Ecclesiastes 12:10

    Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “ Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen; few in pursuit of the goal.”   To find success, one must be willing to set one's pride aside to do what is best. That isn’t always easy, especially when we think we are right.  But thinking we are right is not the same as being right.   Paul was sure he was right when he attacked the church (Acts 26:9). Peter thought he was making the right call when he distanced himself from the Gentile Christians (Galatians 2:12). Diotrephes was sure he was protecting the church (3 rd John 1:9-10).   But they were wrong.   And sometimes we are as well.   If you can’t change a path that isn’t working, it may not be because you are dedicated to the cause but because you are holding on to your pride. Success is about making sure you are right before you dig your heels in. Being so set in your ways that you won’t seek to improve is the pat...

    Pride is about self. When we think too much of ourself it is pride. When we act selfishly, we act in pride. Pride is about self   But also allies us to the wrong side.   In James 4:6-7, we are told  “ God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble .” So, then it continues by telling us to surrender to him, “ Submit therefore to God ”. Our pride must be curtailed by a willingness to submit and surrender to God. Yet notice the next line, “ Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”   Often, we don’t think of this verse in context with the previous one. We see it as standing up to the devil, but to do that, we must surrender ourselves to the Lord. If we in pride think we can whip the devil, we are just playing his game. What we must do is surrender ourselves to God.   Pride and the devil go hand and hand. Submission and God are linked.  Don’t think you can be full of yourself and full of the Lord. It’s never worked that ...

   Leonard Bernstein was once asked which instrument he considered to be the most difficult to play. After a moment, he responded, “Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who can play second fiddle with enthusiasm—that’s a problem.”   Most folks don’t want to be the lesser. That is what is so amazing about John the Baptist. John was the most popular man of his day (Mark 1:5). His reach was so great that it caused men of power to be afraid of him (Matthew 21:25-26, Mark 16:20).   Yet in John 3, his disciples were worried that the crowds were all turning to Jesus. Was John worried about losing his luster? No, he saw it as exactly what must happen. That was his mission.  As he said it in verse 30, " He must increase, but I must decrease .”   His job wasn’t to build himself up, but to build up Jesus.   And that is our mission as well.   In a world that is all about ‘building your brand’ and self-promotio...

  Most folks think they are better than average. Maybe they are right.  A group of really bad people might just bring down the average.  So to test this researchers anonymously surveyed 85 folks between the ages of 18 to 34 in the same place. When compared to their neighbors, the participants rated themselves as more moral, kinder to others, more self-controlled, more law-abiding, more compassionate, more generous, more dependable, more trustworthy, and more honest.  They also rated themselves as higher on all these traits than "an average person", with one exception - law-abiding (that one they said they were average).  There was a reason they might have docked themselves in law-abiding, all the people surveyed were in prison.  They saw their neighbor, i.e. fellow prisoners, as below average but not themselves.   For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to thi...

    Satisfied with a job well done.  It is a nice feeling to be happy with what you have done. For many that is the sign that you have done what you are supposed to have done. You are happy with it.  Yet consider Proverbs 14:14: “ The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied with his. ”   Now here it tells us that the good man is satisfied with his ways, but so does the wicked man. The term here is ‘one that has a disloyal heart’, one that has gone back into sin, one that moves the goalpost on his morals. That guy is just as satisfied. He feels as if he has done exactly what he has supposed to.   What is it trying to tell us? That being satisfied with yourself is not the best metric for if you have done the right thing. I know folks who have messed things up royally, that will swear they have done nothing wrong. Unless we think sensible and cautiously, we may just be fooling ourselves (Proverbs14:15-...

  As Dave Carrol was getting to his seat on the plane, he overheard one of the passengers exclaim that “the baggage handlers were literally out there throwing guitars”. This worried Dave since he and his band were musicians traveling to a gig and they had just checked their guitars.   Sure enough, when he picked up his baggage, his guitar was damaged beyond repair. He was of course upset and tried to get the airline to fix its mistake. Yet, like many companies in our time, they didn’t seem to care much about customer service. After spending months trying to get them to pay for the damaged equipment, the airline only said they you give him a $1500 voucher rather than pay for the $3500 guitar. Except they would do that either because they said Dave had made the claim incorrectly.   So, what could a musician do about it?  He wrote a song about it. His ballad United Breaks Guitars was a catch little ditty about his poor experience with the airline. The song went v...

