Ecclesiastes 12:10

    Nate Haasis had a stellar career for Southeast High School in Springfield, Illinois, in 2003. He was on pace to set the conference record for career passing yards.   So, in his last game of the season with his team on the losing side on the game, he only needed a few more yards for the record. Yet he noticed that the defense backed 20 yards off the line of scrimmage and made no attempt to defend or tackle the receiver who caught his record-setting pass. The next day, the local newspaper reported that the coaches had made a deal to allow Haasis to set the record, a story both coaches confirmed. Everyone was happy that he had set the record.  Expect for Nate Haasis.  Three days after the game, Haasis decided to write a letter to the director of the conference, requesting that his final pass be omitted from the conference record book. “ I would like to preserve the integrity and sportsmanship of a great conference for future athletes ,” Haasis wrote. Hi...

  Robert Quillen once said “Your character is built by what you stand for – your reputation by what you fall for”   The things we believe are important but the things we don’t believe are just as important.   Over and over in the Bible, we are warned “ Do not be deceived ”. Just because someone or something says something is true doesn’t mean it is. We have a responsibility to not only believe the truth but to make sure what we believe is the truth.   In our world, today there is much concern about limiting false news. Yet one part of that equation that is often not discussed is the responsibility of verifying what we are told. If I tell a lie not knowing it is a lie, I’m still accountable for the lie.  I must be careful about what I say and what I resay from others If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. James 1:26    I hate for someone not ...

  Before we all had phones to distract us, if you were bored had something to write on and a friend you might have played a game of Hangman. It was a word game where you had to guess a word or phrase letter by letter. Each time you picked the wrong one, a little stickman had a body part added to the gallows. If you didn’t figure out the answer before the man was assembled, he’d swing from the rope.     Recently I read a post that suggests building a snowman instead. You see the act of hanging a man was deemed too violent with too many racial undertones. So instead you assembly a snowman piece by piece. Not only was it less gruesome, it also had the benefit of having more steps and made the game less trying for children. If you lost it was not a tragedy, you made a nice little friend.     I guess we have all the other problems in the world solved so we had to get onto fixing Hangman.   Isn’t it funny how much we want everything in the wor...

  In his youth, the grandson of John Philip Sousa made large sums of money as a guest bandleader.  He knew it wasn’t because of his talent. Since he shared the same name as the great American composer and conductor, he knew that is what impressed the crowds. His invites were about his name not his abilities. He knew these because he could not read a single note of sheet music.    He wasn’t the first of the last person to lean on their heritage rather than their abilities.  Just because you carry a name, however, doesn’t mean you are the real thing. " Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' Matthew 7:22-23   Lots of people call themselves Christian. Lots of people claim a heritage with the Lord. But that claim isn’t what will get ...

  Some records might never be broken.   One of those records, the consecutive win streak in college football, is held by the University of Oklahoma.  From 1953 to 1957 the Sooners won an amazing 47 games in a row.  That streak, however, might have died in its infancy it not for a player named Johnny Crouch.  It was in the TCU/Oklahoma game of 1954.  As the game wound down, Johnny Crouch, a tight end, burst open in the end zone making a sliding catch of an underthrown ball. The officials raised up their arms in the signal for a touchdown.   But moments later the men in stripes were huddled up discussing the play.  Fifty thousand Oklahoma fans waited in hushed agony.  The call would decide if they won or lost.  Don’t think there wasn’t a worry.  One of the officials making the call was a TCU alum.  Then the call… the touchdown was nullified and the crowd went crazy.  OU had just won the game 21-16! ...

  Some proverbs seem so obvious we might wonder why it is even being said. If we consider it further there is often a deeper meaning. For example take Proverbs 12:17, which says  “ He who speaks truth tells what is right, But a false witness, deceit.”   An honest person tells the truth and a liar lies, that seems simple enough doesn’t it?    But think about it in another way, how do know if a person speaks truth?  Well, an honest person always speaks truth, no matter the situation, no matter the reason , he tells the truth. A liar well, he lies. Even in the he has no reason to, a liar twist the truth. His natural state is to lie.    So what does that say about how we should speak? If we make a habit of lying, no one will ever believe us even when we do tell the truth .  If we lie about little things we will lie about big things. Honesty is a habit and so is lying .  Being honest or being a liar isn’t something you turn on and off, it i...

    Back in the day of the old general store, a farmer would come in and trade his eggs or milk or butter for an equal measure of some other product. Once a owner of the store noticed however, a farmer's recent contributions had been more on the short side. Upset he vowed to confront the farmer the next time he came in. Sure enough his products were all just short of a pound. The upset store owner accused him “just how do you think that is a pound? The farmer replied well we are just simple ordinary folks, we don’t have a scale to measure, we simply take the pound of sugar or meal we get from you and place it on a balance and we add our goods until it matches up. You see the short measure wasn’t coming from the farmers end.       Proverbs 11:1  A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight . Some in business don’t think anything of shortchanging the customer.  The public may not figure out the ruse, but be ce...

