Proverbs 14 & 15

***Proverbs 14*** Verse 9: "Fools mock at making amends for sin..." Last night at our weekly bible study, the group briefly discussed sin in our culture. One example was brought up... the daughter of an Abiding Grace family is getting married soon in another state. The daughter went to pre-marital counseling with her finace and many other soon to be married couples, and they were surprised that they were the only couple in the group that wasn't living together. Of all the couples that are getting married in this church, they are the only couple not living "in sin". Rumor is that 20 or 30 years ago that would have been an issue. But times have changed and so has society. We no longer base our morals on what the bible says, but on what the culture says. The result is that we become oblivious to our own sins. We don't feel guilty and we don't feel like we need forgiveness. Church has become more about "meaning" and "purpose" than grace and forgiveness. But we are missing something huge... we are missing out on the purpose of Christ's suffering... to forgive sins. The gospel gives us "meaning", but it does so through grace, love and forgiveness. "Meaning" without forgiveness is meaningless because forgiveness isn't just about God, it's also about us letting go of the mistakes that have effected our lives. Holding on to our sins leads to a path of personal destruction... hold on to the cross instead. (I got a little carried with the quotation marks, but I had fun doing it)********************Proverbs 15************************* Verse 23: "A person finds joy in giving an apt reply." There is a member of my congregation whom I love dearly that gets out of bed around 4am everyday. Often times in the peace of the morning he strolls to his computer and sends out a couple emails. I love it when I am up in the middle of the night and one of his emails come, because I can respond right away and surprise him... then I go back to bed. There is something about being able to reply immediately to someone's question, especially through email, that makes you feel good. It makes you feel good because it means you are being productive and efficient. And it makes them feel good because you thought their note was worth reading and replying to immediately. I wish that was the case for all my emails. I have received 30-some emails today that I will try and reply to some time tonight, but I just don't have the time to read them all and reply to them immediately. And I'm sure the same is true for emails I have sent out today. I wonder if the same can be said for God and answering prayers? I don't think God is too busy to respond to us... but like so many other things in life, we just have to patiently wait for a response.

Proverbs 12 & 13

***Proverbs 12 & 13*** I put the two together today because they both have the same message. 12:1: "Whoever hates correction is stupid." 13:1 "A wise son heeds his father's instruction." The cable music channel VH-1 has a program called Crossroads. The idea of the show is to bring in a hot, young artist and team them up with an older, well-known artist and let them play together. I've seen the show a couple times, and there is always a point where they show the two singers or bands having a conversation. I remember one well known band giving advice to a young singer, and she just kind of let it go in one ear and out the other. Often times young folks don't like to take advice, we think we know it all... and yes, I would put myself in that category at times. But Solomon has one word for that thinking... it's stupid. It's even harder to take advice when a young person experiences a certain measure of success in life. As I get older I realize that there is so much that I don't know... I am starting to think that holds true for a church too. This little church we started in Southlake has been a smashing success in our first 8 months... and we are proud of what God has done through us. But it's easy to think that we have this thing figured out and don't need any advice... but we're ready to give it. It starts with the pastor.

Proverbs 11

***Proverbs 11*** Verse 7 "Hope placed in mortals die with them." If I were alive 50 years ago, I imagine that I would have voted for JFK. I like what he had to say; I think he was politician that placed the best interest of the country before his own. I imagine that a lot of people put their hopes for a brighter future in him. He was elected at a time when the world and country was changing. The civil rights movement was exploding, Vietnam was becoming an issue and the US and Russia were entrenched in a decades long battle of democracy v. communism. JFK was young, had young kids, had fresh ideas and some progressive beliefs. And then he was gone... a day so many will never forget. When my mom heard that I was going to Dallas for internship 3 years ago, her first thought was "that's where JFK was killed." The hopes of a generation destroyed on a November morning in 1963. Then Dr. Martin Luther King, then JFK's brother Bobby. With their deaths, a lot of hopes died too...................................................................................................... In Acts 5, some of the apostles were put on trial when a pharisee named Gamaliel stood up and gave examples of previous movements that were started by humans that failed after the leader was gone. Then he said, "Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them." Jesus started a movement, a church. People put their hopes in him, and he too was assinated. But our hope is not in his life, but in his death and resurrection, in his eternal life. People ask why I believe in Jesus. Among many reasons is Gamaliel's argument, if this movement was begun by a man then it would have failed a long time ago. This church came about becuase God worked through 12 men... 12 men started a church that over the past 2,000 years has included bilions and billions of people. And God is still working... come and visit Abiding Grace and see what God has done in 8 short months.