  If the band is out of tune, you’re going to notice. When the singer is off-key, it catches your attention. When the tires are unbalanced, you will feel it in your spine. When the harmony of anything is off, people can tell.   That is why scripture tells us to live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16). If there is discord among brethren it won’t just be seen by us.   So how do we avoid it?   Notice what that passage tells us: Don’t Be Haughty – If we think of ourselves as best, it’s hard to ever think of others. Associate with the Lowly – If we don’t spend time with others, it’s hard to figure out to get along. It’s easy to judge from a distance. Don’t Be Wise In Your Own Estimation – If we think we are right all the time, we are not. Others have valid viewpoints we need to consider.   Living in harmony with others starts not with fixing everyone else but with fixing ourselves. The Scripture commands us to have a unity of ...

    People like to comment on things. If you don’t believe me, just post something online and wait for the takes to come rolling in. People can’t seem to help themselves. Even when their opinion is irrelevant or unwarranted, they can’t resist chiming in.  Many times those comment don’t do much of any good and may even cause great harm   I think it might have to do with our pride. We expect everyone wants to know our take since we are so important.  If we don’t remark we might not be relevant anymore.   This concept, I think, is seen in John 3, when we read about a discussion involving John the Baptist disciples. In verse 25 we read, “ Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purification .” The next line is John’s disciples going to him with their concerns that all the people were now going to Jesus to be baptized. Why the odd transition?   Maybe in the discussion, the people quoted Je...

  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 ...

  The very nature of social media is about telling others about yourself.  You tell your likes, display your favorites, show where you have been and what you have been doing.  We talk of our children and grandchildren, post our vacation photos, and chart our accomplishment in the office or at the gym.  We exhibit the photos of our new ride, tell how our blog had a record number of hits or share our opinions on the latest matter.   We do that in part because we are “friends” and those bonds want to reach out to each other.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).  It can be fun and fulfilling way to share with others and share in their lives as well.   But can I give a bit of warning?   In those endeavors, it can be very easy to slip into the mentality of pride and boasting.  We think of ourselves a little higher than we ought.  We like to show off our accomplishments, our as...

   Preachers worry about preaching “moving” sermons.   “Moving” sermons are ones that are either going to move the congregation in a different direction or move the preacher on down the road.    Even with that worry, a preacher should always be one that preaches the “ whole counsel of God ” (Acts 20:27) and speaks the truth even if it makes him some enemies (Galatians 4:16).   That being said, there are some sermons than should never be preached. The forbidding of these lessons is not dictated by the whims of men but by the word of God. Let consider some of those not to be preached sermons: 1.      The Old Wives Talk But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women . 1 st Timothy 4:7 This kind of lesson has found its way into our modern vernacular.  An old wives tale is a superstition or traditional belief that is regarded as unscientific or incorrect. These are sermons that have a lot of opinions a...

  In scriptures, the closest human thing we have to the immovable object was Samson. In battle after battle, nothing could stop him. Not a lion [i] .  Not thirty men [ii] . Not a thousand men [iii] No matter what man came after him, Samson could take them all. But a woman, well that was a different story.   Samson had always had trouble letting the lust of his eyes make his decisions, (Judges 14:1-3; 16:1-3) and it happened again with Delilah. He fell for a woman that cared more for money than for him. So time and time again she attempted to seduce the secret of his strength from him. And he would give her a story. Then lo and behold, his enemies would attack him that exact same way.   You would think he would be smart enough to figure out what was going on and leave her. Maybe he was. Maybe he just didn't care. He was strong enough to get out of whatever trouble would come.   But the day finally came that broke him. It wa...

