Proverbs 22:1 “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.”

Ecclesiastes 7:1 “A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.”

A reference letter tells of the past behavior of an individual. 

It gives a suggestion of potential future activities.

I would assume that most of us have put something together, whether a toy for a child or something we bought to use for the family, and rather than following the instructions, we simply started putting things together ourselves. On most occasions, we found that if we skip a step in the proper order, it is almost impossible to complete the project. Then we find ourselves disassembling, going to the directions, and reassembling in order. Doing things in the proper order is how to get the desired result.

What right do we have to hurt our Father?  

Jeremiah 12:7  “I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.”

It is possible, but unlikely that you have never heard the name, Charlie Kirk. He had an amazing nationwide ministry, especially on college campuses.  He was well-researched and well-documented; he never was unkind but filled with facts against which liberalism could not stand .  He always gave the liberal a chance to express their opinion before he demolished them with an endless stream of facts – but not with hatred.

Psalm 11:4 “The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.”

The people were divided over the teaching and life of Christ.  

1 Timothy 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” 

I write and speak often of our eternal future.  I have heard some people say that they are more concerned about how we live today and that eternity will take care of itself. Perhaps that is a good view, but if you knew a policeman was down the road a mile, would you not adjust your driving according to your future? 

How do you respond if you speak with the doctor about doing a surgery, and he says, “There are some medical professionals who like everything just right. They want every medical “T” crossed and “I” dotted. But I am of the more relaxed philosophy medically. We may or may not wash our hands before the surgery. We will do our best to get all of the injured parts of your body repaired and back in the proper place, but it may not always work out.”

Proverbs 20:18 “Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.”

1 John 2:16  “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 

Mark 12:13 “And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words." 

I guess all of us have been in a situation when music was turned on, and we saw a toddler start bouncing to the rhythm. Music affects people. Try an experiment; mute the volume during the next movie chase scene and see how exciting the movie is. You will find it suddenly becomes very boring.

Today, I would like us to consider the word scattered, or the idea of dividing. Most of us have heard the military phrase, “divide and conquer” - that is the principal I am referring to today. Consider the story of  Ahab and Jehoshaphat and all of the false prophets (those who wanted the affections of their leader) These false preachers gave the prophetic encouragement to go into battle. They assured the king all would be well; but such was not the case, and the prophet Micaiah came along speaking the opposite. Micaiah assured the king that the battle would be a failure and that all Israel would be scattered.

I am willing to say that probably all of my audience would choose the Bible over science, if the two were in conflict. Not that we are anti-science, but if there is a problem between science and the Bible, we will trust the Bible, and I do not think there would be much debate over that idea.

More often than not, we have a fairy tale image of Christianity. In fact, not even a true fairy tale. Fairy tales usually have a villain, a tragedy, a hero who rescues people from suffering, and then a happily ever after – period.

Recently, I had a pretty major knee surgery. It is not uncommon, but it does not make it any less educational. Here are a handful of lessons I learned in the first week after surgery.

2 Kings 5:10 “And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.”

2 Timothy 3:3 “…Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,"

 2 Timothy 2:4 “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of [this] life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”