Four colleagues collaborating around sketches and laptops beside an idea workshop board

The Great Worth of Hard Work

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“A man is praised for his insight, but a twisted mind is despised. Better to be disregarded, yet have a servant, than to act important but have no food. The righteous cares about his animal’s health, but even the merciful acts of the wicked are cruel. The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks sense. The wicked desire what evil people have caught, but the root of the righteous is productive. By rebellious speech an evil person is trapped, but a righteous person escapes from trouble. A person will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth, and the work of a person’s hands will reward him.” (Proverbs‬ ‭12‬:‭8‬-‭14‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

The American Dream takes a few different forms, but most of them envision someone working hard and achieving wealth and success by that hard work. There are also versions that celebrate a person’s doing this all on their own with a pioneering spirit. This is the whole pulling-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps thing. As followers of Jesus, while we cannot get on board with the idea that we don’t need a community to be successful, the idea that we should work hard and experience some version of success by our hard work is something behind which we can throw our full support. The proverbs point to that more than once, including here in this next batch. Let’s take a look.

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The Cry for Forgiveness

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This week we are kicking off a brand-new teaching series. For the next few weeks we are going to be looking at forgiveness. We’ll explore this important idea from a variety of different angles including our cry to God for it, where it comes from, how it works, and what it looks like when we have received it. If forgiveness is something you need more of in your life – whether offering it or receiving it – this is series you won’t want to miss. We’ll start today with a look at the natural cry for forgiveness found on our lips when we have sinned in some way and broken a relationship. Guiding us in our journey will be David’s writings in Psalm 51. Let’s dive in.

The Cry for Forgiveness

When I was little I watched a lot of TV. It was mostly cartoons. There aren’t too many cartoons I didn’t watch growing up. That was before they started making adult cartoons, so I wasn’t really in much danger in that regard. I loved cartoons. I still do. Because of this, when I occasionally stepped out of line, one of the pressure points my parents could use as punishment was to take away TV for time. I remember one time when I had lost the privilege of watching TV for a week. I don’t have any idea what I had done, but I’m sure it was something that more than warranted the punishment. 

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Smiling couple walking through a busy evening street market

Becoming a Soulmate

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We’re going to go with a throwback post today. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about relationships and what it takes to really get them right. As a pastor, I tend to hear about everybody’s junk at some point. It may not be because they tell me about it directly, but I almost always manage to hear about it anyway. I can think of at least three couples who are at various points of struggling in their relationship without really trying. And, wouldn’t you know it, one of the posts that went live today almost ten years ago was a sermon I preached in a series on marriage. Our culture preaches the gospel of soulmates. According to this gospel, there is a person out there who is your soulmate. All you have to do is find them, and everything will be sunshine and rainbows from that point forward. And yet, what if something happens that leaves you thinking the person you thought was yours…isn’t anymore? Does that mean you were wrong this whole time? Nope, it means you’ve been thinking about it wrong the whole time. Let’s talk a walk down the blog’s memory lane today and have a conversation about relationships and marriage that still feels remarkably fresh almost ten years later.

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Volunteers gardening; sign reads “URBAN ÖLYMPUS COMMUNITY GARDEN – FEEDING OUR NEIGHBORS.”

Faithful Words and Righteous Living

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“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but one who hates correction is stupid. One who is good obtains favor from the Lord, but he condemns a person who schemes. No one can be made secure by wickedness, but the root of the righteous is immovable. A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a wife who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones. The thoughts of the righteous are just, but guidance from the wicked is deceitful. The words of the wicked are a deadly ambush, but the speech of the upright rescues them. The wicked are overthrown and perish, but the house of the righteous will stand.” (Proverbs‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

I was watching a new Batman cartoon the other day. In the episode, a crime boss was being threatened by a man he had ruined publicly and psychologically. The crime boss lived in a huge mansion guarded by more than a dozen well-armed and well-paid men. He scoffed at a warning call he received to take cover because he believed himself to be secure. He wasn’t. If he had listened to Solomon here, he might have been okay. His perceived security was all rooted in his wickedness, yet wickedness provided no real security at all. Let’s talk about this and the other proverbs in this first set from Proverbs 12.

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Courtroom debate with judge, attorneys, spectators, and “EVOLUTION ON TRIAL” sign

Cause and Effect

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“The one who brings ruin on his household will inherit the wind, and a fool will be a slave to someone whose heart is wise. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, but a cunning person takes lives. If the righteous will be repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and sinful.” (Proverbs‬ ‭11‬:‭29‬-‭31‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

I remember my parents taking me to see the play “Inherit the Wind” when I was at an age I could understand and appreciate it. It is a badly revisionist, historically inaccurate, Darwinism propagandist retelling of the story of the Scopes Monkey Trial. To be fair, they didn’t know any of that then and neither did I, and it was a really entertaining play. I mention that because it borrows its title from the first proverbs of this next batch. Given both the intent of the play, the actual history it reimagines, and where history has gone since, it is an ironically appropriate title. Let’s talk about that and the last few proverbs of chapter 11.

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