April 29, 2018

All You Preach About Is Sex

By Anthony Baker
The Complaint

Preach long enough – like one time – and somebody will probably complain. Preach multiple sermons week after week, year after year, and you’ll become used to complaints…because you can’t please all the people all the time…but it ain’t about pleasing people, anyway.

However, several years ago a deacon came up to me with a complaint from a visitor/former member… Wait, may I digress for a moment?

I absolutely hate it when people are sent to tell me what someone else was too afraid to tell me to my face. Do you remember writing those “Do you like me” notes in elementary school? Well, a lot of adults do the same thing when they send a complaint to the pastor via a deacon or elder. Grow up, people!

Anyway, several years ago a former member who was visiting a church where I was pastor got upset and said he was not bringing his family back. Why (and I know this because the deacon told me so)? He said all I ever preached about was SEX!

He said if that was all I was going to preach about, then he could just take his family to a movie or stay at home and watch TV.

But if the truth be known (clearing my throat), this man and his family only visited the church twice in one year, and it just so happened that the sermons they heard were the only two I preached that year which specifically addressed sexual sin. One sermon, I believe, dealt with faithfulness in marriage, and the other was from a passage like Proverbs 5, one which sounded the alarm about pornography addiction in the church.

Honestly, I can’t help but wonder if “just so happened” was the correct way to put it. God gave me those sermons for a reason.

The Catastrophe

The fact of the matter is that sex sells, pure and simple. Everything from burger joints to auto manufacturers bait their products with the allure of sexual gratification. Heck, every time I drive down the main road through my town I see a regularly-updated billboard featuring nothing more than a girl’s legs in short khaki shorts – all to sell shoes.

But sex does more than sell products. When used the wrong way, it can be a nearly-irresistible tool of mass destruction. It can be used to lead men, both young and old, into a life of misery, self-destruction, and total enslavement to addiction.

Even more tragic is what the sellers of sex do with those they use to tempt their prey. Think of all the horror and abuse that permeates the sex slave industry. Is this what God designed?

Proverbs 5 is just as relevant today as it was 3,000 years ago…no matter how many times you preach it – and it’s not preached enough!

 

I would encourage you to read this week’s posts, but also take a look at the previous posts from our first trip through Proverbs 5:1-23 on Proverbial Thought.

You can find links to them listed in the tabs at the top of the page, but I will copy the links below for your convenience.

5:1-2 “Pay Attention” – Daniel Klem

5:3-5 “Deadly Lips” – Anthony Baker

5:6 “Unpredictable Women” – Anthony Baker

5:7-9 “Run Away! Run Away!” – Anthony Baker

5:10-14 “Reason for the Warning” – Daniel Klem

5:15-17 “Drink Your Own Water” – David Welford

5:18-20 “Get Drunk On Love!” – Grady Davidson

5:21-23 “Stay On the Path” – Jason Sneed

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in desire, Temptation, Warnings

April 28, 2018

Narrow minded?

By Daniel M. Klem

Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
Proverbs 4:25‭-‬27 KJV

Allow me to rephrase these three verses:

Watch where you’re going, think about the path you’re taking, and keep going without swerving!

It is interesting to consider the respect we as a world have for people who start businesses, movements, or groups or who pursue a cause despite opposition with determination, conviction, and unswerving loyalty, with boundaries and rules that protect their cause.

It is interesting in that, at least in the Western world, those same qualities are frowned upon when our society looks at Christian devotion, saying Christian’s are too “narrow minded”.

But is it bad to be narrow minded?

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Matthew 7:13‭-‬14 ESV

If we claim to follow the living the God who has redeemed His people, should we not follow what He has revealed to us in His Word? Should we not regularly watch where we are going, how we are living, and live within boundaries that would “remove … evil”?

Should we not be “narrow minded” by keeping our minds on the narrow gate, who is Jesus? (John 10)

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Paths of Life, Wisdom

April 27, 2018

Sweet Ride

By dawnlizjones

ford-290615_1920Do you remember when you turned 16 and your parents bought you your first new car?

Yeah, me neither.

