In one of the most intriguing passages in Ecclesiastes, Solomon maintains that, under certain conditions, it would have been better to have been born dead (6:3).  This is a most startling statement.  We value life.  We consider existence a precious gift.  So what is Solomon talking about, and to whom is he saying that it would have been better for him to have been born dead?

First, Solomon states that a miscarriage is better than a man who fails to appreciate his family.  In his illustration, a man is blessed with “a hundred children” (6:3).  Yet he is not satisfied.  How can one not be satisfied with such a large “quiver” full of children (Ps. 127:3-5)? Since children are a blessing from God (Ps. 113:9), this man is richly blessed.  Yet if such a man cannon appreciate this blessing, he would have been better off being miscarried.

Second, Solomon states that a miscarriage is better than a man who fails to appreciate the years of his life.  Again using hyperbole, he says that if the man should live “a thousand times twice” (6:6), but fails to enjoy them, he is better off dead.  Far too often we don’t enjoy life. Rather, we let cares and worries rob us of daily joy.  Those days turn to months which turn to years.  Before long, it is a lifetime of discontent.

Third, Solomon states that a miscarriage is better than a man who fails to appreciate material blessings.  Paul states that we should be content with what we have, even if we have very little (1 Tim. 6:8; Phil. 4:11, 12).  In contrast, this man has much, being enriched with “good things” (6:3, 6).  But he fails to enjoy those good things.  Again, Paul notes that it is God who “richly supplies us with all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17).  We must learn to be satisfied.  If we’re not, Solomon would say it would have been better off if we had never been born.

Is it good that you’re alive?  Let us all learn to enjoy our families, our years of life and our material blessings.  Most importantly, for us on this side of the cross, let us “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil. 4:4).

God doesn’t care how many Facebook friends we have, Only how many of our friends know we’re Christians (Matthew 10:32-33).

God doesn’t care how many Twitter followers we have, Only that we deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him (Luke 9:23)

God doesn’t care about the number of minutes on our cell phone plans, Only how many minutes we spend talking with Him (1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians 6:18).

God doesn’t care about the important celebrities and athletes we know, Only the importance of people knowing Him and the truth (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:2-3).

God doesn’t care who wins the Super Bowl, Only that we win the battle against temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).

God doesn’t care who wins the World Series, Only how many souls we win for Him (Matthew 28:18-20).

God doesn’t care if we have the fanciest watch, Only how wisely we use our time (Ephesians 5:16).

God doesn’t care if we wear the latest fashion or best clothes, Only that we dress modestly (1 Timothy 2:9-10; 1 Peter 3:3).

God doesn’t care about the size or grandeur of our homes, Only the hospitality we use within them (Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:2).

God doesn’t care about how much money we have, Only how much of our money is given to Him and used for good (Proverbs 3:9; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7; 1 Timothy 6:17-19).

God doesn’t care what work we do, Only that we do it with all our might (Ecclesiastes 9:10; Colossians 3:23-24).

God doesn’t care about the color of our skin, Only the content of our character (Galatians 5:22-23).

This life is all about the Lord and our relationship with Him.  This is what God really cares about!  May everything we say, think, and do bring glory to the Lord and strengthen our relationship with Him.

Maybe I’m being sentimental, or cliché, or whatever you want to call it, but many of us are already thinking about love today anyway, so why not feed the fire?

We are all familiar with love on some level.  Love is packed full of benefits.  It saves us from hell.  It solves conflicts.  It brings people us closer together.  It produces hard work and good attitudes.  It’s even good for our health!

In a recent article, Lisa Collier Cool talked about the health benefits of love (Click Here).  Here are some that she talks about:

• Love Defuses Stress.  We know it can sometimes cause stress, but in general it helps prevent stress.  Getting rid of stress can help prevent diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.  Several studies found that physical touch (like holding hands) reduces and helps us deal with stress.  Hugging has even been shown to lower blood pressure.
• Love Heals Wounds.  A study was conducted where couples were inflicted with a small blister.  They found that blister took two days longer to heal in the couples that were hostile and argumentative with each other.
• Love Keeps Us From Sickness.  Studies also found that many people who lost a spouse through death, divorced, or separation showed a decline in health.

