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Pragmatism vs. Principles

12 Mar

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. – Romans 2:12 

Pragmatism vs. Principles

 –       We’re leaving the church because there is no children’s program

–       Teens won’t listen to “just” the Bible being preached- they need stories and personal anecdotes to make it relevant!

–       We don’t have very much money coming in these days so we just won’t give any offering

–       How could we not both work? There’s no way we can give up my benefits or extra income. This city is just too expensive to live in to even consider giving up one job to stay home with the kids

–       I know how our money should be spent so even if my husband [wife] disagrees with me, I’ll just keep pushing until I get my way- after all, it’s for our family’s well being!

–       If I confront my friend about that issue, I’m worried she’ll be upset with me so it’s best just to avoid it rather than stir things up.

–       As long as I’m being a good example to my friends in the workplace, it’s not that big of a deal if I don’t share the Gospel with my words. I wouldn’t want to make things awkward. After all, didn’t someone once say “Preach Christ, and if you must, use words”?

–       I can’t make it to evening service, AND prayer meeting every week. What do they expect of me, I have a baby and it’s hard to get out of the house with her or find someone to watch her for me!

I have to include a disclaimer before I try to tease out this thought I’ve been wrestling with. Every point above (except for maybe one or two), are things that I have personally struggled with. Personally as in, “I’m the one dealing with the issues”, not “I’m the one looking at other people dealing with the issues”. Although, I do think these are common things that people generally struggle with.  And the list isn’t exhaustive; I’ve just tried to come up with a few that happen to have been issues over the past few years. So what is the problem with answering questions in the way I’ve suggested above? The problem begins with the types of questions we’re asking, and the place we’re going to find the answers.

That word pragmatism has a positive connotation that’s usually associated with it. If a person is pragmatic, they’re looking at ways to practically make decisions with the information they’re given. So if a principle is by definition a “basic truth, law, or assumption” or “A rule or standard, especially of good behavior”, then how do we practically make decisions based on principles and avoid going down the road of being pragmatic at the expense of our principles? We need to go backwards a few steps in our thought process to get to the heart of the problem.

Our first response isn’t always the best or right response. A good friend of mine named Amy 😉 once told me that the first thoughts we think in any given situation are often wrong and if we stopped to think about why we want to do a particular thing, or why we’re thinking a particular thought, we’d see that we are not thinking rightly. Every day we are faced with choices to make. What should I eat for breakfast? What car should I buy? Where should I go on vacation? How should I spend my paycheck? Probably the majority of our choices are ones that are fairly inconsequential, but there are many decisions we need to make that will have serious affect on our lives and the lives of those around us.

The problem begins when we don’t want to think things through or when we want to think them through primarily based on the way our situation appears, rather than what God’s word says. By default, we assume that our thoughts are the right thoughts or our ways are the right ways. But isn’t that the way sin is? Just like in the garden when Adam and Eve were presented with choices to make, they believed that choosing their way seemed best, in spite of what God had instructed them. Rather than thinking of His word to them first, and believing it and applying it to their situation, they believed themselves. That verse I started off with from Romans should be a sort of compass that helps us think about the direction we need to go everyday, every moment, with all our thoughts. If we start out on the basis that our minds need to be renewed because they don’t think the right way and they don’t understand everything clearly, then we will have a starting point at which we begin to make choices. Rather than decide to do something because “it works” or “everyone else does it that way” or “I can’t think of any other way that this could be done”, we would begin by saying, “What does God’s word say?” It is easy as Christians to say that we believe God’s word is perfect, God’s word is true, and God’s word is sufficient. But, I think that we don’t always live that way in the choices we make. Our culture promotes and encourages self-reliance and conformity to its ways. And avoiding conformity to the world isn’t just adhering to clearly marked out dos and like “do not get drunk on wine”. There are many subtler, and maybe even more dangerous ways that we begin to make way for sinfulness when we don’t realize that the word applies to every situation and decision. There are choices we need to make that require wisdom and discernment, and when we are unwilling to think through the impact, consequences, or implications of our choices and what they say about what we believe, then we’re walking a slippery slope downwards to disobedience. Just because a choice we have to make doesn’t scream “WRONG!” or “SIN!”, it doesn’t mean that it might not stem from a wrong understanding of scripture, or lead to a bad outcome.

