Ecclesiastes 12:10

  Some of the best preachers I have known have been fired.  Some of the worst continue to get great job after great job.  Some of the hardest working people never get promoted or are given a raise and continually worry about their job security. Some of the laziest get extra benefits, more pay and never fear they’ll get let go.  Some people never prepare or plan and yet everything works out for them, others do everything the right way, scrimp and save yet it the end it all falls apart. Some folks blow through opportunity after opportunity and yet still get another chance; while others never even get a bite at the apple.   It just doesn’t seem fair!   Life is hardly ever fair. It seems to take more than it gives. Rewards those that that don’t deserve, punishes those that do. Good people suffer. Wicked people prosper. Life seems more about luck than logic, favoritism more than faithfulness, chance more than choice   Life may be unfair bu...

  As rulers go, King Uzziah was about as good as it gets. In 2 nd Chronicles 26, we read about his rule. Taking the throne at sixteen years of age, he ‘ did right in the sight of the LORD’ . He defeated some of Israel worst enemies and forced others to pay tribute.  His fame spread across the region. He improved the infrastructure of the cities, was a friend to the farmer, and strengthened the military. He not only increased the manpower of his nation but brought in new technology and innovation as well.  You name it, religion, power, prestige, technology, defense, agricultural; he excelled in them all during his reign.      Except at the end.  In 2 Chronicles 26:16 we read: But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.   He wanted to go and lead the worship. He was a king, a ...

  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...

  I’ll admit I have a skill that may be more trouble than it is worth.  Since I have a pretty good ear for voices, I can often pick up certain speech patterns.  That pattern will be the basis of a way to mimic them.  So then I can do a decent impersonation of a lot of people.  However, it usually isn’t as fun for them as it is for everyone else.   I learned a long time ago that impersonations are not about duplication but reduction.  If you can reduce a person's speech to an easy to mimic phrase or peculiarity, you can pull off a passable impression even if you don’t sound all that much like the person.  Simplify a person to their most basic peculiarity and they are easy to mock.   You see this in our world today.  We like to reduce people down to their most basic trait.  He’s crazy.  She’s is dumb blonde.  They are just selfish kids.  He’s so ambitious.  She is just u...

   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...