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Author: Brendon

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February 23, 2023
in Church, HCC
by Brendon
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We are the Church….even in a pandemic. Posted on July 23, 2020 by Brendon

“The church does not exist for us. We are the church, and we exist for the world.” – Erwin McManus

” Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love……Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen…..Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as in Christ God forgave you. Follow God’s example, therefore as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as an offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 4: 2,29,32 & 5:1,2

The church has become a place of contention. So many thoughts and emotions and experiences that have impacted and formed opinions of every church.

Whether your church home has began gathering again or maybe your church home has suspended in person services for a long time or maybe you are waiting in the midst of confusion of when you will meet again. There is still one truth that lasts throughout the season we are in….

WE ARE THE CHURCH, even during a pandemic.

Serving in youth ministry, for about 8 years, some of that time was internships and schooling, but overall I spent about 8 years of my life serving in youth ministry. One of the things that I remember vividly about youth ministry is realizing that students may or may not have the best homes to help grow their relationship with Jesus outside of the youth ministry setting. Meaning, they would go home to a chaotic mess that would deter them from learning about Jesus. That wasn’t the case for all students and to be honest, the student that had a home that was chaotic were the students I gravitated too.

As I have served with adults over the last 18 months or so, I have learned that sometimes the same things that students are learning, are the things that we need to learn. For instance, the need to walk with Jesus more than just Sunday.

As you read in scripture, over and over again there are a few things that we use to train and remind our volunteers here at Harvester Christian Church when it comes to our guest services on Sundays:

  1. Be Open – Throughout the life of Jesus, we see that He travels all of the country side. He walks in groups, he walks with his disciples, he walks by himself…sometimes on water. But the thing about Jesus, is that when the opportunity presents itself, Jesus was Open to anyone that came near him. Consider the Samaritan Woman at the Well. This woman was someone with a past and well a nasty past as we would learn. Not to mention that she is a woman and in Jesus’ time as a Rabi, He should never have even given her the time to have a conversation. However Jesus stopped, He listened and changed that woman’s life. So much so that the woman went on to the town and changed others lives just by bringing them to Jesus. Sometimes, in guest services, the best thing we can do is be open to having a conversation with someone.
  2. Be on Mission – Leading People to Find and Follow Jesus. That is what we are all about. Everything we do as a church is to lead people to find and follow Jesus. Our Guest Services team is a critical and crucial piece to this mission. Within the team, it means we are training people to smile, be friendly, don’t hide behind doors but be expectant of people. Jesus had mission on this earth. Sure, his mission was a little different than ours, since we don’t have the ability to die on a cross and save every person from their sins, but Jesus was always on mission moving forward toward that Cross and that death that he didn’t deserve but also to the resurrection that changed lives then and continues to do so now.
  3. Love like Jesus – we have all heard the phrase – don’t judge a book by its cover. That is so true with people. Every Sunday, churches are flooded with people of different stories, backgrounds, mornings and jobs and families and jobs. Each of them come with baggage of some kind and we as a guest services team could never know what each and every person walks in the doors of the church with. Knowing that we would never be able to know what each person is carrying, we have to have the same mentality as Jesus and loving each person the way Jesus loved us.

Over the past several weeks, we have re-gathered here at Harvester Christian Church and it has been interesting to say the least. However if there is one thing that does not change even in the crazy season we are in, its the truth that:

We are the church, even in a pandemic.

So when you have the ability to be open to someone, to be on mission and to love like Jesus…..you are being the church.

The church was never designed or created to be a building or a gathering location. The church was designed to go out into the world and share the love of Jesus to anyone who would listen.

When we remember…. whether inside the church walls or inside a living room or on the side of the road….we have the ability to lead people to find and follow Jesus.

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February 23, 2023
in Church, Discipleship
by Brendon
0 Comments

Serving is hard. Posted on May 14, 2019 by Brendon

In life you hear a lot about serving. Serving here, serving there, serve when, serve now. Not a bad thing at all. But there is a larger aspect of this idea of serving that has come to light in recent days over conversation with friends and family. The larger question that we have to ask ourselves is: Why are we serving, or better yet, how do we serve for not just ourselves?

It is an interesting distinction when you begin to think about those two questions. Because on the one hand, we could all give the correct sunday school lesson answers that we gave when we were 6. But why does it seem to get harder and harder to serve when we grow up? Ok maybe some of us haven’t ‘grown up’ but our age in number has gone up.

Over the past few days, through some conversation and study there are few things that lead me to these questions:

To be frank, serving was never something that I got when I was growing up. When serving opportunities came around, I joined not really caring about the serving but because all of my friends were going and I wanted to be with them and have a good time with them. The serving was the backside of the reason for serving. However as I have grown and have begun to understand what it was that Jesus meant when he states in John 13:15, that his example is there for us to follow. It still seems blurry at times of WHY serving is so important.