That’s okay though, because growing up sharing the family auto(s) was actually a good thing.  And anyway, just because I got my driver’s license didn’t mean I automatically deserved a car, not by a long shot.  Having a license isn’t a “right”, or something I earn.  Sure, I did a little study and answered a few questions, but in reality, a license is something bestowed—a trust. Continue reading

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Uncategorized, Wisdom

April 26, 2018

Good Speech

By Daniel M. Klem

Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. –Proverbs 4:24

Do not be confused: it does say “froward” and not “forward” in this verse. Other translations say instead “deceitful” or “crooked”. Most translations still keep the word “perverse” in there somewhere.

Do not be deceived: Nor deceive. This proverb is reminding us that it is not okay to lie (the 9th Commandment, Exodus 20:16), and telling us that it is not good to “have a foul mouth” or denigrate others or … tell dirty jokes.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
Ephesians 4:26; 5:4, NIV

(See also Colossians 3)

Look at the world today, especially in the United States of America. How many people are stepping down or being fired from positions of power because of comments or jokes they have made?

It is not okay to talk this way, to lie, to objectify others, to speak flippantly about matters or people, to use “bad words.”

Does this mean we can never tell jokes?  Of course not. (I would be in so much trouble if this were true!)

However, we should “Be wise in the way you act toward [others]; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt,” (Colossians 4:5-6) so that we may remain “blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’” (Philippians 2:15)

As I have told many friends, especially those who work with children, it is better to be in the habit of not using certain words than to let them slip out when we least want them to.

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April 25, 2018

Stumbling In the Dark, Tripping In the Light

By Anthony Baker
In the Dark

I stumbled upon the following verse (pun intended) last night as I was reading in anticipation for today’s post. This morning I came across it again and knew it was the verse for me today.

“The way of the wicked is as darkness…” – Proverbs 4:19a

The rest of the verse will be addressed in a moment, but I would like for you to do something for me: Think of the darkest dark you’ve ever experienced.

Was it deep inside a cave when the tour guide turned off the lights? Was it when you were lost in the woods? Was it that moment when on a dark road your headlights suddenly went out?

Whenever it got the darkest you can remember, do you remember the darkness being so thick you could almost feel it?

The word that is translated “darkness” in verse 19 is the same word used to describe the darkness that plagued Egypt in Exodus 10:21-22. God told Moses to stretch forth his hand toward the sky, then the Lord promised a thick darkness, one that could be felt, would cover the Egyptians for 3 days. This was a deep, gloomy, dreadful darkness without a hint of light. Sounds scary, doesn’t it?

“The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.” – Proverbs 4:19

Solomon is trying to tell you and me that the wicked (those who live with no regard for God) are walking a dark, dark path, even though they are convinced they can clearly see. Then, without warning, they stumble over something…a stick?…a snake? They get bit, but can’t tell what happened. They seek help, but they know not what for. They seek answers for the wounds caused by a fall, but then keep going down the same, dark path oblivious to the next danger.

If only the light of God’s wisdom would be allowed to illuminate the path, one could avoid the pitfalls. However, those who reject God think it wise to continue forward into the dark – because, after all, who needs God or faith, right?

My daughter’s front walk. Sunny in Charleston, S.C.

In the Light

But what of us who have the Light? What of us who can clearly see the potholes and cracked pavement, the sticks and/or snakes? Why is it, when we have the illuminating beams of the Word of God, we still stumble and fall as if our way was still dark?

It’s because we choose to.

We should thank God for His marvelous and matchless grace every moment of every day, for how much worse is it to know what will make us stumble and then trip anyway?

But I’m glad there is hope for those like you and I who stumble in the light!

“My little children, these things I write unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” – 1 John 2:1

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…’twas blind, but now I see.”

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Paths of Life

April 24, 2018

Keep vigilant watch over your heart.

By M. Wiley Wilson

Jesus challenges me to be vigilant. If I don’t pay attention, I will drift. Jesus has given me the way of wisdom. May I pay attention and not reject him.

Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts.” ~King Solomon | Source: Proverbs 4:23

I must watch over my heart. The main thing to pay attention to is my heart. From my heart comes what I think, what I say and what I do. It starts with my heart.