If we begin by believing that the Bible teaches that our hearts are deceitful and wicked, and that in order to walk pleasing to God, we need to know what His will is, and so we must go back to the book. We must everyday be asking ourselves the same questions. Will my decision in this situation bring God the most glory? Am I doing what He wants according to His will, or according to my way of making choices? His word is what will ultimately transform our thinking and enable it to be pleasing to Him, and bring about the most good and blessing in our lives.

The story of King Uzziah in 2 Kings 14 is a telling one. The king had experienced numerous military successes. He was loved by the people and had built up for himself a strong kingdom. And then, one day he decided that he would act as a priest and enter the temple to offer sacrifices. This was a proud, arrogant assumption of a role that God had clearly commanded no one except the priests to fulfill. But he decided that his way was best. I’m sure he had lots of reasons to justify that choice. Maybe he thought that God had shown him favor in the past, or that he had earned the right. Either way, he decided to do things his own way, rather than God’s, and he was struck immediately with leprosy. The point of this passage is to illustrate that God’s word is given for us to obey, not for us to choose which points suit our circumstances and situations. And if he’s called us to do something, He most certainly will enable us to do it. This doesn’t diminish the fact that He is gracious and forgiving to us in spite of our bad choices, but it does highlight that we need to obey and we need to do it to honor Him, to show that we believe and trust His word, and to do it for our good. This also serves to remind us that we need to be wary of pride and confidence in our own understanding of things- like I said, often our first response (or even our second or third!), isn’t the one that would be most honoring and glorifying to God.

“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind”- it’s an ongoing, continuous, life-long command and process; one that we need to be consciously engaged in, not passively assuming that it’s already happened. Why? So that we can know what God’s will is, remembering that it is GOOD, it is PERFECT, and it is PLEASING. And that’s what will enable us to then make the right choices and keep us from conformity.

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The Four A.M. Frenzy

9 Mar

So is it just me or do things become waaaayy more serious after midnight? It’s like a steep hill down with your thoughts and musings. The outlook is grim. Today was just a mess, and well tomorrow, let’s not go there. I can already see the problems piling up like that mound of laundry that sits, eyeing me in the corner of my bedroom. I’ve been having these after-midnight moments over the past few weeks where life just feels a tinge hopeless, and when I think about the hopelessness, I begin to despair.

Take for example the other night as Serge and I were going to bed. He’d had a particularly long day and was just wiped out. I could see him fading quickly, but thought it would be the right time to put on my sad/pensive face so that he could lovingly ask me what was the matter. And he did. Cue the weepy violins and there I went.

Serge: “What’s wrong, you look sad.”

Me: “I am.”

Serge: “Why, what happened?”

Me: “I don’t know, I’m just feeling down.”

Serge: “Why?”

Me: (In my head I’m thinking, “Don’t you just know? Can’t you understand all the things that I’ve gone through today?”) “I just feel sad that I have been busy during the day. I’m not spending enough focused time with Emma. It’s like, I am cleaning, and cooking, and then I have to catch up on business emails, and, it’s just so bad. Like, I haven’t even gotten to do important things with her, like finger-painting, or go to the petting zoo.” (I’m telling you, tragedies are happening in households across the nation, every night after midnight! It’s not just me, I swear!!)

Serge: “What? What are you talking about?”

Me: “I don’t know, I just feel so bad, like I want to do all these things and I don’t have time!” (Then the thoughts start coming about how I am behind on Emma’s developmental milestones, and how now that I’ve not done the fingerprinting she might be a little behind in a few years when she starts kindergarten)

Serge: “I don’t know, maybe you just need to manage your time better.”

Me: “What? What? I am managing my time, I just don’t have enough!!!” (then, the anger starts mounting and I’m thinking to myself “How can he say that, he’s sooo unaware of all the things I have to do in the day. We’re going to have to talk about this too. This is a new issue that we’ll have to deal with before the night is over.”)

Me again: “Serge, I feel like, if we’re so busy and we don’t spend enough time together as a family, then we are just going to be such a bad example to Emmy. Like what is the point of having a family if we’re not being a “real” one?” (I don’t know where I got that line “a real one”. Things get really deep after midnight)

Me again: Some more talking, and then some crying, and then a bit more talking, and then a pause…. “Serge?”

Serge: Silence. Deafening silence. And a little snore.