      Over the years I have noticed a strange paradox with preachers.  You can often tell if a man was not prepared for a lesson when they go too long.  You would think unprepared speaker would run short but in practice it doesn't work that way.  I've heard speakers that “run out of soap” mid lesson but then ramble and repeat to fill the time.  Maybe the lesson just seems longer since his thoughts lose cohesion and he begins to veer off course.  Preachers (this one included) often make the mistake of thinking that if they are speaking, it automatically must be worth listening to.  But when a preacher hasn't put in proper study and considers his words carefully, it ends up just being babble.      It seems to me lots of preaching in our religious world today is just that, a bunch of babble.  There are a lot of popular sayings and stories but not a lot of Bible and personal ...

  There is an old joke about a man driving down the road. As he reached the top of a hill, he saw two ministers standing by the road with a sign that read, “Turn Back Now! Death and danger lie ahead.” The man rolled down his window and yelled at the pair, “Why don’t you two give it up. No one listens to that fire and brimstone talk anymore.” The two ministers looked at each other puzzled as the sound of screeching tires and crashing could be heard. The younger minister turned to the older one and said, "Maybe he is right, let’s just change the sign to “Bridge Out”     Proverbs 9:8 informs us:   "Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you."   Nobody likes to be told they are wrong but it is often times in our best interest. Instead of being the fool that attacks those that point out his mistakes, it is much better to be wise and allow others to show us areas of our life that may in wrong puting us in danger....

  If I’m the greatest speaker anyone has ever heard, on all the lectureships, could be doing a meeting every week if you wanted, If people hang on my every message and consider it as close to the “Word of God” as you can get… But don’t have love; I’m just making a bunch of meaningless noise   If I’m on the cutting edge of every new thing, incorporating all the latest technology, If I have a bachelors, a masters, and a doctorate, I am published in all the brotherhood works, have a bestselling book, a must read blog and thousands followers on twitter and if I stand on the right side of every issue, confront every wrong and win every debate… But don’t have love, it doesn’t really matter   If I have out worked everyone else, done more than all my critics, been the better man, took the bullet for the eldership’s mistakes, been the sacrificial lamb   But don’t have love, it wasn’t really worth it Love is that important .   So I better figure ou...

     There is a very real danger for preachers. You speak to hundreds (maybe more) of people a week.  You are viewed by people as an expert on everything from the Bible to morality to raising kids to happy marriages.  People call you for advice; quote you in the café, and brag about you to their friends.  Your words have a power to change people. Little old ladies dote on you.  You deny it but you do like it. Who wouldn't  You preach, it hard not to be a little bit proud , you do good work.      But then you find yourself smirking about how many people follow you on twitter.  Your favorite morning ritual is to see how many people read your blog.  You can’t wait to see how big of a hit the next sermon will be.  You’re popular.  They like what you have to say.  Sure there are some that don’t see it, but those people are little minded.  They can’t capture an audience like you can.  ...

          He approaches the podium in slow thoughtful walk.  He looks up and in deep stare says “Let’s pray”, even though the man before him just did that.  He softens his voice and pauses at just the right moment to let you know how much more meaningful this prayer is. Then he starts his talk. His message is about him, no Bible story, no focus on the scriptures.  He tells you about his successes, more than you could do, his problems, they are harder than yours, and how he has overcome them, better than you would have.   He gives more sacrificially than you, is a better parent than you, prays more than you, and cares more than you .  Oh, he never comes out and says any of those things, but in a very humble bragging sort of way he get the point across. You see everything everyone else is doing could be fixed if people were more like him.  When he is finished, he doesn't expect you to tell him how g...

  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...

  TV newsman Tom Brokaw told the story of when he first landed the job as the co-host of the Today show. This moment was the pinnacle of his career that had started first in the morning news in Omaha, then to jobs in Los Angles and Washington. He was feeling pretty famous when he noticed a man that just kept looking at him. Finally, the man approached him and asked if he was indeed Tom Brokaw. He told him he was and the gentleman responded, “The one that used to do the morning news in Omaha, right” “That’s right,” Brokaw said, expecting the man to gush on about how far he had come. “I knew it the moment I spotted you,” the man replied then paused, “So whatever happened to you?” Just when we think what we have done will be recognized by others, the truth will bring us crashing back to the ground.   Galatians 6:2-4 tells us, “Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.  For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But ...