   (…continued) Not everyone is fond of Ecclesiastes. It is strange. It is depressing. It even gives ungodly and bad advice. In the parable of Jesus, it is the fool who says, “Eat, drink, and be merry.” But in Ecclesiastes that very advice is given by the teacher as the best way to live. […]
3231) Ecclesiastes? Who Need It? (2/2) Read More »
    I read one time the true story of a college senior who sat alone in her room late one Saturday night, contemplating suicide. At just 22 years old, Patti was tired of life. She had already felt like she had tried everything, and was still sad and hopeless. She could not find happiness. She
3230) Ecclesiastes? Who Needs It? (1/2) Read More »
   One of the most familiar, best loved, and most often quoted books in the Bible is the Psalms. Right after that in the Old Testament Table of Contents you will find the book of Proverbs, also familiar to many and often quoted. And right after Proverbs is Ecclesiastes, a book not as familiar
3229) An Ecclesiastes Sampler Read More »
    At Eternity’s Gate (above) is an oil painting that Vincent van Gogh made in 1890.  The painting was completed in early May at a time when he was convalescing from a severe relapse in his mental health troubles, and just two months before his death, generally accepted as a suicide.  The painting was
3114) At Eternity’s Gate Read More »
Above: The Road to Emmaus, 1877, Robert Zund, Swiss painter, (1826-1909) ———- Â Â Â Luke 24 tells the story of Jesus joining two men walking on the road to Emmaus, a little town about seven miles from Jerusalem. Â It was the afternoon of the day Jesus rose from the dead. Â These men had known Jesus,
3071) We Had Hoped… Read More »
From my sermon for the funeral of Roger, who was once a member of the church I was serving, but had long ago moved away. I knew Roger’s brother Mike, but never met Roger or any other members of the family. Mike told me that Roger was at one time a hard worker and a
3006) Funeral Sermon for Roger Read More »
By Kathryn Butler, January 11, 2025, at: http://www.desiringgod.org . Kathryn is a trauma and critical care surgeon turned writer and homeschooling mom.  She is author of The Dream Keeper Saga. ************************************    (…continued) For so long, I had denied God and wallowed in darkness. But God never released his hold on me (Ephesians 2:1–9).
2934) A Journey Through Depression (b) Read More »
By Kathryn Butler, January 11, 2025, at: desiringgod.org January 11,2025 ************************    During my year in the ICU as I trained as a trauma surgeon, the threat of tragedy loomed daily. Every morning, I would tweak ventilator settings and titrate drips in desperate attempts to keep people alive. When all efforts failed, the afternoon
2933) A Journey Through Depression (a) Read More »
From the novel Jubilee (1966), by Margaret W. Alexander (1915-98); (Quoted in Conversations With God: Two Centuries of African-American Prayers, ed. by James M. Washington, pp. 213, HarperCollins).    Before she realized where she was going she found herself deep in the woods… where there was a chapel-hush.  She heard birds softly and sweetly singing, but most
2921) A Prayer for Mercy Read More »
  (…continued) “In the midst of life, we are in death. Of whom may we seek comfort but of Thee, O Lord…”    “You only live once,” Fred said. “Once is enough,” said the lady at the counter. But it is not life she is tired of, it is death; death in all of
2725) Once is Enough (b) Read More »
