Always Reforming

This past Sunday I preached a sermon entitled "Making Good Choices in 2018."  It was drawn from Ephesians 5:15-21 and discussed 1) using our time wisely and 2) watching our walk closely.  I wanted to share just one point from that passage that I found very powerful. Verse 17 says, "Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."  Note the contrast here between folly (literally "without reason") and having an understanding of God's will.  Paul presents us with a dichotomy here, just as he does in Verse 15 ("not as unwise but as wise").  One can be a fool or one can do what God says.  Those are your two options. To be wise is not simply to know, but is to apply what we know.  Wisdom, accordingly, is not simply knowledge, but includes an experiential element.  Wisdom is applying the knowledge that you have to the situations that you encounter.  Paul has called on the Ephesians to walk carefully, which implies caut...

    A topic that has been on my mind lately is that of experience.  How important is experience?  Many times employers will ignore a candidate with a degree and hire a person with ten years of life experience because, so the thought goes, ten years of doing something is worth way more than three or four years of learning about something.  When it comes to trades and careers, that is usually the case.  My question is, does this cross over into the Christian life?     There are many things I've learned that I feel like I learned from experience.  These are life lessons that I have learned from the many mistakes that I have made.  The question must be then, is that the best or the only way to learn life lessons?  Personally, I think not.     The Bible says that the beginning of wisdom, the very crucial foundation of wisdom, is the fear of the God (Proverbs 1:7).  In other words, acknowledging who God i...