Tag Archives: Consequences

February 11, 2020

Caught In the Lie

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 18:7

“A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.”

As Anthony discussed yesterday, the things we say can lead to a good, old-fashioned punishment, such as soap in the mouth, a spanking, or other bad consequences.

When I was going through my later primary and early secondary education, up until about the start of my Junior year of high school, I had a penchant for stretching the truth or outright lying.

Here are some things I learned:

  • misrepresentations and lies only spread distrust, hatred, and problems.
  • relationships are damaged and/or lost.
  • eventually, you start to believe your own lies.
  • eventually, you must face the consequences in one way or another.

Our World

Our world is full of lies spread by any number of people. Whether it comes in the form of religion, science, or social constructs, we are bombarded daily with lies.

Some of these lies have immediate bad consequences: we may see church splits or new religions, increased taxes or restrictive laws, or fights or wars.

The most dangerous have eternal consequences. As we continue to spread lies, we not only hurt each other, but we may end up apart from God after we die.

That is hell, and it is not ever a good alternative.

Lord of Truth, help us to hear and speak Your words. Make us aware of the lies of this world and in our hearts. Save us from our own snares and destruction by Your grace and for Your glory.

Advertisement

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in conversation/speech, Fools

October 3, 2019

Cross and Conniving

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 14:17

17 He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.

Customer Crossing

I have over ten years experience in retail customer service. There are always those customers who can find something to complain about no matter where they go (can I get an “Amen!” from my compatriots?!).

Firstly, it can be rather frustrating for all of the employees. When those employees get upset and angry, sometimes they do things not very nice. Some examples include giving faulty merchandise, doing something disgusting to their food, or giving bad advice. Sometimes, because these employees acted out their frustrations, they end up losing their jobs.

Secondly, these customers who are so easily angered do not realize the hidden punishment they could receive from those irate employees. If they could have just calmly stated the problem and waited for response, most problems between employees and customers could easily be avoided.

In both cases, someone is acting foolishly. Unfortunately, it is almost always the customer. (Is everyone out there listening?)

Conniving Customers

What is truly telling of the nature of our world is that some (maybe even many) of these customers get so angry on purpose. People have come to learn that if they throw a big enough fit, complain to just the right person, they can get so many things discounted or even free.

What some of those fail to realize or fully appreciate is how much others come to hate them. These people are not just “abusing the system,” but they are using people to get what they want. Nobody likes being used.

Churchianity

How often do we as Christians do this to each other?

There are complaints about what color the carpeting/walls/flowers/hymnals (if there are any, anymore!) are.

There are fights over how to reach out to people in the community (which is a big turn-off to people in the community).

There are floaters who never find a church-home, because they do not like something or are not getting something at every church they attend and then bad-mouth those churches.

What we are really saying is that we are better than everyone else (or most people). What we are really saying is that God needs to do everything we say and serve our every whim. What we are really saying is that God is not enough … even as we sing He is.

Gracious God, forgive us for always stabbing each other in the back and looking for freebies. Help us to live out Your command in John 13 to love each other, to sacrifice ourselves and our needs to each other for Your glory. Help us to love all people.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Fools, Warnings

April 4, 2019

They Turned

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 1:31-33

Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

As we have learned over the past several days, a fool turns away from God and wisdom. They essentially repent of God. They may have logic and reason, but do they have wisdom?

Turning from Wisdom

The “New Atheists” of today (such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris) are indeed very intelligent. However, they tend to be rather mean-spirited in their attacks on religion and faith, and in the process fail to see their own hypocrisy. They, too, work on faith in many things, for humanity does not yet have all of the answers. They need faith that everything they claim as truth is true or that we will verify them as true in the future.