Life starts with my heart. It is easy to believe my heart isn’t important but it is the key. David knew it. Solomon knew it. Jesus focused on it and challenges me to pay attention.

David was known as a man after God’s own heart. May I learn enough to have that said of me. Now that is a real goal to have.

The good news is the Jesus gives me a new heart. I am a new creation in Him. That is amazing to consider. I have been born again.

According to the Bible, the heart is the center not only of spiritual activity, but of all the operations of human life.

The heart is the “home of the personal life,” and hence a man is designated, according to his heart, wise, upright and righteous, pious and good.

The heart is also the seat of the conscience. It is naturally wicked, and hence it can contaminate my whole life and character. Hence the heart must be changed, regenerated, before a man can willingly obey God.

The process of salvation begins in the heart by the believing reception of the testimony of God, while the rejection of that testimony hardens the heart. “Hardness of heart” evidences itself by light views of sin; partial acknowledgment and confession of it; pride and conceit; ingratitude; unconcern about the word and ordinances of God; inattention to divine providences; stifling convictions of conscience; shunning reproof; presumption, and general ignorance of divine things.”

We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.  Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. | 1 John 3:19–21 (NASB)

 

3 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Wisdom

April 23, 2018

Good Doctrine

By Anthony Baker

The Detour

As of this writing I’m sitting in a hotel bed in Conyers, Georgia. My wife and I were on our way to visit our daughter and son-in-law in South Carolina, but the long arm of Murphy’s Law caught up with us, causing us to make an unplanned stop.

Thank God for Gideons!

Now, because I woke up this morning with nothing in our room but the clothes we wore and our tooth brushes, I don’t have my Bible, nor do I have a computer in front of me (we left everything in the car during the rain storm). All I have is a Gideon Bible and my iPhone.

But I guess that’s good enough 🙂

So, here are my thoughts before I take an elevator down to breakfast – and as I tell our little dog to be quiet lest he get us in trouble.

The Doctrine

Solomon tells his son, “For I give you good doctrine…” (Proverbs 4:2a).

Doctrine is another word for teaching. Do you ever stop to consider the quality of what you’re teaching others? Solomon obviously had, and he was able to distinguish between good doctrine and bad.

But how do we know if what we teach others – our children, co-workers, class members, congregations, etc. – is “good doctrine?” How can we say with confidence “I give you good doctrine”?

Let me be honest, this is deep stuff, and I’ve yet to have a cup of hotel coffee. But the first thing that comes to mind is that we should know what is true, and that takes work.

Do you know why a Pastor of a church should not be a “novice” (1 Timothy 3:6)? One reason is because he has little life experience. You see, a seminary degree is great, but textbook knowledge is not as comforting to the brokenhearted as is a word based on experience.

But do you know why parenting is difficult? Because you learn on the go. All you have is the advice (doctrine) of others who’ve been there before and have learned from their mistakes.

Solomon had made mistakes. His father, David had made mistakes, leaving Solomon with several dead brothers. Now it was time for Solomon to write it all down – how to avoid the mistakes and live.

But for you and me, are we giving much thought to what we are teaching? Do we follow Paul’s advice to Timothy?

Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee (1 Timothy 4:16).

My brain isn’t completely awake and out of bed, yet, but what I think we should take away from this morning’s Thought is a renewed determination to make sure what we teach, what we preach, and all our general advice is wholesome, beneficial, and true.

In order to do that, we must maintain wise counsel, pray a lot more, and stay in the Word – that’s where the most trustworthy doctrine can be found.

7 Comments | posted in Uncategorized

April 22, 2018

Why We Do This

By Daniel M. Klem

Psalm 49 gives some insight into why we at Proverbial Thought write (this will be a little longer than usual, but mostly scripture!):

Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: Both low and high, rich and poor, together.

It does not matter our station in life: Our writers are different ages, genders, and nationalitites; and God’s Word is freely shared with all people.

My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. I will incline mine ear to a parable (proverb): I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

We share God’s wisdom and (hopefully) reveal the truth of sayings and teachings that may be hard to understand or apply.

Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about? They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption. For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish. This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah. Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah. Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him. Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself. He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.
Psalm 49:1‭-‬20, KJV

We teach the Truth.

We as humans are hopelessly lost and foolish, and we have both willfully and accidentally sinned, turned our backs on God and His righteousness. We are utterly unable to get back into a right relationship with Him. Not by wealth, works, or good intentions. No person has been righteous enough to even sacrifice his or her own life to save the soul of another.

But the truth is that He made a way, by coming to us through His Son, Jesus of Nazareth, to perfectly fulfill the Father’s law and will through His truly righteous life, then sacrificed Himself on a cross to bring the forgiveness of sin and save our souls, and rose to life again to guarentee we can be in relationship with Him forever. And He helps us to live for and grow more like His Son through the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.

And this is why we do this: To share this truth of His love, grace, and glory.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Knowledge, Paths of Life, Word of the Lord

April 21, 2018

This Is Wisdom (Use Discretion)

By Daniel M. Klem

My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.
Proverbs 3:21‭-‬23

Stumbling and Falling

The late second decade of this millennium has been tumultuous. Businesses are shuttering doors every week. Politicians are stepping down in disgrace. Actors are having careers crumble over night. Even pastors and ministry leaders are losing positions and status in shame.

Movements are continuously rising to combat [real or percieved] injustices. Tensions run high between governments, businesses, institutions, the press, and societies to the point that no one is safe from saying anything without trouble brewing.

Why?

As a whole, we have not kept wisdom, and discretion has long since been discarded.

Sure, some people think they are being discreet, but without sound wisdom. Now, “Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.” (Luke 12:3)

And this is what we see today.

A society that lacks wisdom and discretion – that lacks common sense but says and does whatever seems right (or right to them) – is a society of increasing chaos and depravity.

What then shall we do?

Especially as Christians, we should turn to God, live wisely, and use discretion. We do not need to voice our opinion about everything. At least not right away. A friend of mine has a 72-hour rule for major events: wait 72 hours before commenting to make sure more facts are available.

We would be wise to use a similar tactic in relationships – especially on social media!

We would be wise to do this with the news – that too often is merely sensationalism gossip, anymore.

We would be wise to set parameters for ourselves and our relationships.

Perhaps we can at least try to “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5, NIV)

This is necessarily hard, because it is hard getting over ourselves. We do not like confronting our sinful nature.

But that is wisdom.

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Relationships, Wisdom

April 20, 2018

Holy Whippings, Batman!

By Anthony Baker

I know the following verses are not popular with the modern mind, but they are what they are…

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. – Proverbs 3:11-12

My friends, I know that parenting can be difficult, and not all children respond the same way to discipline. However, I do believe that a lack of discipline – specifically of the corporal punishment type – is to blame for a great many ills in our society.

But even if the above verses don’t expressly describe “spankings,” discipline of any kind is hard for many to endure. So often, when God does anything to try to correct us, we cry out like a toddler who’s getting a whack on the rear end, “Your killing me!”

Now that I’m thinking about it, have you ever heard a TV evangelist explain that sometimes what we are going through just might be God giving us a spiritual spanking, a heavenly whipping? I’ve never heard it. As a matter of fact, I’ve never even heard Joel Osteen talk about divinely-appointed timeouts!

But if God is our Father, and if loves us like He says He does, then we need to expect a Father’s discipline every once in a while.

Credit: Wikipedia

Several years ago we were watching reruns of the old show Family Affair. In it, the little boy, Jody (his sister was Buffy), started acting out, but nobody could understand why. He was always very respectful and never did anything wrong, but now he was acting horribly for seemingly no reason.

Come to find out, Jody had heard about a boy at school who’s dad had spanked him. When he asked about it, the boy told Jody that it wasn’t that bad, because at least it showed his dad loved him.

Now, you see, Jody and Buffy were orphans living with their uncle; he never spanked them. Sadly, Jody put two and two together and assumed, because he never got spanked, he wasn’t loved. He was trying to get in trouble in order to feel loved.

So, be thankful for the times when God says “No.” Be thankful for the times He takes us behind the woodshed.

“For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth…”

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in discipline, Parenting