The Heidelberg Catechism - The Foundations Of Our Faith

Have you heard the term: Flogging a dead horse.  "Buy stronger whips.  Change riders.  Ask other organizations how they ride dead horses.  Hire consultants to ride dead horses.  Harness several dead horses together to increase speed. Provide added funding to increase dead horse's performance. Experiment to see if lighter riders would improve productivity.  Promote dead horses to supervisory positions." Life without hope is unbearable. To function in life we have to be able to look forward to something pleasant that has a reasonable probability of happening. We need hope to deal with the unpleasant things of life. If there is nothing pleasant ahead of us, life is bleak. If there is nothing reasonably predictable before us, life is too uncertain and insecure to endure. That is why extended suffering in sickness can be so depressing. We do not know how bad it is going to get.  We do not know how long it will last. We do not see great good or pleasure coming out of it.  What ...

With an interest in country songs here is a list of the top 40.  1. "My Wife Ran Off With My Best Friend, And I Sure Do Miss Him" 2. "I Still Miss You, Baby, But My Aim's Gettin' Better" 3. "If I Had Shot You When I Wanted To, I'd Be Out Of Jail By Now" 4. "I'd Rather Pass a Kidney Stone than Another Night With You" 5. "My John Deere Was Breaking Your Field, While Your Dear John Was Breaking My Heart" and getting the prize for the longest title: 6. "I Went Back to My Fourth Wife for the Third Time and Gave Her a Second Chance to Make a First Class Fool Out of Me." 1. Mama Get The Hammer (There's A Fly On Papa's Head) 2. I Bought the Shoes that Just Walked Out on Me 3. Meet Me In the Gravel Pit, Honey, cuz I'm a Little Boulder There 4. I'm So Miserable Without You, It's Almost Like Havin' You Here 5. You Can't Have Your Kate And Edith Too 6. If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren...

The preflight dialogue is really interesting the first two times you fly. But after awhile it gets boring. Same old same old. I remember a few years ago hitting some really wild turbulence. A girl sitting next to me asked "do these things crash often?" I said "No. usually just once." I then began thinking about the preflight instructions.. and wished I ad listened. I got out the plastic card in the back of the seat in front.. now where was that life raft? Even though we were flying over the desert of central Australia. I once heard this preflight briefing. Here are some examples of how some flight attendants have tried to use a little humor. (1) "To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. If you don't know how to operate one you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised. (2) One captain said, "Delta Airlines is pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately, none of the...

Good Enough Pastors (Part 1) The Excellent Pastor Myth While reading a book called The Excellent Wife , my wife and her friends decided they didn't really aspire to be excellent wives, at least not as the author described. Instead, they jokingly formed the "Good Enough Wives Club". Between figuring out marriage, raising kids, and dealing with all the other challenges thrown at them, they decided good enough was good enough. Although tongue in cheek, they had a point; often good enough is good enough. I propose we form a "Good Enough Pastors Club". Rather than beating ourselves up for all the ways we come up short of excellence as pastors, what if our standard became "good enough"? This idea occurred to me while during a strategy meeting with a church leadership team, wrestling with the appropriate standard of excellence for certain ministries. Finally the pastor declared, "I am a two talent pastor, and we are a two talent church. We are not going ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGbYwMM1IPU     ECCLESIASTES 3:16 – 4:12 WHEN CORRUPT PEOPLE OPPRESS YOU Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 God's Sovereignty         All Is Appointed in God's Time All Is Appropriate in God's Time              All Is Adjudicated in God's Time BUT WHEN IT GETS PERSONAL THEORY DOESN'T CONSOLE 16 Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.18 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. THE FAILURE OF JOB'S COMFORTERS  THEODICIES "Free Will" Theodicy The Finite God theodicy God is good but not powerful The Best of all possible worlds theodicy, The Original Sin theodicy. The Ultimate Harmony theodicy   LEARN CONTENTMENT IN THE ...