The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

What profit has a man from all his labor

In which he toils under the sun?

One generation passes away, and another generation comes;

But the earth abides forever.

The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,

And hastens to the place where it arose.

The wind goes toward the south,

And turns around to the north;

The wind whirls about continually,

And comes again on its circuit.

All the rivers run into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full;

To the place from which the rivers come,

There they return again.

All things are full of labor;

Man cannot express it.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing,

Nor the ear filled with hearing.

That which has been is what will be,

That which is done is what will be done,

And there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there anything of which it may be said,

“See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.

There is no remembrance of former things,

Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come

By those who will come after.

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

posted by john d.

SPURGEON’S PRACTICAL WISDOM - On More Spending

I suppose we all find the money goes quite fast enough, but after all is was made to circulate, and there’s no use in hoarding it. It is bad to see our money become a runaway servant, and leave us, but it would be worse to have it stop with us and become our master. We should try, as our minister says, ‘to find the golden mean’, and neither be lavish nor stingy. He has his money best spent who has the best wife. The husband may earn money, but only the wife can save it. “A wise women buildeth her house, but the foolish plucketh it down with here hands’. The wife it seems, according to Solomon, is the builder or the real puller downer. A man cannot prosper till he gets his wife’s leave. A thrifty housewife is better than a great income. A good wife and health are a man’s best wealth. Bless their hearts, what should we do without them? It is said they like to have their own way, but then the proverb says, a wife ought to have her will during life, because she cannot make one when she dies. The weather is so melting that I cannot keep up this talk any longer, and therefore I shall close with an old-fashioned rhyme-

Heaven bless the wives, they fill our hives-

With little bees and honey!

They soothe life’s shocks, they mend our socks-

But don’t they spend the money!

posted by Delores D.

SPURGEON’S PRACTICAL WISDOM On Spending

As soon as the spendthrift gets his estate it goes like a lump of butter in a greyhound’s mouth. All his days are the first of April; he would buy an elephant at a bargain, or thatch his house with pancakes, nothing is too foolish to tickle his fancy; his money burns holes in his pocket, and he must squander it, all the while boasting that his motto is, ‘Spend, and God will send.’ He will not stay till he has his sheep before he shears them; he forestalls his income, draws upon his capital, and so kills the goose which lays the golden eggs, and cries out, ‘Who would have thought it?’ He never spares at the brim, but he means, he says to save at the bottom. He borrows at high interest of Rob’em, Cheat’em, and Sell’em-up, and when gets cleaned out, he lays it all upon lawyers or else on the bad times.

posted by Delores D.

More MLJ

Regarding trials in the Christian life:

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:6,7

There is a superficial view of Christianity which would regard (trials and temptations) as quite impossible, the kind of view of the Christian life which simply says that all the problems have gone and now 'I am happy all the day'. Such people cannot accept Peter's description for a moment and would say of any Christian who is 'in heaviness' that it is doubtful whether he is a Christian at all. There is that teaching concerning the Christian life which gives the impression that once one has arrived at a decision, or once one has been converted, there are no more troubles, no ripples on the sea of life. Everything is perfect and there are no problems whatsoever. Now the simple answer to that view is that it is not New Testament Christianity. That is the kind of thing which the cults have always offered and which modern psychology is also offering.

...we must look at the Christian life in this way. We are walking through this world under the eye of our heavenly Father. That is the fundamental thing, the Christian must think of himself as in a peculiar relationship to God. This is not true of anyone who is not a Christian. There is a very definite plan and purpose for the whole of my life, God has looked upon me, God has adopted me and put me into His family. What for? In order that He may bring me to perfection. That is His objective - 'that you may be made (more and more) conformable to the image of His dear Son'. That is what He is doing. The Lord Jesus Christ is bringing many sons unto God, saying: 'Behold I and the children that Thou hast given me'. If we do not start with that fundamental conception of ourselves as Christians, we are bound to go astray, and we are certain to misunderstand these things.

The doctrine of the Scriptures is, at the very lowest, that God permits these things to happen to us. I go further, God at times orders these things to happen to us for our good. He may do it sometimes in order to chastise us. He chastises us for our slackness and for our failure. We were looking in the previous chapter at the failure of the Christian to discipline himself. Peter exhorts the Christians to discipline themselves, to add to their faith, to furnish out their faith, not merely to be content with a bare minimum but to let it be a full-orbed faith. We may not pay heed to that exhortation, we may persist in our slackness and in our indolence. Well, as I understand the New Testament doctrine, if we do that we must not be surprised if things begin to happen to us. We must not be surprised if God begins to chastise us. The argument in Hebrews 12 is as strong as this: 'Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth'. If you have not known chastisement I doubt whether you have ever been a Christian. If you can say that since you have believed you have never had any trouble at all, your experience is probably psychological and not spiritual. There is a realism about Christianity, as I said at the beginning and it goes so far as to teach that God, for our good, will chastise us if we pay no heed to the exhortations and the appeals of the Scripture. God has other methods also. He does not do these things to those who are outside the family, but if they are His children He will chastise them for their own good. So we may be experiencing manifold trials as part of our chastisement. I am not saying it is inevitable, I say it may be so.