    In his book “ How Do You Kill 11 Million People?”  , author Andy Andrews asked that question about the Holocaust that occurred in Nazi Germany. It was not asked about why that it happened but rather how it occurred. He asks the question this way: “ Why, for month after month and year after year, did millions of intelligent human beings –guarded by relatively few Nazi soldiers– willingly load their families into cattle cars to be transported by rail to one of the many death camps scattered across Europe? How can a condemned group of people headed for a gas chamber be compelled to act in a docile manner? ”   The answer was surprisingly simple. In short, they lied to them. And, sadly, they believed it.  The Jews were told it was for their protection.  First, as barbed-wire fences were erected, encircling entire neighborhoods, leaders assured them that the physical restrictions being placed upon their community were only temporary necessities of war...

Crazy hypothetical: Pseu-pseu-pseudonym * In many different artistic endeavors (writing, music, acting) an artist will adopt a pseudonym**.  It is usually done to conceal an identity or avoid confusion.  Say you are in a situation that in order to work in your chosen field you are asked to adopt a pseudonym.  Do you think it would be wrong for a Christian to do this?  Is this a form of lying?  Would the reason given to adopt the pseudonym change how you feel?*** *Crazy Hypothetical is a mental game that gives you a conditional choice that gets you thinking about a subject. I used these for several years as discussion starters in Bible class.. ** A pseudonym is a name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from his or her original or true name. These include stage names, screen names, pen names, nicknames, aliases ***  For example J.K. Rowling was told by her publisher that her series wouldn't be ...

Monday Morning Scattershooting while wondering why people think I'm being condescending. It’s just that I'm too busy thinking about far more important things they wouldn't understand.     I have to admit I am getting a little tired of Facebook.  To be honest I never much cared for it. [1]   Now however the noise is getting a little overwhelming.  Too many opinions, too much information, too much bickering, too much meddling, too many busybodies.  For some reason, people can’t handle making comments.  I now avoid the comment section on any website. Not that there are not good point in some discussions, but to get to them you have to wade thru so much junk.  I still can’t believe how people don’t think about what they are saying in public forums.  Maybe it is the false mask we think we have online.  We will say things to a screen that we would never say to person.  As Oscar Wilde put it, “ Man is least himself when h...

Monday morning scatter shooting while thinking, no matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery     I did a sermon recently on the “ The Danger of Debt ”.  I really think it’s something preachers need to talk about.  Look at the stats.  In 2009, roughly 1 in 4 (24.8%) of American households had zero or negative net worth. That means if you’ve no debts and have $10 in your pocket you have more wealth than 25% of Americans.  Americans owe $2.6 trillion dollars and based on the latest Census statistics, that works out to be nearly $8,500 in debt for every man, woman and child that lives here in the US.  The average credit card debt among undergraduate college students is about $2,748   Debt can be dangerous for churches, (can’t do the work of the church because we are trapped paying off excessive mortgages) saints, (we can’t give as we are prospered, since most of our money is tied up in our debt), preachers (chan...

Crazy hypothetical: Be The Bad Guy* In order to protect your family and those that you love, you must take credit for a terrible crime. You can’t tell anyone the real reason for your actions. People will always believe that you have done this and you can never be cleared. Do you take the rap? Variables to consider: The Crime: Is there a crime you wouldn't admit to? Your legacy: What if they would know of your innocence after you died? What if your family would know  of your innocence  but the rest of the world would see you as guilty? What are they protected from : Death, Suffering, Finical distress, Punishment from the crime I.E.  They did it but you take the rap The Punishment: Will you be in prison, be executed, a social pariah...  *Crazy Hypothetical is a mental game that gives you a conditional choice that gets you thinking about a subject. I used these for several years as discussion starters in Bible cl...

               Maybe I am just now seeing something that has always been there, but it seems to me that more and more people are lying about things that don’t really matter.  I see it with appointment times; the person will tell you they will arrive at your home before 10 and well after noon no one is there.  I see it with questions; I ask the clerk, “Do your carry this product?” They will answer “Yes” I will drive over to the store to find out that they don’t really carry it but they can order it.  I see it in planning events, you will ask someone are they going to an event, and they will tell you “Yes, we are excited about it” but when the time comes you find out they made other plans.  Is my car ready to be picked up?  Yes (But it’s not).  Will this be in by tomorrow? Yes (But it won’t be).  Can I get a straight answer? Yes (But you never will).  Over and over, I ask for simple ans...

  We like things to be easy . We have over the last 100 years created all kinds of technology to make life easier, quicker, simpler and more convenient. But even with all these advances we still will be faced with some things that are just hard.    In the sixth chapter of John, Jesus began to spell out to the multitudes some of the truths of who he is and what will be expected of his followers. Their response was " This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it ?" Because of these “hard” teachings many disciples turned away from Jesus. Jesus would then ask of the 12 if they would go too. Peter gives the perfect response when He replies, “ Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. ”      In teaching others the gospel, sometimes we may want to shy away from things that will be hard for them.   We may “sugar coat” the truth to make it more palatable. But Jesus never wanted his people to follow him in ignorance. (See Luke 14:25-33) Th...

  According to a Washington Post poll 94 percent of Americans said they are "above average" in honesty, 89 percent "above average" in common sense, 86 percent "above average" in intelligence, and 79 percent "above average" in looks. I guess that means is that above average is the new average.   Or maybe it shows us that we tend to think of “ ourselves more highly than we ought! ”(Romans 12:3) In my studies, I have learned to not put to much stock in surveys that people tell about themselves, because as it turn out they don’t tend to know themselves very well.   We as Christians can fall prey to self delusion too. In Galatians 6:3-5 we read, “ For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load”. Those that have a constant attitude of superiori...