Difficulty in life is not the real difficulty.  It is the uncertainty of time associated with the difficulty that really troubles us.  If you know you are going to wait at the doctor’s office for an extra twenty minutes, you may not like it, but you can handle it.  But if you were to wait without anyone communicating to you that it would take an extra twenty minutes…well, now, that’s the issue.  It’s time, really, and all of its extended uncertainties that cause us to be anxious.

Waiting is the hardest bunch of nothing that I’ve ever had to do.…

Slowly the lights fade and the curtain is drawn open.  The stage is adequately prepared as the ornately-donned actor steps into the spotlight to dramatically pronounce his lines.  With clear and articulate enunciation, he calls the audience to attention. He is good. He is convincing.  He is even mesmerizing.  But he is an actor.  His real identity has been arrested by a role, a part…a character he has learned to play extremely well.  Sometimes in the private chambers of his life he cannot tell where he stops and the performer begins. He has a hard time engaging in real conversations …

An epidemic of apathy has filled the church. Consumed with worldly passions and pursuits, the modern parishioner gets more upset about a red light than he does the red flames of hell.  It’s not that we are lacking in passion, it is just that our passion has become misappropriated.  Instead of channeling our resources, thoughts, energy, zeal, and affection to the building of God’s kingdom, we have sidetracked our lives with the glory of our own empire.

 Self Centeredness and Self-Love

The root of apathy grows in the soil of self-centeredness and produces a harvest of indifference.  Serving God and …

189 references.  That’s how many verses came up when I typed the word “fool” in my Bible search engine.  To be honest, I wasn’t aware of the amount of space the Bible allots for foolishness.  It should have been no surprise however; since the fall of Adam, the world has been subject to foolish thinking, foolish living, and foolish dying.  Consider the following passages:

• Psalms 14:1 – Thefool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

• Job 2:1 – But he said unto her, Thou

“Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in,” said C.S. Lewis, “aim at earth and you will get neither.”  Having goals is one thing, having the right kind of goals is something altogether different.  Many have successfully climbed the proverbial ladder only to reach the top and realize it was leaning on the wrong wall.  The epitome of failure is to succeed at those things that make no difference in eternity.  That is why we need to maintain the course of our lives with spiritual pursuits.  Call it what you will–resolutions, objectives, pledges, or goals–such endeavors help us …