Me: Oh my gosh… How could he have done this to me? (some more crying for about a minute, and then, I fell into a deep sleep)

K, so I’m replaying this conversation for you to illustrate how awful things can get when you’re tired. You know the kind of tired I’m talking about. You had a million things to do during the day, many of which didn’t get done, and now you’re going to bed thinking about all the ways in which you’ve failed individually, or as a family. You’re kids are dead. They’ve just got no hope now that you haven’t introduced them to the wonders of farm animals and free-play with paint.

It’s bad isn’t it? My point in all this is just to say that, often times we make major issues out of minor things. Things that, if we took time, when we were well-rested to assess and think through, we’d realize weren’t that big of a deal. And even if they were big deals, we’d have a little more wisdom and energy to figure them out. Four a.m., or any time when you’re tired for that matter, is not a good time to try to sort out life lessons, reorganize family goal setting, assess the state of your marriage, or feel guilty about not getting to the petting zoo. Thank God for rest and the way it recharges your batteries. It isn’t a good idea to do the heavy mental lifting when you have no gas in the tank. Fill her up and then consider what to do with the issues that arise. You’ll probably realize that most of the things that were disasters looming on the forefront are things that can be dismissed as really not that important. Or if they are important, you can deal with them in a reasonable way, not in a tragic, self-pitying, apocalyptic way.

Thank God for the weekend, and especially thank Him for Sunday! That one day of the week, that we are called to rest. We rest because it is, of many things, a practice for the day when we will be with the Lord and have true rest in His presence. With that in mind, I hope you get some sleep. Stop panicking about whatever you’re panicking about and try to sort things out in good time.

Oh ya, and make this pie. It’s really good and REALLY easy. Thank you to my cousins’ grandma Melva, we can all enjoy a slice of Trackside Pie (don’t ask about the name, I don’t know why it’s called that!) with very little preparation! I’m excited for you if you can’t tell by all the exclaiming. I’m not kidding, you don’t need to make crust and the ingredients literally involve a little measuring and mixing, nothing fancy.

Until Monday,

Maja

Yet Another…

8 Mar

So I am the last to introduce myself to you all. I will start with the basics: My name is Georgie, I just turned 30 (yikes) and I’ve been married to Paul McDonald since October 2009. I have a 15 month old son named Caleb and one more on the way (due in July). I am a homemaker, a lover of Jesus Christ and a member of Grace Fellowship Church Don Mills.

I found Maja’s “proposition” very intriguing and, like Amy, could not pass up the opportunity to blog with all these lovely women! It’ll be a new experience for me to try to write a post every week, but one that I’m very excited about. My plan is to write about things that are of interest to me and hopefully beneficial to those who’ll read this blog. Some of those things would include theology, parenting, philosophy, books that I am reading, other posts that I have found to be a blessing or just entertaining…I think the only things I will stay away from are sports (that’s your job Amy), and cooking (I cannot content with the other cooks on this blog!!).

I am reading through a really great book by Dr. Helen Roseveare right now. It has been such a blessing to read about her life and learn from her incredible example of godliness. I anticipate that the next few posts will be related to that…so I hope you are looking forward to it! Here is a taste of her writing, just to wet your appetite. She explains how God met with her when she was beaten by rebel soldiers during her time serving in the Congo:

“In the darkness and loneliness, He met with me. He was right there, a great, wonderful, almighty God. His love enveloped me. Suddenly the “Why?” dropped away from me, and an unbelievable peace flowed in, even in the midst of the wickedness. And He breathed a word into my troubled mind: the word privilege.” (Living Sacrifice, 22)

I am really looking forward to blogging with you all (writers and readers!!).

Another Introduction

7 Mar

So how does one begin an intro blog post? I think I need a quick tutorial, because there is no way this is the right way to do it – here goes. My name is Amy. I am a 27 year old child of God, daughter, sister, friend, – excited to say- member of the Grace Chapel family, major Toronto Maple Leafs fan, and full time social worker. I think that pretty much sums it up.

I checked my email a few weeks ago, and I was so pumped to see an email from my good friend Maja titled, “A proposition”. As I read it I became even more excited to accept her proposal to team up with three women I respect and admire a great deal. The idea was to join Maja’s existing blog and take turns writing about topics that are important to us. I have been following This Passing Life since it began, and it has been such a blessing to me over the years; so there was no way I was going to turn down the opportunity to contribute to this blog by sharing some fun and challenging topics along with my friends.

