The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty

"The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is
hasty comes surely to poverty" (Proverbs 21:5 NASB). Our society has fallen
into the trap of always being in a rush and people often end up wasting
their money and their resources because they are just looking for the easy
route and quick fixes. It is easier to go to a restaurant or get take out
than to cook a meal, but a home cooked meal is cheaper and more nutritious.
If it something breaks down its easier to just buy a new one than to fix it,
but we end up wasting money and throwing valuable items away. It is easier
to just spend your money until is gone instead of making a budget and
sticking to it, but we will often have to resort to credit when emergencies
or unremembered needs arise. We need to be good stewards and use our
resources with planning and diligence.

Jeremy Sprouse

Proverbs 21:4

"Haughty eyes and a proud heart, The lamp of the wicked, is sin" (Proverbs
21:4 NASB). What is in our hearts will light a path for our lives. We may be
trying to act humble, but if we are haughty and arrogant in our hearts it
will exhibit itself in sinful actions and treatment of others. We need to do
more than just act humble, we need to truly be humble in our hearts.

Jeremy Sprouse |

Great sermon illustrations for mother's day

With Mother's day just around the corner, I thought that a reminder about
our children might be appropriate. They are both a blessing and a challenge
to us. At times more of a blessing and other times more of a challenge.

Raising kids is like the joke told by a preachers' son to his father: "Hey
Dad, Want to hear a joke? What is red, very long, and you hear it right
before you go to sleep? Give up? A sermon!" Yep, that kid is a challenge at
that particular time.

How do we deal with our children? How can we find a way to understand them
in our mixed up world. In a book I just finished by Dr. Robert Mendelsohn,
MD, he listed these rules for understanding our children, (which I thought
were very good).

1. Children aren't adults, so don't expect them to behave as though they
were.
2. Children learn by doing, so don't expect to approve of everything they
do.
3. It is a rare child whose behavior equals his parents' expectations.
4. Children are more likely to do as you do than to do as you say.
5. Adolescence is a time when children learn to be adults by trying their
wings. They may need a leash, but never a cage.
6. It is often less important for parents to control their children's
behavior than it is for them to control their own.
7. Children react too anger; they respond to love and affection.
8. The pain you inflict on your children will probably be inflicted on
theirs.

The main thing he leaves out of this list is the need to teach them about
God, and not just teach them with words, but with our lives and actions. The
best thing we can do for our kids is to let them see our love for God and
our commitment to him, through our treatment of them.

Raising children is never easy, but often it is rewarding. Sometimes you
wonder if it is worth it, and then that magic moment comes along and lets
you know, yes, it is!

Paul gives us some general rules for both children and parents in Ephesians
6, notice what he says: "1 Children, obey your parents because you belong to
the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. 2 "Honor your father and
mother." This is the first commandment with a promise: 3 If you honor your
father and mother, "things will go well for you, and you will have a long
life on the earth." 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the
way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and
instruction that comes from the Lord." (NLT)

May God bless you with patience and love as you strive to be family!

Russ Lawson

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Proverbs 8:26-27

"While He had not yet made the earth and the fields, Nor the first dust of
the world. When He established the heavens, I was there, When He inscribed a
circle on the face of the deep" (Proverbs 8:26-27 NASB). God's Word shows an
intimate knowledge of this world such as only the Creator could reveal. We
see this in the scientific foreknowledge that is sometimes revealed in it
and this verse is an example. As Wisdom watches the world being made, she
describes the shape of the world as a "circle on the face of the deep." The
Hebrew word for "circle" is "chug" which means "a circle, sphere, used of
the arch or vault of the sky" (Gesenius). This means the Bible describes the
world as round long before man discovered this fact. Until 500 BC, there was
a nearly universal belief in a flat earth (or some other non-round
configuration). Around 500 BC Greek philosophers began to theorize that the
world was round, but the concept was never truly proven until the voyages of
Christopher Columbus (1492 AD) and Magellan (1519-1522 AD). This proverb was
written between (970 and 931 BC) hundreds of years before any in the rest of
the world even began to theorize the earth was round. The Bible contains
similar statements using this word for the world in Isaiah 40:22 (written
around 722 BC) and Job 22:14 (possibly before 1500 BC). The Word of God
describes this world with the accuracy we would expect as a work inspired by
the Creator.

Jeremy Sprouse

I walk in the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice

"I walk in the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice" (Proverbs 8:20 NASB). Wisdom now tells us she is found in the path of righteousness. The wicked are not going to find wisdom. A person who does not involve themselves in spiritual activities like worship and Bible study is not going to find Godly wisdom. We need to draw near to God, the ultimate source of wisdom.

 

Jeremy Sprouse

 

ESPN's Top Ten plays

It was ESPN's number one among its Top Ten plays for over the weekend. I
saw it yesterday morning and was frankly moved to tears. Jack Hoffman, a
7-year-old battling brain cancer, was given the handoff in Saturday's
Nebraska Spring football game. He ran 60 yards for a touchdown (see it
here). Everyone, the offense, the defense, and those on the bench ran
behind him and congregated in the end zone in celebration of the boy's
accomplishment. 60,000 fans at Memorial Stadium stood up and cheered.

Jack is on a break from 60 weeks of chemotherapy, and he has undergone two
surgeries since doctors discovered the cancer two years ago. While the
tumor has shrunk, time will tell how this ends for this courageous little
boy. Meanwhile, he and his family have a memory for a lifetime. To me, the
most touching part was how the entire Cornhusker team rallied around this
sick little boy.

The church of our Lord is the most important institution on earth. To be a
part of it is to be in the place where all spiritual blessings flow (Eph.
1:3), to be in Christ (Gal. 3:27), and to be part of God's household (1 Tim.
3:15). Of the myriad of blessings, Christians are part of a family. When
one of our family members is sick, hurting, suffering, spiritually
struggling, has fallen from Christ but returned to Him, or in any other way
finds himself or herself in a battle bigger than themselves, God designed
the church to rally around that one and support them. Paul urged supporting
the weak (Acts 20:35). The writer of Hebrews urges us to "strengthen the
hands which hang down, and the feeble knees" (Heb. 12:12). Long ago, the
prophet said, "Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble" (Isa.
35:3).

Nothing is more moving to see than the church family rallying around a
fellow-Christian in need of help. I know I am not alone in feeling this
way! May we always feel comfortable enough to invite others into our lives
to help us as we struggle to overcome and make heaven our home!


Neal Pollard