Coming to the Still Waters

Today is an in between chapter devotional or pastor's thoughts.  We will move on to chapter 12, the final chapter, of Ecclesiastes on Monday.  Today I want to talk about some things that we have been focusing on all year with the leadership of the church which also effects you. One principle that we have been focusing on is the raising of our evangelistic temperature.  The principle is to bring up our effort in sharing Christ with others just a degree.  Kevin Harney in  Organic Outreach For Ordinary People  describes it this way, "Every follower of Jesus has an outreach temperature.  It can be hot, cold, or somewhere in the middle.  This temperature impacts the way we live and interact with those who are far from God.  It is our responsibility to steward this temperature and seek to raise it so our hearts burn hotter for those who are lost." Is that happening here?  Is our outreach temperature rising at the church?  Is ...

The walls of Jericho are coming down today.  Thanks for following along on this year journey through the Bible.  --Adam--

Today's verses are Ecclesiastes 11:7-10, which read, v.7 - The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun. I am hoping today is like what Solomon is describing here.  May it be a day when the sun is shining and we can walk and see the new life coming up out of the ground.  We long for days that we describe at the end of the day as  "a good day."    Those good days have their purpose because if you have good days then you are also going to have some bad days. v.8 - Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many.  Everything that is to come will be futility. To know it is a good day is to have a bad day to compare it to.  Solomon brings us back down to earth that if you live a long time then you are going to experience some of them.  But the bad days also have a purpose in remembering them.  Maybe you remember them and tha...

A wet day is ahead of us.  I hate this when it lands on my "day off."  But it is spring and the ground is getting ready for us to do something with it.  We finish the book of Deuteronomy in our reading of the Bible today.  It is also the completion of the books of the Law, the Torah, or sometimes referred to as the Pentateuch.  Have a great day wherever you are.  --Adam--

Today's verses are Ecclesiastes 11:1-6, which read, v.1 - Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days. I guess this is a reference of throwing seed on a wet ground to see if it will grow.  The seed would be of a grain, probably wheat, which would be eventually become bread.  This farmer does so but it doesn't take at this time but it was a test run.  Maybe it was too wet or maybe the seed was no good.  I idea is that a step was taken in a certain direction to see if a next step in the direction is taken.  And so we have that phrase in our culture to  "cast your bread on the water."   So much comes from the Bible and it begs the question,  "What is he testing?" v.2 - Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth. The testing is in the area of generosity.  This person is dividing up the his reserves in portions to be able to give...

Good morning all.  We wake up to snow on the ground in northern Illinois and also to the fact that another Palm Sunday has come upon us.  Have a great day and here is what was said on the local radio station this morning.  --Adam--

Today is an in between chapter devotional and actually just some of my thoughts after having Ron Mangin here over the weekend.  We will pick up Ecclesiastes chapter 11 on Monday. I was able to hear Ron on Sunday morning along with all of you.  I then was able to go to Ottawa at noon and sit in on the 1st Presbyterian Church's  "future cast"  team and listen in on another group of committed Christians talk about the outreach of their church with Ron.  Then I was back to OUC for the 5 p.m. seminar with our church, those that gathered to hear more about evangelism/discipleship in the life of the church in the 21st century.  We had Ron over for dinner following the conversation continued.  Then next morning, Monday, I was with him to meet with any of the area pastors here that I have been meeting with.  Bill Jacobsen was the only to accept the invitation but I got to observe Ron in a situation when only one came.  That time was followed ...

Today's verses are Ecclesiastes 10:16-20, which reads, v.16,17 - Woe to you, O land, whose king is a lad and whose princes feast in the morning.  Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate times--for strength and not for drunkenness. We have two opposing statements given here by Solomon.  The first is a woe and the second is a blessing.  We have seen that Jesus follows this example of teaching also in the New Testament.  The woe is where leadership is naive, the king is a lad, and those following after, the princes, are apparently feasting at the wrong time or whenever they like.  The blessing is where leadership is honorable, the king is noble, and those following after, the princes, are using self-control in their decision making and eating at the appropriate times and not getting drunk. How the leadership goes and those following in the steps of the leadership determines the woe or the blessing of ...

Today's verses are Ecclesiastes 10:11-15, which read, v.11 - If the serpent bits before being charmed, there is not profit for the charmer. The serpent is dangerous.  The serpent seeks to bite.  The serpent needs to be tamed.  It needs to be controlled by the charmer.  If the charmer isn't about charming his snake then the snake bites himself and maybe others and the profit that could be earned will be lost.  You pay to see the charmer charm the serpent and seem to have power over it.  The charmer needs to be on his game to keep from getting bit by the serpent or the serpent biting other paying customers.  Attention to detail is very important. v.12, 13 - Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him; the beginning of his talking is folly and the end of it is a wicked madness. If we tie the word picture with the proverb or wisdom that follows then the words of the wise or the words of the fool is...

Sunday has rolled around again and just a couple more before the BIG SUNDAY of Christ's resurrection.  Here is another episode of "Down To The River."   Hope you have a great Lord's Day.   --Adam--

Today's verses are Ecclesiastes 10:5-10, which read, v.5-7 - There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which goes forth from the ruler--folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places.  I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land. Solomon has experienced some ironies in his observations under the sun.  He calls them evil.  The first is a ruler who makes a judgment that is in error.  This error would be something out his definition of a ruler who thinks not of himself but of his constituents.  I think in the New Testament of the Pharisees and scribes who created a religious system that benefited them and not those they were suppose to be serving.  To be a ruler was to serve others and not use the position to serve yourself.   Another is when rich men sit in humble places while fools are in places of exaltation.  The rich men would represent those who are f...

Another funeral to conduct this weekend.  It seems that I am doing many of these.  We start the book of Deuteronomy today and we are catching up with ourselves in Luke with the Sunday preaching series.  Pray for me to communicate Jesus' gospel clearly this weekend.  --Adam--

Today's verses are Ecclesiastes 10:1-4, which read, v.1 - Dead flies make a perfumer's oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor. Those pesky flies.  At this time of year you find them dead on the window sills.  They bother you by buzzing your head and they are attracted to what you are trying to eat.  They hover over whatever is sweet like the perfumer's oil and then land but to their death and therefore decompose and corrupt what was meant to please.  They make things unusable.  They are little but the little overpowers the big item. Solomon is using the smallness of the fly to represent foolishness and how it effects the weightier and larger in important item of wisdom and honor.  A little foolishness contaminants what should be the sweet smelling soothing oil of wisdom.  What wisdom was suppose to do, it can't because a little foolishness has come into the picture.  We are preoccupied with this little b...