My job allows me the privilege and opportunity to speak to various people from different walks of life, different life stages, different problems, perspectives, ideas, and worries. I love being able to have a job that provides support to people who need it, and are willing to engage in conversation, one hour at a time with a complete stranger. In the process of supporting, I end up learning so much about myself, relational interactions, families, societal expectations, social problems, and the list goes on. I often find myself working to figure out what the Bible has to say about these lessons that arise from my daily conversations. As I share some of my thoughts and readings, I promise to do my best not to relate every post to the Leafs, but quite frankly, I do believe that most life lessons can be directly linked to the Leafs’ journey over the years. So, while our home team works hard and presses on towards the playoffs, I will try to do the same in my contributions to this blog. I am excited to learn more and grow as I follow along with the other posts and contribute my own, and I hope the same for anyone else who may be following along with This Passing Life.

An Introduction

6 Mar

So I was hoping to begin my first blog post with some sort of witty or insightful  word, but alas, I couldn’t come up with anything, so we’ll just have to dive right into  talking about me!

I was definitely very excited when Maja asked me to start blogging with her and with the two other ladies that will be joining us as well.  I had a blog of my own back in the day, however, due to a growing family I just couldn’t maintain it anymore.  I won’t give the link, because I may steal some old posts and put them up here, for those days when I just have nothing exciting or helpful to share!

Anyhow, moving along, as Maja mentioned, I’m Stacey and I’m a 30 year old wife to Julian Freeman and mom of three beautiful little ladies, Susannah Lynn (5), Caitlyn Adele (4) and Madalyn Joy (almost 2), whom I love with all my heart… so much it hurts.

Jesus Christ is my Lord and Saviour and He saved me from my sin when I was about 12 years old.  He is the reason for my joy and hope in life.

I have been blessed abundantly by the Lord as He has given me many good and perfect gifts, like that amazing family I mentioned above.  I have also been blessed with an amazing church family at Grace Fellowship Church Don Mills, which my husband planted and has been pastoring at for just over a year.

I LOVE cooking, like way more than Maja even does (that’s a joke, in case it wasn’t clear).  I spend too much time looking at food blogs and finding new recipes to try out for my family.  I’m always looking to make new traditions in our home and they typically revolve around food!  I’ll give you all a list of my favourite food blogs at a later date…don’t worry, I will talk about food again.  And again.

I like swimming.  Notice I didn’t say love.  I like it while I’m doing it; I love it when I’m done. It’s tiring and difficult for me.  After all, it is exercise.

I love hanging out with friends.  I am a crazy extrovert and cannot say no to being with people.  My poor husband didn’t know what he was getting himself into when he married me. I like playing games with said friends, just chatting with them about casual things, but mostly I love talking about our good and amazing God.  I love theology.

And finally I love being a mom.  I love watching my kids grow and learn and I love snuggling with them and nurturing and nourishing them! I love teaching them about God.  I’m not gonna lie though, it’s way harder than I anticipated and there are many aspects that I find incredibly challenging and some aspects that I just don’t love. Like going to the park with my kids in the winter, sometimes even the summer, or playing imagination games.  Is that terrible?  I do it (when I can), and I love their joy, but it’s crazy hard for me.  I don’t love when they disobey, but mostly I don’t love it when I fail miserably. I just wanted to let you in on that.  This mom thing is really hard, but thankfully, God gives grace!

I think that’s enough about me for now.  I look forward to blogging more and my hope with writing is that somehow something here might be a blessing to you, that you would grow in your love for the only one worthy of our love and adoration, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome Back- Day 1!

5 Mar

Well hello to everyone who came back in anticipation of the Monday surprise!

I have the pleasure of being the first post of the week and giving a short explanation as to what exactly is going on. I had mentioned in last week’s post that a few friends would be joining as regular contributors, and for the next three days you’ll be introduced to each of of them. You’ll be hearing from… wait for it… Stacey! Georgie McDonald! and Amy! I’ll let each of them introduce themselves but I just want to say that all of them are women whom I have personally learned from and have been greatly blessed to know. They all come from different walks of life, different backgrounds and experiences, but the common thread between each of them is that they all love the Lord and look to know him and serve him better. I can’t wait to hear from them as they share the exciting, boring, and regular things that happen in everyday life and bring a heavenly perspective to it all!

