We are a society driven by consumerism and marketing. There are millions of ho-hum products out there. Many are being sold on shopping channels by people who are obviously on amphetamines. They peddle products that will eventually end up in our next yard sale.

We are spenders and consumers. This is the reason Americans are in personal debt up to their eyeballs. Living from paycheck to paycheck, we pay minimum payments. We clip coupons to save a few dollars at the grocery store and look for bargains in every store. Few of us have the resources to get what we want when we want it. Therefore, it is imperative that we pay double-digit interest to insure that we keep up with the Joneses—whoever they are. Continue reading “There’s a Better Way” →

I’ve never farmed a day in my life. I have relatives who have worked a farm, but I’ve never been behind a plow. I do think I understand what a plow is for. You use a plow to break up the ground and prepare for a harvest. If the ground is not plowed, the seed will not get deep in the soil.

Two of the Old Testament prophets talked about the need for plowing. In Jeremiah 4:3 we read, “Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.” In Hosea 10:12, God spoke through the prophet and said, “Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD until He comes to rain righteousness on you.” Anything God says once is important. Anything he says twice demands our full attention. Continue reading “Do You Need a Good Plowing” →

In the city of Edinburgh, Scotland stands the statue of a John Knox. Knox was the key leader of the Scottish Reformation and the founder of Presbyterianism in Scotland. At his graveside, Regent Morton said, “Here lies one who neither flattered nor feared any flesh.” From everything I can learn about Knox, he makes William Wallace look like Chicken Little. He was known as the “Thundering Scot.” Continue reading “The Man Who Feared No Man” →

The longer I live, the more I detest being labeled. I resent being labeled by the region of the country that I live in. Typically, those of us in the South have labels for Yankees (oops, there’s a label), and those in the North have a label for those below the Mason Dixon Line. The danger is that we tend to judge someone by a preconceived disposition that may have no basis in fact. Continue reading “The Problem With Labels” →