Arbour Meadows Comm Church - The Pastor's Journal

Life is Short

2012-05-28T22:51:46Z

This week is a special reminder to all (especially the young) that decisions that you make today can affect your life in the years to come. Here's a great question to ask before all decisions we make, "Is this the wise thing to do?"

Have a great week,

Jerry

Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 (ESV)

⁹Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
¹⁰Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Memorial Day

2012-05-20T19:14:39Z

On May 28th, we take time to remember those that have fallen in battle to provide the freedom that we enjoy in this country. We need to take time to remember that our freedom is not free, it costs... a lot.

Also, as Christians, let's remember the One that came to truly set us free.

John 8:31-36 (ESV)
³¹So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
³³They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
³⁴Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.
³⁵The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.
³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Have a great week,

Jerry

Mother's Day

2012-05-13T10:03:29Z

Today is a day to honor the one that made our lives possible, our mom. Far too often moms are taken for granted. A look at some greeting cards really hammers home this idea: Forget the housework, Mom. It’s your day. Besides, you can always do double duty and catch up on Monday!

Let's make sure that we take time to honor our moms today. Make a phone call, take her out to eat, get her flowers, by all means let her know that she is special.

Maybe there is someone reading this that does not have a warm, fuzzy feeling when they think of their mom. One of God's Top Ten says to "Honor your father and mother that your days may be long on the earth." I would encourage you to find something to honor her for... even if it is just the fact that you wouldn't be here without her.

I thank God for my Godly mother.

Have a great week,

Jerry

Good Luck, Safety First

2012-05-06T17:47:26Z

How do luck and safety go together? When we combine Biblical principles of wise living with the ministry of the Holy Spirit we are on our way to living a wise life. Ecclesiastes 10:8-11:6 gives wise insights for wise living.

Have a great week,

Jerry

Ecclesiastes 11:5-6 (ESV)
⁵As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
⁶In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

Why the Idiots are Winning

2012-04-29T20:14:25Z

Ecclesiastes 10:1-3 (ESV)
¹Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
²A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left.
³Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, and he says to everyone that he is a fool.

The Three Stooges movie came out recently... funny stuff... unless it happens in real life. Solomon continues to tell us, in Ecclesiastes 9:13-10:7, that wisdom is better than folly. However, the reality is it only takes one imbecile to mess things up, but cheer up God and His people eventually win out over the "idiots."

Have a great week,

Jerry

Carpe Vitam

2012-04-22T18:06:51Z

Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 (ESV)
⁷Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.
⁸Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.
⁹Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.

Carpe vitam means "seize life", that's what God is telling us to do in Ecclesiastes 9:1-12. Solomon tells us to not waste the days of our life and that we should enjoy life. Kind of like the saying, "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him."

Have a great week,

Jerry

The Good Life

2012-04-17T15:54:00Z

Ecclesiastes 8:14-15 (ESV)
¹⁴There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.
¹⁵And I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

How can we live "The Good Life" in a world that where bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people? Solomon gives us some ideas in Ecclesiastes 8:2-17. We can enjoy the good life and that's what we'll find out at church this week. See you there.

Have a great week,

Jerry

Things are Bad

2012-03-11T12:31:27Z

Ecclesiastes 6:1-2 (ESV)
¹There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind:
²a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil.

One of the questions to ponder in life is, "What is true wealth?" When I ask that I mean as defined by God's Word. True wealth is not so much what you have or how much... but rather do you enjoy what you have?

Short post but a very important question. You see as John Piper has said, "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him."

Have a great week,

Jerry

Dancing with Myself

2012-02-11T06:34:57Z

Ecclesiastes 4:4-8 (ESV)
⁴Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
⁵The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.
⁶Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.
⁷Again, I saw vanity under the sun:
⁸one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business.

These verses from Ecclesiastes list four main reasons that we have lousy relationships: Envy, laziness, overwork, and dissatisfaction. Any of these sound familiar? They sure do to me... much more than I would care to admit. That's what I love about the book of Ecclesiastes, it tackles the common problems that we deal with head on.

See you Sunday as we continue our search for answers.

Jerry