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On March 30, 2023 By In Theology, Wisdom

Growing In Wisdom

“By me kings reign.” ~Wisdom

Proverbs 8.15

Wisdom is a gift of God that is developed by responding faithfully in the crucible of discipline. Wisdom does not come merely by reading books, listening to sermons, or receiving counsel. All of those things and more are necessary, but there is no substitute for experience, the place where your senses are exercised by habitual practice to discern good and evil (Heb 5.14). Discipline involves suffering; therefore, no discipline is pleasant but painful (Heb 12.11). However, it is only through discipline that we are trained in wisdom, and wisdom is necessary for us to grow up to be like God and to accomplish our mission of dominion in the world. To become kings, we need wisdom. To gain wisdom, we must endure suffering.

The pattern for gaining wisdom through suffering is established in the beginning, even before the fall. God’s son, Adam, was created as an individual man who was given the task of dominion. That task could not be completed alone. God declared that it was not good that man should be alone. God led his son to see that his condition was not good as he exercised his first act of dominion by naming the animals. Adam sees that they come in pairs, male and female. They correspond to one another. He doesn’t have a female who corresponds to him. So (using a bit of imagination here), he calls out to his Father, “All these animals come in pairs as male and female. I’m alone. This isn’t good. I need a female who will correspond to me.”

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On March 16, 2023 By In Theology, Wisdom

Generosity

There is one who scatters and increases and one who withholds more than is right only to be in need.

~Proverbs 11.24

God is generous. God gives. That is who he is and what he does. Generosity is his character and the culture of the divine family. In the eternal relations of Father, Son, and Spirit, there is a constant giving, receiving, and giving back. Jesus, revealing his eternal relationship with the Father, tells the Jews that the Father has life in himself and has given to the Son to have life in himself (Jn 5.26). The Son, glorified by the Father, gives glory back to the Father (Jn 17.1). The Spirit is giving to the Father and the Son as the bond of love between them. Creation itself is a gift of each member of the Godhead to one another, and they continue to give generously.

All creation, with man as its apex, receives life from the Trinity, not only initially but continually, moment by moment. When creation fell under the curse of sin, God revealed the depth of his generosity by the Father giving the Son, the Son giving his life, and the Spirit being given to grant us life from the dead.

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On March 9, 2023 By In Counseling/Piety, Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom

Unlocking Potential

“An abundance of food is in the fallow ground of the poor, but it is swept away through injustice.”

~Proverbs 13.23

If I gave you a treasure map and told you, “X marks the spot. There is a 100% guarantee that the treasure is there. Go, find it, and it is yours.” You might ask what tools you will need to retrieve the treasure, but it is doubtful that you would turn down such an opportunity. The potential to be wealthy is a good motivator.

The truth is you are promised riches and a way to retrieve them. Not only that but you have also been told what tools you need. The only question is, How badly do you want to be wealthy?

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On March 5, 2023 By In Wisdom, Women

Letters To Young Women: Singleness

Dear Young Woman,

After my last letter, you might have questions about singleness. Should you pursue marriage? How high of a priority should it be to pursue marriage? What should a young woman be doing while she is single? What happens if a young woman is never married? In this letter, I will address these questions. This one’s a little long, so get yourself a cup of tea, a Frappuccino, or a soy-skim-latte double non-dairy whip and settle in for a bit.

First things first. Should you pursue marriage? The short answer is, “Yes.” Many in the church today are encouraging singleness and even exalting it. Some take Paul’s words out of context in 1 Corinthians 7 concerning remaining single and believe that he is giving undifferentiated instruction for all times. However, he clearly says that his instructions relating to staying in your present state, whether single or married, pertain to “the present distress” (1 Cor 7.26). The Corinthians are facing or about to face some difficult times. It is better not to take a spouse during these times. There could be several reasons for that. Paul says their troubles would increase, and he wants them spared from that (1 Cor 7.28). Adding a spouse when you are about to go through severe trials will increase your anxieties (1 Cor 7.32ff.). In those times of stress, you are more likely to compromise your commitment to Christ. For example, it is much easier to have someone torture you for your faith than to torture your spouse.

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On March 2, 2023 By In Wisdom

Wise Wealth

God wants you to be rich. That’s right. God made you for riches and commissioned you to produce wealth. God is wealthy. He wants you to be like him. Therefore, God wants you to be rich.

While these statements sound eerily like Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, Robert Tilton, Creflo Dollar, or Joel Osteen, God indeed wants you to be rich. The problem with the men I mentioned and their ilk is that they define wealth too narrowly, apply their definition too broadly, and are terribly short-sighted. However, when appropriately understood, God indeed wants you to be wealthy beyond your wildest imagination.

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On February 23, 2023 By In Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom

Sowing & Reaping

“The crown of the wise ones is wealth; the folly of fools is folly.”

~ Proverbs 14.24

Wealth is not always measured on a balance sheet. There are many forms of wealth, something that George Bailey learned in his odyssey in the movie It’s A Wonderful Life. Wisdom, righteousness, peace, integrity, children, grandchildren, and many other riches make a man wealthy. Wealth can be measured in possessions, but that is not the only form wealth takes. Whatever form wealth takes, one principle is consistent concerning the true wealth to which Solomon’s son must aspire: wealth is the crown of wisdom.

