Proverbs 12

"A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult. "

Ouch.

This one hits close to home. I have this bad habit of making this face that says, "hey I think what you are saying is really stupid." If we are having a conversation and I don't understand, like, or agree with what you are saying I will tend to make the face. I know I make it because my dad told me I did and then a few days later I saw my son make the same face to me. OUCH.

I have to stop showing my annoyance. Proverbs calls me foolish, but I desire to be wise.

Patience.

So much of Solomon's Wisdom is locked up in the practice of Patience. For me and many others Patience is a practice that I have to keep practicing. It does not come naturally to us. We have to work at, but like all things that are difficult the reward is worth the effort.

We all have areas in which we need to have more Patience. We also have areas that require less Patience (injustice and evil). But Patience is so hard if we lack self awareness and discipline. You may have to find someone who is willing and capable of pointing out areas of your Impatience. Most of your friends and loved ones are trying to be nice so they don't tell us the truth, they tell us what we want to hear. Find an honest person, you'll be glad you did.

What are situations that require you to practice Patience?

Any ideas how to improve in this area?

Proverbs 11

Proverbs 11 is one of those speed chapters. You know what I mean right? I typically read it as fast as I can. In the past I would have told you the basic message is it is better to be good than it is to be bad.

That's not a bad summary, but not quite the thing I apply throughout my day. I think if  you and I speed through Proverbs like its a list of camping locations in Numbers 33 then we will miss what it has to offer each of us.

Here a couple of lines from Proverbs 11 that are resonating with me. Not the only ones but the ones I'll discuss here.

When the righteous prosper the city rejoices...Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted...A generous man will prosper he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed...A kindhearted woman gains respect...

When you and I are righteous...truly righteous...our neighborhood is a better place to live.

When we live the way God intended for us to live the people around us are blessed. They city rejoices and is blessed through the blessings and prosperity of the righteous. I didn't say Christians, because Christians aren't typically respected or celebrated in our communities today. (Christian has become a label we put on ourselves regardless of our morals and behavior. Righteous is a universally accepted standard of morals and behaviors, that in fact are displayed by some folks who also call themselves Christians.) Now some of you will read that statement and start booing the world and culture we live in. I read it and start booing the Christians.

Imagine this situation: Your church receives a donation of $10 million. OK if you are a pastor you need to take a deep breath. Your church just received $10 million. The local paper, the TV channels all show up and ask questions and report the incredible news. How will the average single mom in your community react?

How will people who don't come to your church react?

Would they celebrate the blessings your church received or would your community greet the news with skepticism? Proverbs says, "when the righteous prosper the city rejoices". If our cities and friends wouldn't celebrate a great blessing in our life then we aren't righteous, truly righteous. If the believers in Jesus Christ would make their neighborhoods and communities better places to live then the world would respect our women and celebrate our prosperity and blessings. The solution lies with us.

What can we do to make our communities a better place to live? What are we actually doing? Let's take the Wisdom of Proverbs 11 and start to engage our neighbors in ways that bless them.

Photo by Justin Capp

Proverbs 8- Wisdom

What an original thought!

Try this- go to Google and type in Wisdom and then change your search to "images".

Why is Clint Eastwood listed on the first page?

Why is most of what you find on the internet about wisdom from Eastern Religions?

Proverbs 8 is all about the pursuit and benefit of Wisdom. I love the end of the chapter where Wisdom says, "blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For whoever finds me finds life and receives  favor from the Lord. But whoever fails to find me harms himself."

Wisdom is one of those things you can get the hard way or the easy way. I tend to lean toward the hard way, but more and more lately I've been trying to hang out at Wisdom's house more and more.

I love the word picture of Wisdom having a door at which we can hang out and wait for her. The biggest obstacle to my pursuit of Wisdom is hurry. I often find I'm too busy or making decisions too last minute to be able to spend any time at Wisdom's house.

What is your greatest obstacle to attaining Wisdom?

Also, what has Wisdom taught you lately? We could all benefit from hearing from each other on this topic.

Thanks Giving Edition

What are you thankful for this Turkey Day?

I'm first and foremost thankful for a wife who does not do any Black Friday shopping.

I'm thankful for a family that loves God and tries to follow Him.

I'm thankful that the Pastor of my Church trusts me and allows me to try some new ideas.


I'm thankful for the Elders and Directors of CCoF and the support and passion for this church.


I'm thankful for my kids who were always up for the adventure of a new town with new schools and new friends.


I'm thankful for my dad who does so much to help make our family run smoothly.


I'm thankful for all the staff at CCoF who have welcomed me and my family this past year.