Another group of those who have turned away from God are criminals of all sorts. There are many criminals who are very intelligent, yet the evidence of the lack of wisdom is that they commit crimes. One of the greatest examples of intelligent criminals is Leopold and Loeb. These two young friends (who graduated college young) were 19 and 18, respectively, when they decided to commit the perfect crime. They kidnapped and killed Loeb’s 14-year-old second-cousin Bobby Franks. The only physical problem with their crime was that Leopold accidentally dropped his custom-made eyeglasses where they left the body. In other words, they were eventually caught. With all of their intelligence, they lacked the wisdom to not commit any crimes.

Consequences

Turning away from wisdom and God is not only dangerous, it has dire consequences. Whether it is dealing with hurt feelings, broken relationships, jail/prison time, or any other consequence, there are always consequences. The worst, by far, is eternal condemnation.

Father, forgive us when we fail to seek your wisdom and heed Your call. Help us remember to pray for those who do not know You, and give us the wisdom  to know how to interact with all people. We thank You that took the ultimate consequence upon Yourself through the cross for those of us who believe. We praise You and pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Fools, Wisdom

August 8, 2016

Risk Management

By David

Proverbs 22:3 

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. (NLT)

It was necessary to change my pension plan a few years ago. My original plan was taken out with my bank, and was initially linked to my mortgage. When the yearly statements arrived I found it quite shocking that the pension plan was not growing much, despite what I was paying into the plan. The bank’s answer was to suggest that I should increase my monthly contribution.

Frustrated, I contacted an old friend who used to work in life insurance. He told me that his son was a pension expert and sent him up to see me. The son arranged a transfer of my pension funds from the bank to another scheme, where he is able to micro-manage client investments. When stocks were doing badly a few years ago, he moved my investments into cash deposits so that they did not lose any value. When stocks and shares recovered, he moved my pension fund back into stocks. As a consequence my pension investment has grown, and is continuing to grow, because my friend’s son is wise enough to foresee fluctuations in the money markets, and take precautions. If I had left my pension fund invested with the bank it would be worth even less now, and I could have faced financial problems in my retirement.

God expects us to do our best to make wise choices in all areas of our lives, and He expects us to be alert to things with the potential to damage us, and our relationship with Him. If we walk with God, and if we are tuned into His voice constantly, then He will guide us. Following God, and listening for and to His voice is important. There is danger all around. Scripture warns us to ‘be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour’ 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV). Failure to foresee danger and take precautions always has consequences. Such consequences have the potential to extend into eternity.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in advice, Fools, Paths of Life, Temptation

January 18, 2016

Caught In the Lie

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 18:7

“A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.”

As Anthony discussed yesterday, the things we say can lead to a good, old-fashioned punishment, such as soap in the mouth, a spanking, or other bad consequences.

When I was going through my later primary and early secondary education, up until about the start of my Junior year of high school, I had a penchant for stretching the truth or outright lying.

Here are some things I learned:

  • misrepresentations and lies only spread distrust, hatred, and problems.
  • relationships are damaged and/or lost.
  • eventually, you start to believe your own lies.
  • eventually, you must face the consequences in one way or another.

Our World

Our world is full of lies spread by any number of people. Whether it comes in the form of religion, science, or social constructs, we are bombarded daily with lies.

Some of these lies have immediate bad consequences: we may see church splits or new religions, increased taxes or restrictive laws, or fights or wars.

The most dangerous have eternal consequences. As we continue to spread lies, we not only hurt each other, but we may end up apart from God after we die.

That is hell, and it is not ever a good alternative.

Lord of Truth, help us to hear and speak Your words. Make us aware of the lies of this world and in our hearts. Save us from our own snares and destruction by Your grace and for Your glory.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in conversation/speech, Fools

June 29, 2015

Cross and Conniving

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 14:17

17 He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.

Customer Crossing

I have over ten years experience in retail customer service. There are always those customers who can find something to complain about no matter where they go (can I get an “Amen!” from my compatriots?!).