Proverbs 10

***Proverbs 10*** Verse 9 "Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out." When I worked for Chrysler I was responsible for over 40 dealerships in Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire. It was a good job that included a lot of traveling... I had to go to all the dealerships. When I visited a dealership I would always meet with the owner of the dealership and talk business. I met a lot of interesting people in the dealerships. Some I wouldn't trust enough to buy a AAA battery from and others that were honest and good. But there was one man in particular that I had tremendous respect for. His name was Tom and he sold Jeeps. I have no idea if Tom is a christian or not, I know that he played golf every Sunday in the summer, so he must not have been a regular church member. But Tom was, and still is an incredible person. I spent more time at his dealership than any other, it was a place where I always felt welcomed, a place where everyone always felt welcomed. Tom and I would sit and talk more about life than business. He told me that money doesn't mean much to him, but his goal in life was to protect his name. He lives in a small town, where people recognize each other when they go to the store and out to dinner. His biggets concern was that people would see him walking around town and would be reminded of a bad experience at his dealership... He sleeps well at night because he has done everything he could to be fair with every customer. I'll never forget him telling me that... it was refreshing to hear someone in his position say such a thing. But it's bigger than just the auto industry, it's a great way to live your life. Each day our lives are full of opportunities to treat each other fairly, or to treat each other poorly. How well do you sleep at night?

Proverbs 8 & 9

***Proverbs 8*** Proverbs 8 says that wisdom is eternal. Wisdom was God's first creation, wisdom was there before time when the world was created. This chapter sounds a lot like John 1, except John is talking about Jesus... The Word of God. The Word of God is the mind of God, the wisdom of God... and Jesus is the wisdom of God become flesh. Jesus was there at the beginning of all thing and with God during creation. And you know what the crown jewel of all creation was... you and I. Whether the world is 6,000 years old or 14 billion, God waited for you and I to be here now... God waited to love us. And God waits for us to love Him, to be in relationship. Even if you love God, He is still waiting to be in a deeper relationship with you. And God will wait and wait and never give up. Until we are face to face with our maker... only then will our relationship be as He intended...... I love this song. ***Proverbs 9*** "Let all those who are simple come to my house." I'm not real sure what Solomon means by his definition of simple, but I think that there is some different understandings of simple today. What is a simple life? What is the opposite of a simple life? Maybe a complex life where there are more questions than answers. I believe that today the simple life is falling in line with society's expectations. Letting the world we will live in dictate how we live. Instead God calls us to a more complex life, a life of faith, where questions far outnumber answers... A couple years ago I was asked to come to speak to the young adults at a Lutheran church. We talked about everything... God, life, love, heaven, hell... it was a great time. The question came up "how we do know what decisions God would have us make." I thought about it for a minute and replied, "in my life I have found that most of the time God would prefer I picked the most difficult choice." God would prefer I take the road less traveled. God prefers that I focus on relationships not wealth, humility not honor, love not pride. I wouldn't say that this is true for every decision, but it has gotten me where I am right now. It was hard to walk away from Chrysler and go to seminary and it was hard to turn down full-time opportunities to wait for Abiding Grace to grow... but it's what I chose to do, and I am fully confident God has placed me where I am supposed to be.

Proverbs 7

***Proverbs 7*** This past weekend I performed a wedding for one of my good friends on a yacht. It was a beautful ceremony in a beautiful boat in Newport Beach, CA. As I read about the yacht, the information kept referring to the boat as "she." We often do that, refer to things we own as "she." That's what Solomon is getting at in this chapter. He isn't concerned with a man only having one partner, he had 1,000, he doesn't want his children taking what belongs to another man. It makes me shutter to think that such a chapter is in the bible. ****So I was going to do two chapters tonight, but I just got a call from a friend that I was supposed to meet for dinner 30 minutes ago. Uh-oh!

Proverbs 6

***Proverbs 6*** One of my seminary professors told me a story about a previous seminary student. This student and his girlfriend went on a camping trip and slept in the same tent. The seminary faculty heard about their trip, and because they were not married but slept in the same place they considered that breaking the rules... so they kicked him out of seminary. The point of the story was simple, never put your future in someone elses hands, because you never know who doesn't like you. I could hardly believe that someone may not like me... but I guess it's true, everyone on earth has someone that doesn't like them. That's what the first half of this chapter is all about. Do not give others so much authority over you that you're enslaved by them. I don't think that we give our neighbors this authority today, but credit card companies and mortgage companies... have you ever felt like you're just working to pay off debt. At the end of the month all you have left is a few dollars to order a pizza and see a movie. It's the American way. And work, good old work. Most of us have to work for someone, we have a boss. So it's kind of hard not to put our future in someone elses hands. Some bosses are better than others, but there are those bosses where you feel like you have to walk on eggshells. And you do all you can to keep their attention away from you. But sometimes it doesn't even matter, you can be the best in the business at your trade, and still they let you go. They downsize or outsource and it doesn't matter how much your boss likes you. And while some lucky few get some kind of a severence, many people are just thrown into the street like Fred Flintstone throwing the family pet through the window. Don't put your future in anyone elses hands. Put your future in Jesus' hands. He never downsizes or outsources. You never have to worry about giving Jesus a reason to fire you or kick you out. When you put your future in his hands you'll notice the holes in his hands... and that is price he paid so that you don't have to worry about your future. ************************************************************************************ I've been on vacation today and yesterday, so I only did one chapter. Next week I am back to 2 chapters a day. Have a great weekend!