One tool that can help with decision-making is a list of pros and cons. If you were considering a job offer, you might make such a list. The left side of the page would be labeled “Pros” and the right side “Cons.” In the Pros column, you list all the reasons to take the job:Continue reading “Make a Pros and Cons List (What Could be More Romantic?) 😉. S.O.S. 6:8-9.”
Author Archives: Steven Wales
The Fork in the Road is Three-Pronged. 2 Kings 22:2.
You always have three options. There is Jeroboam’s path, Rehoboam’s path, and Josiah’s path. Jeroboam was the first king of the Northern Kingdom. He worried his people would desert him and return to Rehoboam (Solomon’s son who was now king only of Judah). To keep his people loyal to him, Jeroboam built idols and altars,Continue reading “The Fork in the Road is Three-Pronged. 2 Kings 22:2.”
Respect Your Elders. 2 Chronicles 10:7.
The Bible contains a few things so vulgar you may never hear them in a sermon. This is one of them. And yes, I have misgivings writing about it. After Solomon’s son Rehoboam became king, the people of Israel came to him complaining Solomon had worked them too hard. They had built the temple, theContinue reading “Respect Your Elders. 2 Chronicles 10:7.”
Dating Your Friend. SOS 5:16.
As college students, my wife and I broke up once for about a year. When we dated the second time, everything was different. The first two years had been fun but serious, a sort of heavy romance characterized by two things: (1) an effort to seek God together (we prayed on every date, having beenContinue reading “Dating Your Friend. SOS 5:16.”
THAT’S PRACTICAL. My Johnny Derouen Story. Psalm 27:4.
Image: Johnny Derouen’s first day at FBC Houston, spring of 1984. Also pictured, Joel Nettles. Photo courtesy of Lance Vinson. The story goes that in the early ‘80s, Associate Pastor Felix Wagner interviewed 70-some people before he found the right man for the job. Let’s call it 77—the perfect number. After a two-year quest, FirstContinue reading “THAT’S PRACTICAL. My Johnny Derouen Story. Psalm 27:4.”
‘Thou Shalt Decree a Thing and It Shall Be Established.’ If You Can Name it, You Can Claim it!
Image generated by A.I. Bob turned on the television at the end of a long day. He walked across the room and fell into a recliner, exhausted. His wife Julie was seated next to him, using her phone to play an online game of Scrabble with one of her girlfriends. As the television came on,Continue reading “‘Thou Shalt Decree a Thing and It Shall Be Established.’ If You Can Name it, You Can Claim it!”
Job’s Friends Preached the Prosperity Gospel and God Rebuked Them. Job 42:7.
My friend Pete was rich. As a child, he had the newest, hottest, best bicycle around. In the mid-80s, he not only had an endless supply of Polo shirts, but was the only guy in our high school wearing Polo jeans. He had a car before anyone else. Sports cars. Spare cars. After a semesterContinue reading “Job’s Friends Preached the Prosperity Gospel and God Rebuked Them. Job 42:7.”
Do You Complain or Do You Lament? Lamentations 1:1.
Do you know the difference between a lament and a complaint? Modern English dictionaries may show little distinction, but Old Testament scholars argue a Biblical lament is more than just a complaint. “A complaint is an accusation against God that maligns His character, but a lament is an appeal to God based on confidence in HisContinue reading “Do You Complain or Do You Lament? Lamentations 1:1.”
Selfishness vs. Enlightened Self-Interest. Ecclesiastes 6:7.
Have you ever run across the “professional-student,” a college student who is too indecisive to complete a degree and has been hanging around the campus taking classes for five, six, or even ten years? He is older than everyone else but because the money never runs out he can avoid committing to a course ofContinue reading “Selfishness vs. Enlightened Self-Interest. Ecclesiastes 6:7.”
We Need Friends and Family. Proverbs 14:4.
When you have a houseful of children it is easy to daydream of a life alone. All the rooms are clean and Mom slips into a bubble bath whispering the old slogan, “Calgon, take me away!” People are tough. In Jean Paul Sartre’s play NO EXIT, the characters, now dead and condemned to hell, realizeContinue reading “We Need Friends and Family. Proverbs 14:4.”
Household Words: 