Category: Uncategorized

  • Proverbs 21:23 – Shhh

    Proverbs 21:23 – Shhh

    Those who are careful about what they say keep themselves out of trouble. – Proverbs 21:23 NCV

    The tongue is a very powerful tool. James 3:3-5 tells us it equal to a horseman’s bit or a ship’s rudder. It literally can change the direction of the world:

    3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can control their whole bodies.4 Also a ship is very big, and it is pushed by strong winds. But a very small rudder controls that big ship, making it go wherever the pilot wants.5 It is the same with the tongue. It is a small part of the body, but it brags about great things. – NCV

    One of my kid’s three rules that we went over each morning before school was to keep his mouth closed during class. I’m not sure that I ever mentioned that this was Solomon’s advice too.

  • Proverbs 20:27 – Lamp of God

    The Lord looks deep inside people and searches through their thoughts. – Proverbs 20:27 NCV

    The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, Searching all his innermost parts. – Proverbs 20:27 ASV

    I include the NCV rendering of this verse for consistency with the rest of the articles on this blog, but the ASV is closer to the original language. The Spirit read here is the same “breath of life” given to Adam in Genesis 2:7. It is our soul, our consciousness, the intrinsic knowledge that God is in us.

    Philosophers from the beginning have reasoned correctly that there is a God – even before they were introduced to Him. Those who have reasoned against God’s existence were never truly happy or settled in this life. That is our spirit at work.

  • Proverbs 19:14 – My Wife

    Proverbs 19:14 – My Wife

    Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a wise wife is a gift from the Lord. – Proverbs 19:14 NCV

    The wife I was blessed with could have only come from God.

  • Proverbs 15:14 – Fertile Fields

    Proverbs 15:14 – Fertile Fields

    People with understanding want more knowledge, but fools just want more foolishness. – Proverbs 15:14 NCV

    This Proverb reminds me of the idea of the mind being like a fertile field that will return anything you plant in it. If you plant corn you get corn, if you plant nightshade, you get a deadly poison. You can’t get something from the harvest you did not plant. You cannot harvest understanding from feeding the mind the foolishness we have access to today.

  • Max on Life by Max Lucado

    “Max on Life” is laid out in a question and answer format to present “Answers and Insights to Your Most Important Questions.” Per the Introduction, some answers have appeared in previous books and some are only now “pageworthy.” The 172 questions and answers are grouped into the seven categories of: Hope; Hurt; Help; Him/Her; Home; Haves/Have-Nots; and Hereafter.

    While the author clearly has a talent for writing – especially in his ability to provide parable-like stories and personal life-examples in the responses – with the large audience that this author has amassed over his many years of writing, it is unfortunate and in error that in matters of Salvation he does not provide the complete scriptural plan. The answers stop at “Believe.” Since it is baptism that puts you into Christ, in matters of salvation it is essential for each of us to turn to Scripture for our answers, examples and authority. A successful life is living a life that gets you to heaven. We would all do well to follow the example of the Bereans in Acts 17:11 (KJV) that “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

    There are some answers where the author does get it right scripturally, but as for recommending this book as a sound reference, I cannot. The risk of leading one soul away from heaven is too great.

    Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

     

  • Do “Things” Make Happiness?

    Today I’ll simply point to an article by Dr Thomas Stanley (The Millionaire Next Door) describing how one millionaire family lives.

    http://www.thomasjstanley.com/blog-articles/131/A_Millionaire_Profile.html

    I don’t know their religious backgrounds but they seem to bring us a living example of “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”  1 Timothy 6:6