This week is all for introductions so I’ll begin with re-introducing myself. I am 27 going on 28, a Torontonian by birth, wife to The Real Estate Guy, and a mom to one super-fun little package of joy. I share a little more about myself in the “About Me” section, which I’ll add to once my friends post their bios.

Basically- I just enjoy a lot of things. God is the giver of every good gift, and I love enjoying Him, and all that he has made! Especially food- I like good food. I love my whole family (immediate and extended), and thoroughly enjoy all the time I get to spend with them. I love my church, Grace Chapel of Markham, where I have had the privilege of being for the past 3 years. And, I love to learn. I love all sorts of learning- whether it be about history, literature, or cooking, I find it a joy to be able to see more of God’s hand in all of life. Mostly, I like to read on theology and books about the Christian life. I hope to share some of my findings in future posts!

That’s all for now and I hope you continue to read on as the week progresses to hear from the rest of the blog authors.

Until next week,

Maja

 

One more thing…

29 Feb

Just one more thing I came across today. A good read, shared from my good friend Amy via Tim Challies’ blog.

Is it wasting your life/career to stay home with your children? More on this in future posts!

The Relief of No Career

Blog Relaunch!

29 Feb

It’s true! The rumours can now be put to rest. Folks- I know you’ve all been waiting in anticipation- the blog is re-launching! And, I’m excited to say that it will be back with a bang. I can’t share all the secrets with you now, you’ll just have to come back next Monday and see what exactly is going to go on, but just as a teaser… It’ll involve 3 wonderful, insightful, funny, friends of mine that are joining the blogging world via This Passing Life. Who are they?? Well, just wait and see! Enough exclamation points for now!

I don’t want to see this blog die, which is what has been happening, in spite of my good intentions. I haven’t watered this plant every day which is why it’s withering, so now I hope that with a few other gardeners on board, you’ll see and hear a lot more. That’s all I can say for now, so please come back and see who my secret friends are that will be regular contributors to this little slice of a blog.

And, just for fun- can you check out this sneaky little blog that has made it’s way into my home? My mom found it and shared it with me because well, that’s just what good moms do when they find good things that others will enjoy- they share them! If you like to cook,or like to cook fun things, then check out Spook Fork Bacon.

WOW is all I can say. Kale & blood orange salad? Banana & bacon cookies? Roasted strawberry shortcake shakes?? I’m just gonna go and start making some of their baby chimichangas right now while you head on over there and start to drool while getting inspired to whip up something exciting for dinner tonight!

See you Monday for the re-launch!

The Family

3 Nov

Friends! Happy fall to you all. I’m now a bit late on that salutation seeing as Canadian Thanksgiving and Halloween have already passed and Starbucks has made it clear that CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE!!! For my American friends, are you also experiencing the same influx of red and green into your stores?

Time just keeps on passing not giving anyone a moment to catch their breath. Or maybe it’s just me feeling like I have a million things I want to do and I don’t ever get them all done. One of those million being wanting to keep up with this blog and not being able to. No more apologies, I’ll just keep pressing on. Even though I haven’t been posting as often as I’d like, I have been reading. And studying. And searching for useful and relevant info on things that I need to learn about. And right now, the things that I seem to need to know all pertain to being a mama and wife. So that’s why I’ve decided that this next little roll of posts will be about what I’m learning in the hope that others out there, not just moms or wives, will benefit from me trying to bring together a range of pieces of info that I’ve come across or plan to spend time in.

Why the family? To be honest, I’ve wanted to post on this topic for a long time, not just because it’s something relevant to my current life situation. Family means a lot of different things to a lot of people. To some, the idea conjures up painful memories and experiences that one wishes were forgotten. Maybe a broken home, a difficult childhood with a single parent, abuse at the hands of a relative, the list could go on. To others, family might not have that same exact meaning but it might be one of more superficial interactions and detached relationships. And for some, it can mean everything wonderful and comforting about life. I would guess that for many of us it means a combination of theses things. We all have had painful experiences, we all have imperfect relationships with our families, and we all have longings and hopes for what we wish or hope things could or should be.