God knew what He was doing when He brought man and woman together and introduced love (Genesis 2).  God knew what He was talking about when He commanded us to love each other (1 John 4:7-21).  God knew what He was doing when He sent Christ to the cross to show His love for us (John 3:16; 1 John 4:7-21).

People across the country will be demonstrating their love for each other today in their marriages, families, and friendships.  Surely God loves seeing people being sweet, kind, caring, and generous with each other.  However, let’s not let these wonderful attitudes and feelings die for 364 days after today.  Let’s make sure we spread the love on this Valentine’s Day, next Valentine’s Day, and all the days in-between.

Deception is seen almost everywhere.  Mechanics, car salesmen, lawyers, politicians, telemarketers, and many other professions have received deceitful reputations.  Interestingly, deception is even seen in nature.  Animals often try to look and act something they aren’t.  For example, the King Snake (Left) uses the bright color pattern to look like the highly venomous Coral Snake (Right).

Matthew 7:15 identifies another animal that uses deception: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”  This is talking about teachers and religions which claim, “We have the truth,” but do not follow Scripture.  Thankfully, there are ways to see through deception.  If we carefully observe the color patterns of the coral snake and king snake, we can identify which one is non-venomous.  In a similar way, we are able to see which religion actually has the truth by comparing it to the only guidebook we have in such matters, the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3).  Here is what the church of the Bible looks like.

The Establishment: The Lord’s church was established in Acts 2.  Before this point, every reference to the church was in the future tense (Matthew 16:18).  After Acts 2, we clearly see that the church is in existence.  Any church established after this point is not the New Testament church.

The Leadership:  First of all, Christ, and only Christ, is the head of the church (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22-23).  No earthly man was ever, or should ever be the head of the church (i.e. the Pope).  Second, men called “elders” supervise each individual congregation of the church.  These men are also called pastors, shepherds, bishops, or overseers (Acts 20:17, 28; Philippians 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1ff; Tit. 1:5ff).  Scripture never refers to one man (i.e. Bishops and Cardinals) being over a church or even a plurality of churches.

The Worship: There are only five acts of worship seen in Scripture.

1. The Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:42).  This was done weekly, on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7) using bread and fruit of the vine (Matthew 26:26ff).
2. Singing (Matthew 26:30; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16).  The only example we have is singing without the use of musical instruments.  Yes, instruments were used in the Old Testament, but this was under a different set of laws which Christ replaced (Hebrews 8:7-9, 13; 7:18-19, 22; 10:9).  Historically, Christians did not use instruments in worship until it was introduced in Rome 600 years later because of apostasy.
3. Prayer (Acts 2:42; 1 Timothy 2:8).  The only prayers we see are those addressed to God (Matthew 6:9-10).  Not once do we see Christians praying to saints.
4. Giving (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).
5. Preaching (Acts 2:42; 20:7).

The Name:  The first time the church took a name was in Acts 11:26 when they were called Christians.  Wayne Jackson says this point best: “Interestingly enough, the word ‘called’ in Acts 11:26 is a very special word that has to do only with a divine sort of calling…They were divinely called ‘Christians.’  Why would men set aside that name, and designate themselves by human heroes (e.g., Lutheran)?  Or name themselves after some form of organization, (e.g., Presbyterian)?  Or adopt titles according to some individual point of doctrine they espouse, (e.g., Baptist)?  There is no scriptural basis for this common practice” (“Identifying the Church of the New Testament, Christian Courier).  New Testament Christians simply called themselves “the church” (Acts 11:22), “the churches of Christ” (Romans 16:16), and “the church of God” (1 Corinthians 1:2).  Many religions do not follow this pattern today.

