MOTROW

© tkbeyond

MOTROW— no, not Motrin, nor is this some phony, phonetic attempt at saying Montreal with a peculiar accent. It's an acronym, a set of letters that stand for something, but more on that in a bit. I use acronyms, but don't always like them. Acronyms are big in special fields of study and institutions, like government for example. They're great shortcuts, especially when writing, so you don't have to waste time and effort writing all those words. The problem is understanding what they mean. Unless there's some familiarity with the acronym, it may look like a jumble of letters or something written in code—actually, it is code, it's symbolic.

Words, Daydreams and the Fear of God

Words, daydreams and the fear of God—these are notes from my study notebook while reading through Chapter 5 of Ecclesiastes. It's actually the gist of verse 7 [http://goo.gl/O3KSC]. Solomon says daydreaming comes from worrying too much, and a multitude of words produces careless speech. But in the end (as at the end of the book–Eccl 12:13), the important thing is fearing God. He alone holds every life in His hands. Throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon weaves bits of wisdom and insight between large batches of cynical observations made over a lifetime. There is a point to it all.

Lighthouse at Key Biscayne, FL

King Solomon was considered the wisest man in the world, not by his account, but the Scriptures and many contemporaries testified of this, including the Queen of Sheba (Ethiopia). He was well-educated, accomplished, a man of the world, a powerful world leader, yet coming to the end of his life he questioned it's value—"Everything is pointless" (Eccl 1:2)

Although he had amazing wisdom, he didn't seem to use it with women. He had hundreds of wives and hundreds of concubines, and he admitted this had ruined his life. Though he had amassed incredible riches and enjoyed every aspect of life he could imagine, he felt empty. He had fallen into a dark cynicism eclipsing all his success. Something, everything, was missing.

Sunrise, Sunset

The other morning I walked down to the beach to watch the sun rise. I took some photos, watched others coming to view the sunrise, but my priority was spending time with the Lord—remembering who He is and His faithfulness—as both Creator and Redeemer. 

Tapestry of Gospel Ministry

I've been out on the west coast in southern California this past week. I have some posts I'm working on, but thought I'd share a message given at Village Church in Orange County this past Sunday. I had a wonderful time fellowshipping and ministering. It was Missions Sunday and I was graciously invited by Ptr Matt Kyser and Mike and Jenni Ramsey (heading up the missions) to share at the Sunday morning service and later at home group meeting. It was a full and fun day! I was also able to share at the missions luncheon along with several others missionaries—it was great to be included with them and this very special church body. If you're in Orange County, it's a great place to be plugged into—they're on mission and very inclusive.

This message is one of a series of messages on the Essential Gospel that will be highlighted in the book I'm currently writing (actual rewriting). Please feel free to comment and share it with others. Just click on the link below and then click on either the listen or view icon (bottom right of page) to get to it.
http://goo.gl/1FGpj

Anomaly, Ambiguity or Ignorance?

I came across a statement of Jesus in His priestly prayer from John 17—"For their sakes I sanctify myself...." It reminded me of a similar statement about Jesus in Hebrews— "He learned obedience through what he suffered...." [http://goo.gl/Z0sOE] Things like this catch my attention, seeming almost contradictory. Are they an anomaly, an unusual occurrence creating a theological conundrum? Perhaps there's a different construction in the original language making the statement appear ambiguous for translators. Then again, it may be simple ignorance on my part. I typically figure it's the latter before getting too worked up about other possibilities.