Consider this

                  “Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateway of the city she makes her speech” (Proverbs 1:20-21).                 I have never known what to do with the book of Proverbs.   How do you teach a book that is mostly a disjointed grouping of short sayings?   Also, in the passage above, why is wisdom personified as being alive and calling to people?   Why is wisdom out in the street and in the public square?   What is God trying to say? Here is what I have come up with:   Wisdom is on the streets and in the marketplaces because God’s teaching is to be lived every day!    Over the years, the church has made a big deal about hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), but that is not enough.   From beginning to end, Proverbs

                  Many people know and love the Psalms of David, but do you know the one written by Herman the Ezrahite?     It seems that no one knows Herman’s contribution to the word of God.   However, Psalm 88 is worth some thought simply because it is a total, start to finish, song of complaint.   The Psalms record a variety of emotions and one of the benefits of them is that they give us permission to be real with God.   Normally, though, they end on a high note.   Unfortunately, that is not true here.   Herman’s psalm concludes with these words: “Why, O Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me… your terrors have destroyed me... All day long they surround me like a flood… darkness is my closest friend” (verses 16-18).                   If Herman was standing here, what would you say to him?   More to the point, what

                “What am I supposed to be doing?”   I get asked that question a lot.   Oddly, it is most often asked by long time, faithful church members.   It seems that we have been good about teaching people what to believe, but not as good about helping them figure out what God wants them to do.   He did not take us home immediately after our baptism, so we must be here for a reason. What, then, is your job?                   If someone uses a hammer every day, you could probably guess that he or she is a carpenter.   If they use a stethoscope, they could be a doctor or a nurse.   A calculator is likely used by an accountant and, if your tool is an airplane, you might be a pilot or a flight attendant.   Therefore, if we look at our spiritual toolbox, we will be able to figure out what we are supposed to be doing

                Most people know about Noah’s ark.   Unfortunately, I believe that we often teach that story incorrectly.                 In Sunday school, the emphasis was on the water and the destruction.   The point was that God hates sin and that a judgment day is coming.   While that is true, I do not believe that it is the point of the story.                 Some focus on the dimensions of the ark and then built exact replicas to prove that it was big enough to hold a lot of animals.   Many of these replicas exist around the world and they are interesting, but I do not believe that the size or construction of the ark is the point of the story.                 Others search Mount Ararat in Turkey looking for possible landing sites or petrified pieces of the boat. Again, I do not believe that the landing spot this is the point of the sto