The Plan of Salvation:  In Acts 2, when Peter was preaching to the people, they became Christians and part of God’s church by these steps.  They heard the gospel message about Jesus being Lord and Savior (vs. 14-36; John 6:45), they believed this message (vs. 37; Romans 10:17; Mark 16:15-16), Peter commanded them to repent of their sins (vs. 38; 2 Peter 3:9; 2 Corinthians 7:10), and to be baptized (vs. 38; Galatians 3:26-27; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21).  From other passages, we also know that confessing that Jesus is Lord is part of this process (Romans 10:9-10; 1 John 4:13).  That day in Acts 2, three thousand people followed these steps and were saved from sin and added to the church (vs. 41-42).

Are you a member of “a church,” or are you a member of Christ’s church?  Deceit is in our world.  If we are part of an organization that doesn’t look like the one in the Bible, then we must ask ourselves if we are being deceived or if we are deceiving ourselves?  Though some religions may not try to be misleading, sometimes ignorance breeds deception.

If your church does not follow the Scriptural model, then with compassion and love I must tell you that you are not part of Christ’s church.  We all want to know we are genuine Christians.  Following the church of the Bible is the only way we can have the assurance that we are part of the Lord’s church.

A young man approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. “That depends,” replied the foreman. “Let’s see you fell this tree.” The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great tree.  Impressed, the foreman exclaimed, “You can start Monday!”

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday rolled by.  On Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, “You can pick up your paycheck on the way out today.”  Startled, he replied, “I thought you paid on Friday.”  ”Normally we do,” answered the foreman, “but we’re letting you go today because you’ve fallen behind.  Our daily felling charts show that you’ve dropped from first place on Monday to last on Wednesday.”

“But I’m a hard worker,” the young man objected.  ”I arrive first, leave last, and even have worked through my coffee breaks!”  The foreman, sensing the boy’s integrity, thought for a minute and then asked, “Have you been sharpening your ax?”  The young man replied, “I’ve been working too hard to take the time.”

(Illustration from William D. Boyd, Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome).

Hopefully this young man learned the valuable lesson about keeping his axe sharp.  Interestingly, even Solomon spoke about the futility of working with a dulled tool: “If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength.  Wisdom has the advantage of giving success” (Ecclesiastes 10:10).

There is great value in keeping all of our tools sharp, especially our spiritual tools.  Tools like faith, love, prayer, Bible study, and church attendance.  Like the young man on the logging crew, we often use the excuse about being too busy and not having enough time to participate in these activities.  In this fast paced society, we must find the time.  When these aspects begin to fade in our lives, it is a sign that our spiritual tools are becoming dull.  Soon we begin fruitlessly working against ourselves.

Is it time to sharpen your spiritual axe?  As Solomon stated back in Ecclesiastes 10:10, we would be wise to keep ourselves sharp, because only then can we achieve spiritual success.

For a few days now, everyone in Denver has been anticipating the huge snowstorm heading our way.  Blizzard warnings have been put out across the area.  Supermarkets have been packed with people stocking up on last minute groceries.  Schools and businesses have shut down.  Everyone has been bracing for the storm.  With nine inches of snow outside and the snowfall just getting started, it’s safe to say the storm has arrived.

It’s interesting how much effort people are taking to prepare for the snowstorm.  People always want to make sure they aren’t caught off guard and find themselves in a troubling situation.  It seems sad, however, that so much effort to put towards preparation for a snowstorm, but very little is put towards preparation for the next life.

Matthew 25 is all about preparation for the judgment day.  The chapter starts with a couple of examples of proper and improper preparation.  In one example, some of the virgins brought enough oil when waiting for the Lord, but others didn’t (1-13).  In another example, some servants of the Master used their talents properly, but one didn’t (14-30).  Then verses 31-46 talk about the judgment day itself.  It talks about how there will be only two groups, those who are saved and those who are lost.

There were plenty of warnings about this snowstorm.  Chances are, most people were prepared.  There are even more warnings about the judgment day in Scripture, but only the Lord knows how many will be found prepared.  The good news is, we can all be prepared.  Let’s all make sure we are not caught off guard and unprepared for that day.