I'm thankful that someone can post a Thanksgiving blog a few days late.


I'm super-thankful that McRibs are a seasonal item only.

Latest Sermon

Hey check out this sermon and then give me some feedback

http://www.ccof.net/index.php?/podcasts/SingleEpisode/2557

I Win You Lose

I have been wrecked lately. What wrecked me? The disintegration of relationships between people I know. It happens all the time, but lately it has wrecked me. I was wrecked when a friend told his wife he didn't want to be married anymore. I was wrecked when a teacher was told by his student I have surpassed you. I was wrecked when a teenager quit believing their parents cared about them. I was wrecked when a staff person "planted" a “new” church down the road from his previous church "family" with a group of people who all came from the same church. I was wrecked...well you get the idea. Relationships fall apart around us every day.

I have found a consistent thread running through many of these real life tragedies. Are you ready to find out how wreck most every relationship you have? 

Compare other people's weaknesses to your strengths. 

That's it. Really simple. Sure I admit there are a couple of other easy ways to wreck a relationship, but I have found this practice to be the one we do without even realizing it. 

I am fairly adept at a few things. Things like communication, problem-solving, and telling a story. If I compared you to me in any of those areas most of you will lose. I would wager that you are pretty good at a few things as well. I probably don’t stack up to you in those areas.

If you want to wreck your marriage compare your spouse’s weaknesses to your strengths. So why do we keep doing this?

The only thing I can come up with is that I like to win. I like the things I’m good at; in fact I think the things I’m good at are more important and more valuable to this world than the things you are good at. So when I compare my superior gifts to your inferior gifts I win and you lose.  I like winning and so do apparently a lot of other people.

Ecosystem

Have you ever thought about your neighborhood as an ecosystem? Yes, an ecosystem, that’s a word many of us haven’t heard since high school biology, isn’t it? Here is what the dictionary says about ecosystems, “a localized group of interdependent organisms together with the environment that they inhabit and depend on”.

Does that sound like your neighborhood?

Another source explains ecosystems this way, “The entire array of organisms inhabiting a particular ecosystem is called a community.”
Your neighborhood is a community. It is an ecosystem. So here is my real question. Do you remember what happens when you bring something new into an ecosystem?

What we all learned in school was that if you introduce change into an ecosystem, that change either is beneficial or detrimental to the system. You cannot bring something into an ecosystem and have the system stay the same. You will either harm or help the system around you. This makes total sense when we look at the forest around us. Hunters and campers are not part of the natural ecosystem that exists, and we all realize however careful they are, they will leave an impact behind. Whether that impact is positive or negative is a debate for another forum.

So let’s go back to your neighborhood. To your ecosystem. To your community. Do you make a positive or negative impact on your ecosystem? Remember the answer is never, “I make no impact”.
How about your neighborhood group? What sort of impact do they have on the neighborhood in which you meet? At the very least, you are creating more traffic and less places to park other cars during the night you meet. Let me tell you a secret…your neighbors notice the cars and the traffic, and they don’t particularly care for it.

But what if your neighborhood group made your ecosystem better? What if instead of meeting every Tuesday with bibles tucked under your arms, you went down the street to the older couple who need their gutters cleaned out before winter fully hits? Wouldn’t your neighbor notice that too, and start to realize the cars and increase in traffic bring some good to your neighborhood? What if your group brought about positive change? You see your group has either a positive or negative effect upon its community.

The next two months we have some incredible opportunities in front of us as a church and as a neighbors. Your group could host an Operation Christmas Child party. Pick up a ridiculous number of boxes this weekend and invite all your neighbors who aren’t involved in a church and pack the boxes together while sampling each other’s best Christmas cookies and hot chocolate. You could ring bells together with the Salvation Army on December 3rd. You could take an extra child from the Angel Tree and invite your ecosystem to help you acquire gifts for a child in need of love this Christmas. You could go door to door and ask your neighbors to give canned food for the Northern Arizona Food Bank.

All of these events are not to do anything but help bring positive change to the ecosystem of Flagstaff. I believe they will also help bring positive change to the hearts of those who see and receive these acts of kindness.

This world, this country and this community have very big and real issues. The question is who will begin the effort of bringing the positive change that will address them? If you and I aren’t bringing about positive change into our systems then we are bringing negative change. Neutral is not an option.

BTW- if you are in Flagstaff and aren’t in a neighborhood group, but would like to partner with one during this holiday season, please call or email Jeff Drayton at 522.0462 or at Jeff@ccof.net. If you want information on any of the upcoming community service projects, call or email Jana Ruhlman at 522.0462 or at jana@ccof.net.