Meaningless Life? [Part 7] A Crash Course in People: Ecclesiastes 4:4-16 (Click Here for Audio) The world is filled with people, and it is tough to figure out which ones you should befriend, allow access to, take advice from, and do life with. This issue becomes even more pressing when there is a life change such as … Read more
Thank you to everyone who has prayed for and supported this ministry. We are busy working to bring back past Bible teaching, and release new Bible teaching as well. In 2007 I had the honor of preaching through the entire Bible book of Philippians, verse by verse. The sermon series, “The Rebel’s Guide to Joy,” has … Read more
Building relationships in Phoenix This week was very fruitful and enjoyable by God’s grace. For starters, I was honored to be invited to spend a few hours with a network of pastors and ministry leaders from around Phoenix. The time was spent building relationships and answering questions pastors had, mainly around the topics … Read more
Meaningless Life? [Part 6] Drop Your Phone in the Lake: Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3 (Click Here for Audio) Life is filled with unexpected moments of deep joy. For example, a few years back someone let us borrow their lakefront home while they were out of town. Outside their home was a dock where they kept their ski boat and … Read more
If there is no good God who sees and knows all and judges justly in the end, then there is truly no hope for justice in this life. All we are left with is social Darwinism, might makes right, the fittest survive, and the rest of us just get to be the human shield here to stop the bullets from getting to the bourgeoisie.
The Newbie Being the new person can be tough. I went to a large public school (I hope I spelled that right) from kindergarten until fifth grade. Then, I transferred to a small Catholic school complete with uniforms, nuns and what I thought was purgatory lasting from the fifth through seventh grade. My first week … Read more
Ecclesiastes: Meaningless Life? [Part 5] Flip Flops in the Snow: Ecclesiastes 3:1-15(Click Here for Audio) Winters at my college included a lot of snow, but there were always guys determined to wear the same clothes no matter what season it was. In the scorching hot summer months they would wear shorts and flip-flops. In the freezing … Read more
Do you think you’ve ever worked a day in vain? Do you think you’ve ever shed a tear in vain? Do you think you’ve ever read a Bible verse in vain? Do you think you’ve ever confessed a sin in vain? Do you think a bullet has ever been fired in vain? Do you think a meal has ever been eaten in vain? No. God makes everything beautiful in its time. When? In its time! In HIS time!Do you think you’ve ever worked a day in vain? Do you think you’ve ever shed a tear in vain? Do you think you’ve ever read a Bible verse in vain? Do you think you’ve ever confessed a sin in vain? Do you think a bullet has ever been fired in vain? Do you think a meal has ever been eaten in vain? No. God makes everything beautiful in its time. When? In its time! In HIS time!
God’s People Going to church every Sunday is something my wife Grace has done pretty much every week of her entire life. Her daddy was a pastor who planted a church before she was born, and he served as the pastor for over forty years before he retired and then passed away. She was literally … Read more
Ecclesiastes: Meaningless Life? [Part 4] Running To Your Funeral: Ecclesiastes 2:12-26 (Click Here for Audio) Do you remember the last day of school when you were a kid? How productive were you on that day? Teachers know it is futile to even attempt to get the kids to do anything on the last day. And so, that … Read more
If you stop to think about your work, what it’s accomplishing, and why you should keep working, you will likely end up very discouraged, start wearing black, and listening to bands fronted by people whose dad did not hug them enough. But, this kind of reflection on “why we do what we do” is rare because we are so stressed out by our work that we lay awake at night, so overwhelmed by what we have to do that we don’t even have the time or energy to ask if we should be doing it.
Simpler Times After a break, I’ve recently had the great joy of returning to one of my favorite things – teaching through a book of the Bible! Some people have asked why I am not releasing these new messages from Ecclesiastes in video format. The answer is pretty simple – I don’t have a video … Read more