Jake Reilly, a 24-year-old copywriting student made a bold decision.  He suspended his cell phone service, deactivated all social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, Spotify, etc), quit watching TV, and even put up an “out of office” automated message on his two email accounts.  His goal was to see what life would be like to live completely unplugged for three months.

You may be asking, “Why?”  He made this decision when he and his two roommates had their best friends come into town.  These were friends they only saw once a year or so.  All six of them sat down to watch a basketball game.  Jake looked around and noticed every single person had out a laptop or cell phone.  No one was talking to each other or really even watching the game.  One was playing Words With Friends, another Angry Birds, and another was doing online trivia.  Jake observed, “This was what we were all looking forward to, and we’re just sitting here numbing our minds” (Yahoo News).  Reilly then made the decision to go off the grid for the next three months.

He had to walk across the street to the hospital to use the telephone.  He began writing letters with actual paper, ink, and hand cramps.  He began riding his bike around the city.  He would even meet with friends to have actual face-to-face conversations.  He began connecting with people and building lasting relationships and memories.  Doing this even helped Jake reconnect with his long-time girlfriend, a relationship that had become almost nonexistent.  Cutting off electronics for three months changed the way Jake viewed life.  He came to realize that these tools can be great, but we need to be aware of the way we negatively use them and how harmful they can be to our relationship with others and ourselves.

I don’t know about you, but I have often been guilty of pouring my time and energy into the black hole of technology and social media.  I’m not saying all of this is bad.  Many of the social media tools we have are awesome.  In fact, these tools have allowed us to reach and teach people about Christ like never before.  But there must be a limit.  It’s just so easy to get sucked into pointless games, videos, information, etc.  How often do we, after playing Angry Birds for an hour, say, “Wow, that sure was a memorable, enriching, and beneficial experience”?

I think we have to ask ourselves some hard questions.  If we cut down the amount of time we spent using technology and social media…

• How much more productive would we be at work, school, home, etc?
• How much better could our relationship with our parents, spouse, of friends be?
• How much better could our relationship with the Lord be?

Clearly there are some changes that need to be made.  So, what can we do to fix this?  Here are a few challenges for all of us (including myself) to implement.

1. Turn Off All Technology During Family Time.  This means during meals and at restaurants.  This means during family outings, games, hikes, devotionals, etc.  Actually spend time talking about your day and building relationships.  Often I see couples at restaurants (young and old) glued to their phones without saying a single word to each other.  What kind of relationship is that building?
2. Start Giving Full Attention To People.  Put down the phones and computers and give someone your 100%, undivided attention.  One of the largest problems in marriages and relationships is communication.  Half-listening while retreating to our phones, TVs, and computers surely isn’t helping.  What is so important on the phone, TV, or computer that we are sacrificing our relationships for it?
3. Choose a Time to Unplug.  Just get away from it all.  Maybe this is once a month, maybe this is once a week.  It’s hard to realize how addicted we are to technology until we actually step away from it.  We will learn a lot about ourselves, how dependant or addicted we are, and how much time we are wasting.

With so many distractions from technology and social media, it has become so easy to get distracted from our purpose in this life.  Christ said to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and also to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37, 39).  Is the way we use technology hurting this purpose?  Is the amount of time we spend using technology hurting this purpose (Ephesians 5:15-16)?  If so, I hope and pray we will make the necessary changes.

Take a good look at the picture above.  This photo is a scaled down version of the highest resolution image taken of the earth to date (8000 x 8000 pixels).  This image was captured from NASA’s most recently launched Earth-observing satellite, the Suomi NPP.  We have all seen pictures of this beautiful planet we live on, but this one seems so much more colorful and breathtaking.  Every detail is crisp and vibrant.  What a strikingly majestic place we live on.

God spent six days making the universe.  After He made everything, “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good…” (Genesis 1:31).  It’s hard to imagine a person looking at this earth and still claiming, “There is no God!”  In fact, God Himself crafted everything in such a way to combat such claims.  Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”  He wants people to see what He made and know that He does exist and He wants something from us.  To put it simply, He wants us to follow and obey Him (Matthew 7:21-27; James 1:22-25).