Firstly, it can be rather frustrating for all of the employees. When those employees get upset and angry, sometimes they do things not very nice. Some examples include giving faulty merchandise, doing something disgusting to their food, or giving bad advice. Sometimes, because these employees acted out their frustrations, they end up losing their jobs.

Secondly, these customers who are so easily angered do not realize the hidden punishment they could receive from those irate employees. If they could have just calmly stated the problem and waited for response, most problems between employees and customers could easily be avoided.

In both cases, someone is acting foolishly. Unfortunately, it is almost always the customer. (Is everyone out there listening?)

Conniving Customers

What is truly telling of the nature of our world is that some (maybe even many) of these customers get so angry on purpose. People have come to learn that if they throw a big enough fit, complain to just the right person, they can get so many things discounted or even free.

What some of those fail to realize or fully appreciate is how much others come to hate them. These people are not just “abusing the system,” but they are using people to get what they want. Nobody likes being used.

Churchianity

How often do we as Christians do this to each other?

There are complaints about what color the carpeting/walls/flowers/hymnals (if there are any, anymore!) are.

There are fights over how to reach out to people in the community (which is a big turn-off to people in the community).

There are floaters who never find a church-home, because they do not like something or are not getting something at every church they attend and then bad-mouth those churches.

What we are really saying is that we are better than everyone else (or most people). What we are really saying is that God needs to do everything we say and serve our every whim. What we are really saying is that God is not enough … even as we sing He is.

Gracious God, forgive us for always stabbing each other in the back and looking for freebies. Help us to live out Your command in John 13 to love each other, to sacrifice ourselves and our needs to each other for Your glory. Help us to love all people.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Fools, Warnings

April 7, 2014

They Turned

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 1:31-33

Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

As we have learned over the past several days, a fool turns away from God and wisdom. They essentially repent of God. They may have logic and reason, but do they have wisdom?

Turning from Wisdom

The “New Atheists” of today (such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris) are indeed very intelligent. However, they tend to be rather mean-spirited in their attacks on religion and faith, and in the process fail to see their own hypocrisy. They, too, work on faith in many things, for humanity does not yet have all of the answers. They need faith that everything they claim as truth is true or that we will verify them as true in the future.

Another group of those who have turned away from God are criminals of all sorts. There are many criminals who are very intelligent, yet the evidence of the lack of wisdom is that they commit crimes. One of the greatest examples of intelligent criminals is Leopold and Loeb. These two young friends (who graduated college young) were 19 and 18, respectively, when they decided to commit the perfect crime. They kidnapped and killed Loeb’s 14-year-old second-cousin Bobby Franks. The only physical problem with their crime was that Leopold accidentally dropped his custom-made eyeglasses where they left the body. In other words, they were eventually caught. With all of their intelligence, they lacked the wisdom to not commit any crimes.

Consequences

Turning away from wisdom and God is not only dangerous, it has dire consequences. Whether it is dealing with hurt feelings, broken relationships, jail/prison time, or any other consequence, there are always consequences. The worst, by far, is eternal condemnation.

Father, forgive us when we fail to seek your wisdom and heed Your call. Help us remember to pray for those who do not know You, and give us the wisdom  to know how to interact with all people. We thank You that took the ultimate consequence upon Yourself through the cross for those of us who believe. We praise You and pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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

July 18, 2013

Risk Management

By David

Proverbs 22:3 

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. (NLT)

It was necessary to change my pension plan a few years ago. My original plan was taken out with my bank, and was initially linked to my mortgage. When the yearly statements arrived I found it quite shocking that the pension plan was not growing much, despite what I was paying into the plan. The bank’s answer was to suggest that I should increase my monthly contribution.

