The Skillful Life

In this week’s examination of the way of the wise man, we are going to build on the character of the wise man with some practical knowledge to make sure we all know the right and wise thing to do. Proverbs lays it out straight how a wise man treats his neighbors and coworkers, how […]

Watch any movie or show lately and it’s uncanny how vividly and accurately Hollywood is able to bring together writing, production, and talent to accurately convey the traits of the fool or the wise man! Audiences are immediately able to recognize which category a character is intended to fall into. And yet it is not

Achieving anything worthwhile almost always requires some sort of work, some sort of toil, sometimes even concerted and painful effort. A few weeks back when we rolled through our first pass in Ecclesiastes, we noted that one of the five things God has given man to enjoy in life is his work. And yet with

As we continue to examine together the idea of living a skillful life, a life characterized by wisdom, and we keep in mind the central key to unlocking that skillful life is to live with a healthy fear of the Lord, Proverbs 6:16-19 is a helpful short list that warns us away from seven things

Before he arrives at his ultimate conclusion, the Teacher of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon, decides to explore every experience this life has to offer to see if any of them hold any value or enjoyment for man in the midst of this upside-down, fallen world. Basically, any pleasure or experience the human life has to offer,

Have you seen the righteous condemned unjustly, the wicked prosper while the righteous struggle to survive, the good man struck down by a sudden illness in the prime of life, or the young bride snatched from her husband’s arms by a wreck though barely home from their honeymoon? Such tragedies are the story of human

Communication is a necessity of life. How and why you communicate reflects your character, that inward part of who you are. It also affects the quality of your life. How you communicate with others (the attitudes and words that you employ) and why you communicate with others – these things make a difference in the

Failing to carefully consider what you say before you say it is rather like backing up your vehicle without looking behind you first. You will very likely do significant permanent damage to someone or something sooner than later. Skillful living in the fear of God would dictate that we consider the impact of our speech

As much as you or I might sometimes want to walk back what we have been “Just saying,” the fact of the matter is, our words are never just so much noise without effect on the world. What we say has an impact. By what we say, we change the course of lives, we make

The rule of law is ignored. Corruption, fraud, cover-ups, and self-enrichment seem to be par for the political scene. Something is very wrong in our country. In the midst of jockeying for position and power, it seems that many of our leaders have lost the proper perspective of their role in governing. Government’s authority is