Crowns are conspicuous in Proverbs. Gray hair (16.31), a man’s excellent wife (12.4), and grandchildren (17.6) are all crowns. Crowns are mentioned many times throughout Scripture. We, with Paul, are striving for an imperishable crown (1Cor 9.25), the crown of life (Jms 1.12; Rev 2.10), which is a crown of righteousness that will be given to all who love the appearing of Christ Jesus (2Tm 4.8). Faithful elders in the church will be rewarded with an unfading crown of glory (1Pt 5.4).

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On February 11, 2023 By In Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom, Women

Letters To Young Women: What is a Woman?

Dear Young Woman,

Once upon a time, there was an infant king. This man was created fully grown physically, but he was immature. His father, the Great King, gave him a realm to rule. It would take time for him to mature to the place where he could do all that his father wanted him to do. His father would be patient, giving him everything needed at each stage of maturity to accomplish his mission. When the infant king recognized he didn’t have all that he needed to move to the next stage of the mission, he would patiently wait for the father to give him the gifts he needed.

The first need was recognized within several hours of his creation. The infant king was alone. With the vastness of his domain and what was required of him to accomplish his father’s mission, the infant king couldn’t do this alone. The father knew that it was not good for his son to be alone, but he also wanted his son to recognize that it was not good. So, in one of his first tasks as an infant king—naming animals—he noticed how God made them in pairs, males and females. The fact that his father made the animals in these complementary pairs was his revelation that he always intended for his son to have another creature like him but different. His father hid it from him at first but made it easy for him to figure it out. And he did. Without any scientific studies, the man recognized that he was male and there was no corresponding female.

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On February 9, 2023 By In Culture, Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom

Collateral Damage

Debt makes the world go ‘round. At least it does now. Somewhere along the way in American and global history, our economic systems have moved from debt being a part of the system to debt being their foundation. If all the debt was paid off tomorrow, our system would collapse. (For a simple explanation of this, read this article.) In the spirit of keeping things moving, our government is accumulating debt at a record pace. As of February 2023, we are $31.5 trillion in debt, most held by the American government along with Japan and China holding significant amounts of our debt to prop up their currency. American citizens have joined the spending spree. Credit card debt has soared to almost $1 trillion. With citizens unwillingly (for the most part) being guarantors for the government and credit card companies encouraging borrowing while only paying the interest, borrowers feel free to spend prodigally. This is not sustainable forever, and those who back these loans willingly or unwillingly will feel the effects eventually.

On several occasions in Proverbs, Solomon warns his son, the king-in-waiting, about the foolishness of becoming surety for someone else’s debts (Pr 6.1-5; 11.15; 17.18; 20.16; 22.26-27; 27.13). Becoming surety is not loaning, borrowing, or investing money. In each of those cases, there is a possibility of a return on investment. Surety is securing someone else’s debt in a way that you take all the risk with no possibility of financial reward. Your friend wants to borrow money, doesn’t have the collateral to back up the loan, and you and your assets become collateral for the loan, the guarantee to the creditor that he will receive his money. If the friend falls on hard times or bails on his responsibility, you are left holding the bag … an empty bag.

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On February 2, 2023 By In Theology, Wisdom

Potential

“An abundance of food is in the fallow ground of the poor, but it is swept away through injustice.”

~Proverbs 13.23

When God created the world, he filled it with potential. The earth was given to man as God’s viceregent to unleash this potential (Gen 1.28; Ps 115.16). God showed Adam in the planting of the Garden how the ground had food and beauty locked away in it. God gave Adam the keys to unlock it, making the earth fruitful. Down from the Garden following the River Pishon to Havilah, there were gold, bdellium, and onyx stones to be mined and shaped to glorify God’s sanctuary (Gen 2.11-12; cf. also Ex 25—40; 1Kg 6). Adam’s responsibility as king was to see potential, unlock it, and develop it.

Solomon is training his son to be a king. As a king, he must learn how to use his authority to unlock potential in his realm. If he uses his authority poorly or in overt rebellion, the potential that God has treasured up in the earth will not be realized. This is what Proverbs 13.23 instructs when it says, “An abundance of food is in the fallow ground of the poor, but it is swept away through injustice.” The wrong use of authority keeps the riches of God’s earth locked away, never to be enjoyed. This is not a matter of mere inconvenience for the poor or a peccadillo for the king. When authority is exercised in this manner, it is a dereliction of the duty of kings to obey the mandate God gave him and fulfill his purpose.

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On January 26, 2023 By In Church, Family and Children, Politics, Wisdom

Authority’s Secrets

“The heavens for height and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.”

~Proverbs 25.3

Recently government classified documents are showing up frequently and in some odd places. Classified documents are those secrets to which only certain high-level government officials are privy. The intention of classifying documents is to protect people from the knowledge that they don’t need to have. The government may be protecting those who are working undercover or information that they have on other countries that concern our national security. Sometimes classified documents are a coverup for people who would be punished for crimes if the right people discovered what went on. Nevertheless, the government keeps secrets, and they don’t want those secrets to get out by someone wandering through a former vice president’s garage, his son’s laptop, or even wandering through a former president’s house.

Whatever you believe about the classification of documents and the secrets that they hold, the principle of authorities keeping secrets is a sound one. That is, the Bible teaches that there are some things that authorities will know that others don’t. This is not a gnostic-type special revelation given only to the upper-echelon Illuminati. This is a perspective that subordinates may not have along with information that may hurt them or other people.

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