A WHOLE MAN

2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine;  3 your anointing oils are fragrant; your name is oil poured out; therefore virgins love you.  Song of Solomon 1:2-3  Don’t worry, you are in the right place. You did not stumble across a blog for 50 Shades of whatever, nor did you come across an article hyper-sexualizing everything under the sun. Now that we got that out of the way, I love my wife. She is amazingly beautiful and precious and when I read Song of Songs it makes me wonder what sort of descriptive words I would use to describe her. For me, words fall short to the love I have for her because she is the most wonderful gift that God has given to me apart from His Son. And that drives me to love and cherish her and be gentle with her as I long to lead her in such a way so that I present her back to God unblemished. And there are no shortages of analogies used by Solomon in describing the love he has for his...

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.  Hebrews. 8:7 (ESV)  Growing up as a child the kids in my area lived by a set of codes. And everyone knew that you must obey this code and never break it. You may be wondering what that code is, well here are a couple of the codes we lived by. If someone dared you to do something, you better do it. If you spoke at the same time as someone else, and they called ‘Jinx’ on you before you did, you weren’t allowed to speak until someone said your name. If someone tagged you as ‘It’, you were it. No whining about it, just start chasing. Of course, I no longer follow this code… unless I really want to. Why? Because it was silly and just something you did as a child. I outgrew and it had no bearing on my life any more. The covenants, however, that the author of Hebrews highlights is not similar to my childish code set. Why? Well for one, this is a covenant that is made bet...

11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.  Genesis 38:11 (ESV) Growing up as the middle child I was often asked if I was the forgotten one. Apparently, that is a real experience for many middle children. They are not the eldest nor are they the baby child and so, being stuck in the middle, I guess they are not thought of. That was not really my experience; although I do recall a specific family road trip where I had awoken to the smell of McDonalds french fries. The good news, I was right about the french fries. The bad news, they had stopped to eat McDonalds and just left me asleep in the van and there was no food for me. So, if being the middle child means having your whole family eat dinner inside of a McDonalds, not going through the drive-thru, but eating inside while you are asleep in the car is...

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.  Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 We have all been there…stuck. Stuck talking to a person who drones on and on with no hope of escape. You try to casually step back, but just as soon as you move back the distance gap is closed. Some people just really like to talk and it seems like there really is no point at all to what they are saying. Maybe so far you are thinking to this introduction to the blog post is kind of like that.  Perhaps, as tou were going through the book of Ecclesiastes you were thinking the same thing. Seeking in this wisdom book the point of it all, the purpose of life. And one by one, like dominoes everything that you thought would be the ultimate source of satisfaction was toppled over. Whether it was wealth, wisdom, satisfaction of sexual desires,...

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”  Matthew 26:26-29 In the very early days of the church, there was much confusion around Christianity; much like there is today. Initially, the Roman Empire viewed Christianity as just another sect of Judaism and so Christians experienced a bit of peace and quiet. This was definitely one of the factors that led to the quick widespread of Christianity because it was considered a religio licita , an approved religion, under the Roman Empire. But it was not very long until it was re-classed a...

25 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.  Genesis 29:25-26 (ESV)   There is a story about a boy who was sitting on a park bench with an older gentleman on the other end of the bench. As the story goes, the man reached over and grabbed the cookie that was sitting in between them. The boy was flabbergasted at the audacity of this stranger to take a bite out of his cookie! So, he grabbed the cookie and jeered at the man and took a bite before putting it back down on the napkin as if to say, “don’t touch my cookie”. The man just watched the boy and then picked up the cookie and took another bite. They continued to do this until the cookie was all gone at which point the man stood up and left. The boy was so upset and couldn’t believe how rude this man c...

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:  2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;  3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;  4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;  6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;  7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;  8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.  Ecclesiastes 3:1-8  If understood incorrectly, one might assume that Solomon is suggesting that life is full of contradictions. But I assure you that this is no Starburst commercial (see: Starburst Commercial ). Solomon is e...

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21–22 While at a stop light on my way home from church, I was rear ended. That’s right, no lead up, I am diving right into the story. I was rattled a bit and somewhat annoyed that I was going to have to deal with this and with insurance providers, but I stepped out calmly and checked on the other driver and our vehicles. We decided we would both pull into a nearby gas station and exchange information so that we were not blocking the flow of traffic. And as I turned into the gas station, the other driver put the pedal to the metal and drove off. I tried to catch him, but by the time I was able to pull out of the station and into the neighborhood he had turned into, he was long gone. I was angry. More than angry, I was furious! He had lied to my face and had no...

"Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." Genesis 9:6 (ESV)  Anything coconut flavored, mustard as a condiment, and playing golf are some of things that I probably will never understand why people do. But these are just trivial things and they ultimately do not matter in the grand scheme of things. However, one action which is even more confounding, and breaks my heart severely, is watching a mother while I am preaching at an abortion mill enter into the clinic and leave as a mother of a dead child. How a person could convince themselves that this is the best and only course of action is beyond my comprehension. How they feel no pang, or willingly quench the conviction in their hearts as they murder their own child devastates me. Unfortunately, this is an area of ministry which is overlooked by many Christians. An area of ministry that many with their mouths profess disgust, but by their actions contradict th...

24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner He gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.  Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 (ESV)  At the time of this writing, Bill Gates, one of the richest men alive is worth an estimated $94 Billion. That is a lot of money! And, while that is an unimaginable amount of money, there was another man who was worth a great deal more. John D. Rockefeller is considered to be one of the richest persons in modern history. He was the first ever American billionaire and would have been worth $340 Billion today by one estimate; that is $246 Billion more than Bill Gates. One quote tha...

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” Matthew 8:18-22 (ESV) On my 30th Birthday, one of the gifts that my wife gave me was a T-Shirt that read, “If I am not playing Board Games, I am thinking about them”. And if you know me, you know that I love playing board games. I love that every game is a bit different and requires you to think in a unique manner depending on the current conditions of the game. Your mission is always the same, to win. But how you accomplish the mission is variable, it is affected by past decisions and decisions made by your opponents. An...

"But for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell." Genesis 4:5 (ESV) In yesterday's reading, we learned in Genesis of the account of Cain and Abel. It is a sorrowful, destructive story about the first fratricide in the history of mankind. If only that were the end of Cain's wickedness, but what we discover is that the evil of Cain continues to greater depths. In Genesis 4:9, God asks Cain "Where is Abel your brother?" Cain is put in a situation that is familiar to us readers. It is the same as his father, Adam, when Adam was asked in the garden, "Who told you that you were naked?" Adam is given the opportunity to tell the truth but he shifts the blame to Eve in an effort to conceal his sin. And like father, like son Cain is given an opportunity to come clean and tell the truth. Instead, we read how he tries to conceal his sin by responding, "I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?" I...

"Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity." Ecclesiastes 1:2 (ESV) Happy New Year Everyone! What a somber text of Scripture to be selected for the opening Blog article for the new year! Why would it even be appropriate for us to have this in the Scriptures? This does not motivate us or cause us to stand up and scream in excitement. It does not create in us incalculable energy to take on the new year. If anything, it is about as enjoyable as flooding rain on a ticker tape parade. And yet, we open the year in our Bible Reading plan with these words found in the book of Ecclesiastes. In the New Year, many of us are caught up in a whirlwind of emotion and enthusiasm for how we will conquer the new year. For some, it means finally starting, and finishing, the diet we had planned so many years ago. Or actually using the gym membership we purchased for longer than 3 months. Others may have other activities they plan to accomplish as the...