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Friendship, Reverence, and Money; 4:9-6:12 Central Verse: “For it they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help…A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:10-12 Central Truth: Within the section of verses we hear one of the most popular expressions in weddings, “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” The concept that Qoheleth is bringing forward is not a defense of marriage; even though it is applicable, it is based on the reality of life in ancient times. For instance, the wilderness is a dangerous place; in fact, it still is today and going out in numbers is still the best safety net for camping and any wilderness adventure. It is actually basic science that a threefold cord is stronger. When I go camping, one of the items that I never go without is rope. If I have my choice of any rope I can take, I take para-cord. Para-cord contains 4-7 separate very strong strands, and is good for almost every...

Animals, Justice, and Work: 3:16-4:8 Theme Verse: “I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals. For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity.” Eccl 3:18-19 Central Truth: Qoheleth launches into various streams of thought, literary sound bites, in the next several chapters. Each sound bite has its own story to tell, and in some way its own independent theme. In verses 16-22, Qoheleth decides to talk about the animals. Until the last hundred years humanity has been confident in showing how we as humans are different from the animals. In the past century there has been a lot of discussion on the subject of man and animals, particularly around Darwinian evolution and the idea that humanity descended from apes. Having been a part of many of those discussions my self, I have often ...

Central Verse: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” Eccl 3:1 Central Truth: This section of the book of Ecclesiastes contains one of the most well known verses in scripture in part due to the song “Turn, Turn, Turn” by the Byrds. There is a way of seasonal living that is contained within rural living. Unfortunately not many people live in the countryside now, the majority of our populations live in the cities, in some ways this makes it difficult for us to identify with a seasonal attitude which is partly expressed here in this passage. In my childhood when I was growing up in the country I was very aware of the change of the seasons. My family was only one generation off the farm, my grandfather’s farm was less than a quarter mile away and my brothers and I often went and helped on the farm. During the fall we were harvesting corn for feed, in the winter taking care of the cows, spring was planting and preparing the field, and summer...

Why Study Ecclesiastes: I’ve often been asked “why do you like Ecclesiastes?” Ecclesiastes has been known as a pessimistic and depressing book in fact most Christians I’ve met avoid this book like the plague. In our society, and unfortunately in the church, people tend to avoid anything that makes them uncomfortable particularly if what is being expressed could be seen as depressing. However we live in an age that is flooded with depression and people struggling with their place in the world today. People are disconnected from each other and disconnected with God in a way that would have been unbelievable to the author of Ecclesiastes. The first time I remember reading the book of Ecclesiastes was when I was in college. I had gotten back to my room from a long day at classes and was just starting to think about sitting down and studying when I got a phone call. My dad called me and informed me that aunt Roma had died that day. Aunt Roma wasn’t actually my aunt. I grew up in ...

Vincent Van Gogh was born in 1853 in the Netherlands. He was born into a middle class family, with parents and relatives in the ministry. Vincent himself was leaning toward going into the ministry. Between 1860-1880 Van Gogh decided to become an artist. His artistic career is defined by two broad categories which I will simplify by calling pre-Paris, and post-Paris. His pre-Paris stage artistically was defined by a decidedly Dutch style of painting, much in the same vein as Rembrandt. Post-Paris, Van Gogh was influenced and defined by impressionists painters. Subsequent from Paris, Van Gogh experienced deteriorating mental health which resulted in his suicide at the age of 37. All the works I could find, and had time to read on Van Gogh, reflected on the artistic influence of various artist on Van Gogh’s work, as well as his love life or lack thereof. There was also a minimal reflection on his familial relationship and its influence on his art. In all the works I referenced t...

Max* had been a church member for a long time as a member of the "greatest generation," he had fought in World War II in the air force. Max had shared with me many stories about his experience in B-29 Bombers, Bombers with the name and reputation of being a "Superfortress," though there was nothing fortress like about them. Max had lived a full eighty years, a full and plentiful eighty years. He had a loving wife, dutiful daughters, and wonderful grandchildren. He was a person in the church who, unlike the B-29 Bombers he talked about, was a fortress that enabled young and old to take comfort in the refuge of his faith and strength of his character. He was father, friend, and grandfather to more people than just his genetic family. Four weeks ago, I went to visit Max at home. Max had been experiencing declining health in the last six months. Due to the health issues, he hadn't been able to attend church to receive communion with the community for far too...

It's taken me some time to finally decide to share what went on in my Board of Ordained Ministries (BOM) interview back in February. I want to make something very clear first, there were valid concerns that BOM raised, and I have no doubt that many of the individuals in that committee do care about me and my ministry, yet in my opinion there are some other forces that were at work in the interview as well. There were a number of questions in the interview that, looking back, I deem to be unfair either in the way they were spoken or in the subsequent clarification for the question. One particular question that bothered me was intended to be theological in nature, but was asked as a ministry related question. For instance (this is not the question) if someone comes to you and confesses they are cheating on their wife, what do you do? In my answer would be, while I disagree with what the individual is doing, I would try to affirm that everyone makes mistakes and even when we make...