From the book "Spiritual Depression, Its Causes and Cure" by Martin Lloyd-Jones. Published in Great Britain by Pickering Publishers, 1965 (pgs. 219-220 and 224-225).

posted by john d.

To Be "Missional"

The following was gleaned from the Berean Missional Church located in St. Paul. I thought their concept of missions was good so I'll pass it along. I especially like their emphasis upon a "...call away from our personal interest and toward others."

The term "Missional" refers to a God-centered, holistic understanding of the Great Commission. This idea is also seen in Christ's charge to His disciples: ". . . As the Father has sent me, I also send you" (John 20:21b). The implications of the mission's mandate for us are derived directly from the Trinitarian nature of God - Jesus sends us just as the Father sent Him (John 20:21-22). This emphasis causes Missional church members to see the church corporately and each individual as the instrument to fulfill God's mission.

As an example, the "Missional" church will embrace an understanding of participating in the mission of God as a call for every individual Christian to leave their place of security, and to travel to the place where others are. Missions, then, is always in the direction of the other, and away from ourselves. Some may take the imperative "Go" (Matt. 28:19) as a call to go overseas. Others may see the full God-centered "Missional" implication in that it is a call to "Go" to those in their own societies and overseas. In any event, it is a call away from our personal interests and toward others. The leaders of Berean Missional Church understand that our purpose is not to rework programs, but to rediscover our mission as the body of Christ. In short, we must become "Missional."

From the BMC website located at : http://www.bemissional.org/index.html

posted by john d.

Self-Destruction and God's Love

My regular routine in the morning includes reviewing some blogsites that have articles encouraging and/or informative. Among the best is the Pyromaniacs blogsite. I am often stimulated by their thoughtful biblical analysis of today's culture - Christian and otherwise. One such article was posted recently which questioned the "mass marketing" false teachers who recite the mantra of "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life" which may not be the truth.

I've noted that speaking the truth in love is not always easy nor is it willingly received as it is often perceived as harse or unkind when it in reality is the ultimate kindness. (I know, I know, there is a way we can intend to speak the truth in love when we are really expressing a harsh opinion...but I'm speaking here of having a true concern for the soul of recipient.)

Anyway, I've linked to a recent post by Dan Phillips regarding God "accepting you just as you are". Mr. Phillips proposes perhaps God is NOT accepting you as you are but is instead judging you just as you are.

Here is a small quotation from the article:

"These men (and women) take on the mantel of authority, stand in the pulpit, and tell every last one of their hearers unconditionally and without qualification that God loves them, accepts them just as they are, approves of their hopes and dreams and aspirations, and wants nothing more than He wants for them to be happy and fulfill their desires. ..... In fact — I have to say it; truth and love for God and you constrains me — He may well not accept you, just as you are, right now."


Read the whole article HERE.

Then let me know what you think.

posted by john d.

My Church or the Kingdom?

The following is from Ray Ortlund's blogsite (available here) where he responds to an interesting statement sometimes stated out loud but most often thought especially by those we call the "lone rangers" of Christianity who 'attend church' but never becomes committed enough to become a part of the local assembly of believers. (One often wonders if they are committed to anything.)




"My passion isn't to build up my church. My passion is for God's Kingdom."

Every heard someone say that? I have. It sounds large-hearted, but it's wrong. It can even be destructive.

Suppose I said, "My passion isn't to build up my marriage. My passion is for Marriage. I want the institution of marriage to be revered again. I'll work for that. I'll pray for that. I'll sacrifice for that. But don't expect me to hunker down in the humble daily realities of building a great marriage with my wife Jani. I'm aiming at something grander."

If I said that, would you think, "Wow, Ray is so committed"? Or would you wonder if I had lost my mind?

If you care about the Kingdom, be the kind of person who can be counted on in your own church. Join your church, pray for your church, tithe to your church, participate in your church every Sunday with wholehearted passion.

We build great churches the same way we build great marriages -- real commitment that makes a positive difference very day.

posted by john d.