Ecclesiastes 12:10

  Friends can make or break you.    David’s friend Jonathan stood up for him and helped save his life. (1 st Samuel 19-20) David’s son Amnon had a friend who helped him to commit a terrible crime and set forth a series of events that almost destroyed the kingdom. (2 nd Samuel 13). The wrong kind of friend will ruin you (1 st Corinthians 15:33). A good friend can keep you from falling (Ecclesiastes 4:9).   A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24      So, make the right kind of friends. People who lift you up not bring you down. People who celebrate with you, not use you to so they can be happy. People who bring out the best in you, not the worst. People who will tell you the difficult truth, not those who spout easy lies. People who enhance your reputation, not bring it down.  Friends can be our greatest asset or our biggest liability. It just depends on the kind of frie...

  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...

  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...

  You may remember the saga of the Morbo 4000 from a few years ago.  It was a garbage barge that was set to take it load of 3000 pounds of refuse from New York City to North Carolina.  The problem was they didn’t want to take. So the boat tried to sail back to New York but it wasn’t allowed there either and thus it‘s saga began.  The longer it roamed the worse it got.  Rumors that the barge was carrying all sorts of hazardous materials made the situation more difficult to resolve. The barge would be rejected by over a dozen places, even being chased away with warplanes on two occasions, and traveled over 6000 miles looking for a place to unload.  Eventually, the company owning the boat went bankrupt and the boat was destroyed with it's cargo.  Nobody wanted all that garbage.   Places are getting stingier about accepting garbage. I know my folks have had a time getting rid of bigger trash items since the live in the country and the area lan...

   How are you supposed to deal with the awkward situation of a friend that asks to borrow money?  Can you say no?  Does it matter what it is for?  What if they can’t pay you back? What if they won’t pay you back?  What if you are the one in need, is it wrong to ask for help from a friend?   Many a relationship has come to an awkward end when money becomes involved.  So what wisdom does the Bible have for us when it comes to these types of situations? Let break them down into two categories: When you are asked to be a lender:     If at all possible, don’t be a personal lender ( Proverbs 22:26-27 ).  As one person wisely told me never lend a friend money that you are not willing to give them.  If you can’t afford to give them money, you can’t afford to lend them money as well.   If you can help someone out do so (Proverbs 3:27-28), but make sure things stay between you and them.  Don’t cosign a lo...

   In math it doesn't make a lot of sense but in life there really is such a thing as addition by subtraction.  It is when you gain when you remove something from your life. The Bible is full of examples. 1 Corinthians 15:33   “ Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals." Proverbs 13:20   “He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will suffer harm.” Ecclesiastes 9:18   “Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.” Hebrews 12:1   “ Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, 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 ,” Ephesians 4:22   “ that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit ,”    In our lives, we all ha...

    In the late sixties, there was a rash of plane hijacking (in 1969 alone, there were nearly three dozen attempted or successful hijackings to Cuba of flights originating in the U.S.).  One however that occurred in February of 1969 might just be the strangest.  An Eastern Airlines flight from Newark to Miami was interrupted by man with a 10-inch knife held at the neck of a stewardess, demanding the plane instead go to Cuba.  The strangeness occurred with the passengers and the crew; they took it as one big joke.  They saw the knife but everybody was cool and calm, just a little annoyed at the delay.  Some of the passengers were noted to be laughing and carrying on, not the least bit worried. How could people act that way in the middle of a tense and dangerous situation?     Well it all had to do with a passenger that just happened to be on board.  His name was Allen Funt, the creator, producer, and host of Candid Ca...

    Everybody has one. That person you call a friend that you wish you didn’t.  The one in your group that will ruin everyone else good time when they are not happy. The person at you side in all the pictures of your life you regret.  The lighting rod of most the drama in your life.  The friend that drags you along with every bad decision they make, every bridge they burn and every problem they cause.  You know the friend that you “hate”.  If they are so bad, then why are we still friends with them?     Maybe you just have too much history. Maybe it feels impossible to sever your ties to them. Maybe we feel responsible for them and leaving them behind would give us too much guilt.  Whatever the reason, we keep them in our company no matter what the damage is.  It doesn't just work that way with friends either. Sometimes it is habits. Sometimes is a place. It’s that thing in your life you know ...