Frustrated, I contacted an old friend who used to work in life insurance. He told me that his son was a pension expert and sent him up to see me. The son arranged a transfer of my pension funds from the bank to another scheme, where he is able to micro-manage client investments. When stocks were doing badly a few years ago, he moved my investments into cash deposits so that they did not lose any value. When stocks and shares recovered, he moved my pension fund back into stocks. As a consequence my pension investment has grown, and is continuing to grow, because my friend’s son is wise enough to foresee fluctuations in the money markets, and take precautions. If I had left my pension fund invested with the bank it would be worth even less now, and I could have faced financial problems in my retirement.

God expects us to do our best to make wise choices in all areas of our lives, and He expects us to be alert to things with the potential to damage us, and our relationship with Him. If we walk with God, and if we are tuned into His voice constantly, then He will guide us. Following God, and listening for and to His voice is important. There is danger all around. Scripture warns us to ‘be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour’ 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV). Failure to foresee danger and take precautions always has consequences. Such consequences have the potential to extend into eternity.

5 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in advice, Fools, Paths of Life, Temptation

March 31, 2013

Caught in the Lie

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 18:7

7 A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.

As Anthony discussed yesterday, the things we say can lead to a good, old-fashioned punishment, such as soap in the mouth, a spanking, or other bad consequences.

When I was going through my later primary and early secondary education, up until about the start of my Junior year of high school, I had a penchant for stretching the truth or outright lying.

Here are some things I learned:

  • misrepresentations and lies only spread distrust, hatred, and problems.
  • relationships are damaged and/or lost.
  • eventually, you start to believe your own lies.
  • eventually, you must face the consequences in one way or another.

Our World

Our world is full of lies spread by any number of people. Whether it comes in the form of religion, science, or social constructs, we are bombarded daily with lies.

Some of these lies have immediate bad consequences: we may see church splits or new religions, increased taxes or restrictive laws, or fights or wars.

The most dangerous have eternal consequences. As we continue to spread lies, we not only hurt each other, but we may end up apart from God after we die.

That is hell, and it is not ever a good alternative.

Lord of Truth, help us to hear and speak Your words. Make us aware of the lies of this world and in our hearts. Save us from our own snares and destruction by Your grace and for Your glory.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in conversation/speech, Fools

December 2, 2012

Cross and Conniving

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 14:17

17 He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.

Customer Crossing

I have over ten years experience in retail customer service. There are always those customers who can find something to complain about no matter where they go (can I get an “Amen!” from my compatriots?!).

Firstly, it can be rather frustrating for all of the employees. When those employees get upset and angry, sometimes they do things not very nice. Some examples include giving faulty merchandise, doing something disgusting to their food, or giving bad advice. Sometimes, because these employees acted out their frustrations, they end up losing their jobs.

Secondly, these customers who are so easily angered do not realize the hidden punishment they could receive from those irate employees. If they could have just calmly stated the problem and waited for response, most problems between employees and customers could easily be avoided.

In both cases, someone is acting foolishly. Unfortunately, it is almost always the customer. (Is everyone out there listening?)

Conniving Customers

What is truly telling of the nature of our world is that some (maybe even many) of these customers get so angry on purpose. People have come to learn that if they throw a big enough fit, complain to just the right person, they can get so many things discounted or even free.

What some of those fail to realize or fully appreciate is how much others come to hate them. These people are not just “abusing the system,” but they are using people to get what they want. Nobody likes being used.

Churchianity

How often do we as Christians do this to each other?

There are complaints about what color the carpeting/walls/flowers/hymnals (if there are any, anymore!) are.

There are fights over how to reach out to people in the community (which is a big turn-off to people in the community).

There are floaters who never find a church-home, because they do not like something or are not getting something at every church they attend and then bad-mouth those churches.

What we are really saying is that we are better than everyone else (or most people). What we are really saying is that God needs to do everything we say and serve our every whim. What we are really saying is that God is not enough … even as we sing He is.

Gracious God, forgive us for always stabbing each other in the back and looking for freebies. Help us to live out Your command in John 13 to love each other, to sacrifice ourselves and our needs to each other for Your glory. Help us to love all people.

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Fools, Warnings