters are arranged into words, words form sentences and sentences combine to express thought. Great forests are made of trees that grew from sapling that started as small seeds.  Walls are built from many stones. An ocean is formed by drops of water.  Be they dead stone, living flesh or rolling sea, all things hold to this truth, large things are made from smaller things   This truth isn’t just in nature but in our lives as well. Principles determine our choices. Choices create our actions. Our actions form our behavior. Our behavior defines our character. Our character established our worth.   What we are and the value of it comes from the everyday minor insignificant thoughts and actions.   We may think,”Oh that’s no big thing why bother”, but l...

  An aquarium manufacturer was in the midst of a major business crisis.  Despite their best efforts, a large percentage of its custom made glass aquariums were arriving at their destinations broken, if not completely shattered.  Desperate to figure out a shipping solution that wouldn’t break the aquariums or the bank, they turned to Edward de Bono.  De Bono was no experts in aquariums or glass or even shipping methods, he was however known for being an expert in thinking.  He had literal coined the term “ lateral thinking” in his 1967 book.  His solution not only eliminated the company’s breakage problem, it also ended up saving them money in packaging as well!   What was the solution?  Instead of packaging the aquarium for shipment, he had them instead place the label on the aquarium itself.  That way the handlers could see for themselves they were dealing with glass and mishandling it would affect them personally.  Now the packa...

  Why do we hurt the ones we love?  Maybe we just don't realize what we are doing.  I think you can see that in the story of Joseph.  Jacob had several sons but his favorite was Joseph (Genesis 37:3).  He spoiled the boy with unique gifts.  Joseph got preferential treatment.  Even as the younger child he had status over his older brothers.  When God revealed the boy would rise to the top of the family, Jacob beamed.    But his brothers brooded.    You see all the “special” treatment Joseph received caused his brothers to hate him. They hated he tattled on them. They hated his dreams. They hated he thought he was better than them. They hated him so much that when they had the chance they almost killed him and they did sell him off as a slave.  That’s a lot of hate.    I don’t believe Joseph was a bad person in all this but let’s be honest, I’m sure he didn’t help the situation.  I think Jos...

  Ok, I know you have seen the image. A lion tamer enters in the cage of the beast and forces it to obey his commands using a whip, a gun and a chair. Now you can see how the whip and gun could come in handy but you might be wondering why a chair would intimidate an animal as powerful as a lion? Clyde Beatty taming a lion with a chair   It's not that the lion is afraid of the chair -- it's that the lion is confused by the chair. Cats are single-minded, and the points of the chair's four legs bobbing around confuse the lion enough that it loses its train of thought. Casually put, the chair distracts the lion from wanting to claw the lion tamer's face off. The powerful creature could destroy the chair in moment’s notice but instead it is distracted into submission.  It’s not too much different than how Satan controls us today. By the power of God we could overcome anything that he would use to subdue us. We can overcome the evil one (1 st John 2:13-14). ...

   There are some people we want to see punished. The arrogant, the rude, the mean, the cruel.  A part of us longs to see folks like that get their comeuppance.  It doesn't take much for us to roundly condemn people we don’t like. When the time comes to put them in their place, people will line up around the block to deliver punishment. But I have noticed something about us humans, as much as we like to punish those we don’t like; we struggle to do so when the person to be punished is likeable.    I think I first realized this when I was doing my student teaching. There happened to be two students in our 6 th grade pod that both had gotten well behind on their school work. Both had had ample time to complete their makeup work but because of their own laziness had not done so.  So when grades were about to come out both students came begging for more time. They were both class clowns and cut ups, but one of them w...

“Words of the Preacher: A study of the wisdom of Ecclesiastes”   Sometimes when we see bad behavior in those under our authority, it is easy to dismiss the problem and hope it “fixes itself”. A teacher doesn’t want the disturbance of calling down the student, the employer doesn’t want the drama that comes in correcting the employee, and the parent doesn’t want the hassle of disciplining the child.   But the Preacher gives us some important council in Ecclesiastes 8:11. Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.     When punishment or admonishment is not done in a timely manner, it promotes more wrongdoing. Human beings often equate a lack of response as acceptance. As my daughter has often said after I have not answered her request, “I’ll just take that as a yes”.   If nothing immediately happens to us, then we think the action must be valid. It make things ...