Regardless of your personal experience, good or bad, there are probably many questions we have about what families are supposed to be. Are they important? Can we do without them? How should families function if they are to function well and who’s to say what that should even look like? Are traditions and rituals and blood what makes a family? The list of questions could stretch miles! I won’t attempt to position myself as some sort of family “expert”, but as a person with a family, who loves her family (not just my little girl and my husband- but each and every relative and extended member), I care about finding answers to those questions and don’t want to just “see how things turn out”. I want to understand what it takes to repair broken relationships and build new strong ones. I want to find answers to questions I have about what the wrong and right ways are to go about living as a member of a family. I do believe that there are real concrete choices we make every day that have a lasting impact, for better or worse. We may not be able to see 20 years into the future as to where we’ll be with our family relationships, but looking back, there is evidence strewn along the road of time that points to the triumphs and many failures of our families. We can see how divorce deeply hurt our cousins or friends. We can see how marital strife caused deep pain for us as children (and adults). And, if we’re honest, we can see ways that we’ve acted that have alienated, hurt, and damaged our relationships with people we love. In looking to find answers as to what the family is supposed to be, and how we can make ours better as individuals and corporately, I’m starting with the presupposition that there are the right ones out there. And not just out there anywhere, but first and foremost in God’s word. And then, coming from that as the basis, there are many helpful resources in the form of helpful words from others who write/talk about this most important topic in order that people would think rightly about the family, and that right thinking would then lead to right living, for our good, and for God’s glory.

For starters I’m going to link you to a fantastic sermon series by John MacArthur called “The Fulfilled Family“. The series is fairly long but is packed with solid Biblical teaching from Ephesians on the roles of husbands, wives, children, and parents. I’ve listened to all and really learned a lot about many things, namely the great importance that God places on families. I encourage you to head on over there and download a message, or 10. Yes, yes, that’s some clicking and downloading and waiting, but it’ll be worth it, I promise! The truth of God’s word never changes, and therefore even though this was preached a while back, everything that’s said is just as relevant and needed today, even more so in a world where the family is under deadly assault. We don’t live in a society that encourages the and supports the nuclear family. In fact, the fact that we have to call it a “nuclear family” implies something in and of itself. Short-lived marriages and children born out of wedlock are no longer taboo but the norm. This to say that there are going to continue to be many forms of evidence that will begin and have already begun to display how these trends have impacted children, to their detriment and to the fracturing of society as a whole. Anyways, listen on and feel free to comment, and if possible, I’ll try to answer and relevant questions or thoughts.

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Is This All That There Is?

15 Sep

Is this all that there is? Birth. Life. Work. Death. Fun. Laughter. Food. Drink. Is life just a series of cyclical moments where people all experience the same things that have been happening since the beginning of time? If this is all there is, then the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes is right: (Chapter 1: 1-11)

1The words of the Preacher,[a] the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity[b] of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
3 What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
4A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens[c] to the place where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
7All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
10Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.
11There is no remembrance of former things,[d]
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things[e] yet to be
among those who come after.

Read on and you will find that this book has a very depressing message. If life under the sun is all that there is, then life is vain. In other words, if life without God is all there is, then life really is hopeless. If all that we work for, all that we live for, and all that we plan for is meant to fulfill us here and now, then there is very little hope. The answer to the questions he poses, and the solution to this problem are not found in the book of Ecclesiastes itself, but rather in the rest of the pages of Scripture. We are made to live for something more than this life alone. The searching and longing for fulfilment that each person feels and strives after cannot be found in anything that this life has to offer. Not in a person, a family, a child, a job- and if you don’t believe this, it really is just a matter of time (and an honest assessment of yourself) before you experience that sense that once you’ve gone after that thing you hoped would satisfy your craving for meaning and purpose, it just wasn’t what you’d thought it would be.

Do you have those very questions? Do you ask yourself, “Is this all that there is? Once I die, will that be it?”. Do you seek after happiness and satisfaction in a thousand different things that never fulfill your longing to find meaning and purpose? This past week, I’ve been listening to a sermon series by Tullian Tchividjian. He is the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and happens to be the grandson of Billy Graham. I can’t encourage you enough to listen or watch this series  called “Life Without God” and hear him unpack the philosophical questions and truth found in this little but powerful book of the Bible. The Bible forces us to ask ourselves difficult questions, but does not leave helpless, and this series is a great start to thinking through these issues and finding those answers.

 

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