Ecclesiastes 12:10

     In the sixties and seventies we saw the rise in the feminist movement (also known as the Women's Liberation, or Women's Lib).  This movement was an effort to increase the social standing of women in our society.  Girls were encouraged to throw off the traditional gender roles.  Feminists campaigned against cultural and political inequalities. Issues of equal pay, gender discrimination, sexual liberation and abortion all became “women’s” issues.  A concerted effort was made by groups to redefine the role of women.  Young girls were encouraged to do more and be more. Professions that were once just for men were now being open to women.        In those efforts, the teachings of the Bible came under fire.  How could you follow a book that taught “submit to your husband” (Titus 3:5, 1 st Peter 3:5) and that kept women from serving in leadership roles (1 st Timothy 2:12)?   We were told those Biblic...

Crazy hypothetical: Fame is Fleeting * You have a choice between forms of fame. #1. You can be famous for a specific role (like a spokesperson for a national company; i.e. Flo from Progressive, or the Maytag Man) Everyone will know you (recognize) but not know who you are (name, anything else about you) This role will make you a good amount of money and comfortable lifestyle but not super rich. This will be all you will ever do but people will remember you after your gone #2. You will be infamous, everyone will know you but for something negative. (Think Steve Bartman or reality show “villain”) You will have a mark in history that no one will ever forget and everyone will know all about you. This role won’t make you much money and be the sum of your career. #3. You will be “That guy” the person that has lots of roles in lots of movie and shows but is never the lead actor (sometimes referred to character actors). People might recognize you but not know your name. ...

Monday Morning scatter shooting  while wondering;   If they say 1/3 of all workplace accidents go unreported. How do they know?    I once had a elder describe a person as a Biblical since he “ appears for a little while and then vanishes away”( James 4:14). Some verses are easy to apply to people. I would like to think that someone might apply Acts 18:24 to me, (an eloquent man … mighty in the Scriptures). But my guess is it probably is one of these; Top Ten verses you don’t want applied to you as a preacher           1.  2nd Corinthians 10:10   For they say, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible ."           2.  Jeremiah 1:6  Then I said, "Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak,            3. Job 19:17   "My breath is offensive to my w...

            Ask anyone that has done benevolent work and they will have a story for you.  The woman that complained about the grocery given to her because it wasn't name brands.  The couple that threw a fit because the Christmas basket they received from the church had less than the one given to another family member.  The man that told a story that pulled at your heart strings so you gave him money, only to find out he is a con.  The lady that is now badmouthing to anyone that will listen about the “heartless” church that won’t help her, when you know good and well the church has been supporting her for years.   They are the stories that make us jaded and bitter .  Make us suspicious and hesitant to help others.  These experiences can make serving others hard and cause us to become weary of doing good.             These ty...

Crazy hypothetical:   Ghosts World* You have the choice to live in this world as a ghost. You will never experience pain, hunger, or any physical need. You will be able to see everything that goes on in the world but never able to interact with any person. You can travel anywhere visit anyplace, do anything (ride roller coasters,  be on the field at the Super Bowl,…) but not interact and change anything that goes on. You will be able to taste and smell food and drink but it will have no other effect on you. You can touch and feel anything but it won’t respond to your touch.  You will have no limits on what you can experience but with no contact. Your life will end just when it would if you don’t take the option (so if you would have died at 6o with a regular life you will have 60 years as a ghost.) Would you take the deal? Would you do it for a short time if it meant several years off your life? What if you take the deal in would never end, would you do it?...

Monday Morning Scatter shooting while wondering why people who say they don’t care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don’t care what people think     Ok, everybody calm down!  I feel the need to say that fairly often.  People get so worked up about everything anymore.  Any action, decision, or event must be debated in the public arena.  And all the indignation that comes to those that didn’t do things the way in hindsight I seems how they should have been done.  We have to have an opinion on everything that happens in the world.  Well, I’m done.  I only going to care about the things, I can shape and control.  Luckily for me I serve a God that knows all and sees all, so instead of getting worked up about everything, I’ll let him take care of it.  All these national crises and world cataclysms( Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkn...

            I always had a great admirer of the Boy Scouts.  Maybe it’s the motto, “Be prepared”, an idea that I believe in.  It could be the nature of a scout; he’s loyal, trustworthy, helpful, thrifty.  I sure it has to do with the oath they take to “do my duty to God”.  It could just be the young men I know that were scouts turn out pretty well. (Did you know that 11 of the 12 Americans that have walked on the moon were Boy Scouts?)  I think that is why the recent controversy involving the national Boy Scout Organization has me so upset.  If you are unfamiliar with the issue, the Boy Scouts are being pressured to remove the longstanding ban on homosexuals in their organization. Even in their own ranks, great amounts of political and public pressure are on the organization to abandon the policy.  This isn’t’ the first effort to do so.  In 2000, the Scouts were sued to force them to acc...