TwelveTwelve: The Leader Blog of North Wake Church

Photo by Kajetan Sumila on Unsplash   Read:  2 Tim 1:15-2:7 Paul’s concern in 2 Timothy 1 has been to prepare the Christians after him, represented by Timothy, to endure the suffering that often accompanies the faithful proclamation of the gospel. Without the Spirit of God, the assaults of men would indeed cause us to deny the Lord; but He has sent the Spirit to empower us to find honor in His truth (vv. 7, 14). In His unfathomable mercy, our Father chose to save us “before the ages began,” and we can trust this same mercy to vindicate us at

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash This week, Jerry and I have entered into some hard things and hurts with some of those we love. We have sat with friends, talked with them on the phone, texted encouraging messages, shared podcasts, and drank coffee together. It seems that we keep turning around and finding that someone else we love and care for is hurting. And we want to fix it. We want to make it go away. We want to heal the pain, take away the disease, or enact justice and maybe a little revenge (more me than Jerry). But we can’t. We can’t protect them. We can’t stop

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  ~Ecclesiastes 12:13 In the story "The Prodigal Son," Jesus tells of a younger brother who took his share of the family wealth and went to explore the world. He experienced temporary happiness through the things he could buy but made no enduring friendships. He bought fun for a while but failed to realize he needed to buy a place to live. He lived off the fat of the land not realizing

Photo by MI PHAM on Unsplash   Read:  Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8  "To you who boast tomorrow's gain, tell me...what is your life? A mist that vanishes at dawn..."   A little over a month ago, my oldest son stood before a group of about 200 people and made vows to a beautiful young girl that I now get to call my daughter-in-law.  It all happened in the blink of an eye.  I'm not referring to the ceremony or their engagement.  They've known each other since preschool.  I mean all of it.     As soon as Lindsay and I had adjusted to his infant

Photo by Jordan Christian on Unsplash Twenty-two years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001, I sat with a friend and asked if maybe I would be wrong to bring children into the world.  I had recently gotten married, and I wanted nothing more than to be home with babies.  But towers had tumbled and men, women, even children had died.  Perhaps the sorrows and terrors my children would face in their lives would be too much for them (and for me).  Maybe it was selfish of me to want babies to cuddle.  “Oh, Jett,” my friend said, “bringing babies into

Photo by Calvin Chai on Unsplash When my nephew was young, he had a game on his iPad called “Dumb Ways to Die.” I remember thinking, “This is a weird game for a child to play."  It has a catchy little song and in the game, beans die from strange accidents. While reading through Ecclesiastes 10:10-13 and seeing all the weird ways one could die (falling into a pit, being bitten by a snake, chopping yourself with an ax), I couldn’t help but think of the little song that went with the game. So I decided to look up the

Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. -- Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 (ESV) We all want

Photo by Victoriano Izquierdo on Unsplash Read:  Ecclesiastes 8:1-17 This question is similar to its opposite: "Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?" Both questions refer to what seems to be the perplexing injustice we witness every day. The 73rd Psalm is our answer to the very same questions that also tormented the psalmist. Finding himself in terrible distress and agony of soul he writes, “But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:2-3).

Photo by Jon Flobrant on Unsplash Read: Ecclessiastes 7   I think about death a lot. Don’t think I’m weird.  I didn’t used to.  It’s just that I’ve reached an age where I probably have less years on earth than I have now lived.  Death—my death--has become more real.  Some dear friends have died.  Some family members have died.  Some of my friends’ parents have died.  Some of my friends’ children have died. Just recently, Tim Keller, a brilliant, winsome champion of our faith, passed into glory; though I never knew him, I am mourning.  Death is real.  Very.  I wonder how I will die.  When I will die.  What I will see when I die. Whether I will

  Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash As I am writing this, I am a few hours from loading up my children in the car to join Jerry in Georgia for the funeral of his mother. It is times like these that make life and the end of that life become more real and make you think about what to do with that life. We have seen this thought in Ecclesiastes over and over again: what do we do with this life that we have been given? Earlier this week, as I was walking and waiting for word on