Our God is awesome!  He chose to make the earth and everything on it “very good.” Since the beauty of the world we live in now is so illustrious, we should be ecstatic when thinking about the place Christ is preparing in heaven (John 14:1-3; Revelation 21-22).  Let’s make sure we always find ourselves walking on that narrow path that leads to that wonderful place (Matthew 7:13-14; John 14:6).

Today I read the statement, “Life without God is like trying to dribble with a football.”  Have you ever tried to dribble a football?  Most of us would only get a bounce or two in before the ball would bounce off in a different direction.  Dribbling with a football is strange and awkward.  It’s simply not made for dribbling.  A basketball, on the other hand, is the perfect ball for dribbling.  It’s round and even.  It bounces back up into your hand.  It’s relatively easy and effortless to dribble with.  This is what it’s made for.

Everyday people go through their lives without God.  The problem is, these same people are fruitlessly searching for the meaning of life.  They turn to money, possessions, drugs, and sex before soon finding out it wasn’t the answer.  Can life be lived without following God?  Yes.  But that life will be empty, awkward, meaningless, and will result in eternal consequences (Matthew 7:21-23).

Solomon also experimented with all the pleasures life had to offer.  He had houses, vineyards, gardens, and other property.  He had flocks and herds.  He had many wives, concubines, and servants.  Not to mention, he had an absurd amount of gold, silver, and other precious materials.  He was extremely wealthy and prosperous.  But what was his response to all this?  “It’s all vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3).  It’s all pointless.

Everything we have is a moment closer to being destroyed by fire in the end (2 Peter 3:7, 10).  We can’t take any of it with us.  All that matters is our relationship with the Lord.  Life without the Lord is burdensome, hard, and awkward.  It takes terrible bounces without warning and leaves us feeling empty and exhausted.  Life without God is like trying to hammer in a screw.  It’s like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.  It’s like trying to dribble with a football.  On the other hand, life with the Lord feels light and guilt free, it feels natural, and well, it just feels good!  God made us to serve Him.  This is what we were made for!

No one in their right mind wants to participate in pointless activities.  So why continue this life without the Lord?  There is nothing more awkward and unnatural than life without God.  Let’s quit battling in ourselves and resisting Him.  Because in the end, there is no better use of our time and effort, there is nothing more natural, and there is nothing more valuable than following the Lord (Matthew 16:24-26).

The Italian cruise ship, Costa Concordia, was serving dinner to its guests.  The cruise had been going according to plan and everyone was enjoying this enormous luxury ocean liner.  This is when tragedy struck.  The ship began taking in water and turned on its side.  Everyone was now in severe danger.  The next few hours were filled with panic and chaos.  Ever since this disaster occurred a week ago, people have been asking, “How did this happen?”  To put it simply, the captain was sailing too close to the shore.

Time and time again people flirt with the boundaries.  We bend and twist the rules.  We push ourselves and others to the breaking point.  We get in the face of danger to see what happens.  People are constantly putting themselves too close to crisis.  The Costa Concordia is just the latest example.  The captain had no business being so close to shore.  He is currently facing charges on manslaughter, causing a shipwreck by sailing too close to shore, and abandoning ship.

Far too often Christians flirt with sin.  We put ourselves in bad situations and think we won’t be affected.  I don’t know how many times I have heard the words, “Well, ______ doesn’t really affect me.”  We are lying to ourselves.  Maybe it’s when we don’t feel we are being affected by something (bad movies, language, sexual content, lewd music, money, etc) that we are in the most danger.

Ephesians 4:27 says, “Do not give the devil a foothold.”  This is exactly what we are doing when we allow ourselves to get too close to sin.  Let the Costa Concordia serve as a reminder that we really don’t know the dangers that could be hiding beneath the surface just waiting to destroy us.  Let’s stay safe and sound.  The only place this can be found is with the Lord.

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