John 13 is a passage that everyone has probably heard whether in story or in a sermon somewhere. But John 13 is one passage that can outline and shape the way we look at serving:

John 13:1-17 is the story of Jesus, in his last week of life coming to a table with his disciples as they are about to partake in the holy supper for the Passover feast. At the beginning of the night, before anything even happened, Jesus noticed that the room was prepared but there was nothing or no one to wash the feet of those reclining at the table. So Jesus, the Son of God gets up, takes off his outer garments (because cleaning feet is not clean or neat – it’s messy) and grabs a towel and a basin and begins to wash each and every one of his disciples feet. To the amazement of the disciples as they watched this happen, they really didn’t know what to say or do. Jesus at the end of this even states – ” You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.” It was a perplexing moment in time that left people speechless and even the ones that did speak just spoke, with no thought.

A few moments later, after he calls out the disciple that is going to betray him, Jesus takes to the stage again for a swan song lesson and a command to his disciples and anyone else that was there with them.

John 13: 33-35 – Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

A new command I give to you – to love one another.

So if we are going to be disciples of Jesus and if we are going to say that we follow Jesus – then we ought to love one another the way that Jesus loves us.

Peter was one of the ones that were in the room with Jesus when this timeless situation took place. He was actually one that really just didn’t know what to say and just started talking. He was always like that, Peter even took off a guards ear because he was zealous to protect Jesus.

Peter went on to lead the church from the beginning in the book of Acts and he continued to raise up disciples and became an elder in the church. Peter also wrote letters that are in the scriptures. One of those passages take this a little idea of serving and the questions of why do we serve and how do we serve without worrying about us a step further.

1 Peter 5:5 – ……And all of you, serve each other in humility for ” God opposes the proud but favors the humble.”

So why do we serve? Because Jesus told us to serve others the way he served us.

How did Jesus serve us? We see in John 13 that taking on the role of a slave or house keeper, that he humbled himself before everyone else and washed their feet.

How do we serve not just for our own needs? We humble ourselves like Jesus and put others before us.

The outcome – we become disciples of Jesus that listen and follow the new command that Jesus gave to his disciples in the upper room.

When we gather together to serve, when we serve each other in our homes, when we serve our kids, when we serve our wives, when we serve our neighbors, when we serve our parents, when we serve the annoying neighbor or grouchy lady in the grocery store…….

We will be loving others the way Jesus loved us by humbling ourselves and serving everyone out of the love that we have from Jesus in our lives.

Humility leads us to love one another. Loving one another leads us to serving those all around us.

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February 23, 2023
in Church
by Brendon
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Controlled Chaos Posted on April 18, 2019 by Brendon

Every big event that you have ever attended has normally had something in common with the next big event that you go to. Whether the big event is a concert, a festival, a them park or just a simple party with a lot of your friends.

The common thread is – Controlled Chaos.

Controlled Chaos is exactly what it sounds. It is a combination of chaos, which is defined as – complete disorder and controlled, which is defined as – under the control of someone or something.

Chaos is a great thing! I know a lot of times we think of chaos we think of turbulent times and situations that do not always turn out well. But when Chaos is done in a well manner, chaos can be one of the most powerful things that we can encounter.

Hockey games for me are a prime example of controlled chaos. When you attend your first hockey game, you are not sure what to expect other than the game of hockey that you know. The crazy part about a hockey game is what happens in the stands during the game. From the moment the puck drops to the moment that the game is over, the crowd is in a chaotic state.

I was priviledged to go to my first NHL hockey game a few weeks ago and little did I know, what I was going to experience would change the way that any other event would be planned or executed.

Learning that controlled chaos is a powerful and great tool for momentum is something that I will not underestimate moving forward. When you go to a hockey game and all of a sudden you are high fiving people that you have never met, screaming at the top of your lungs the whole time and doing crazy things like the Power Play dance…maybe a St. Louis Blues thing……controlled chaos has made its impact on the event.

For churches, there are two times a year where controlled chaos is welcomed and planned for. Easter and Christmas are the two most attended services throughout the year. This means that all over the world there is going to be controlled chaos taking place this weekend.

However the hard part about controlled chaos is to make sure the people that are planning and in charge of the chaos do not stiffle the chaos with their fears of whatever it might be.

When you encounter controlled chaos, unless it is a situation that you do not want to be in, allow yourself to embrace the chaos rather than run away from it. You never know, it may change your perspective on what is going on around you.

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February 23, 2023
in Church, DTOTD
by Brendon
0 Comments

Hump Day Encouragement Posted on February 27, 2019 by Brendon

Normally by Wednesday, the week has already taken a toll on all of us. It could be the fact that we are busy and we have been running all week long to appointments, doctors offices, schools, practices, games etc. It could be that we are down in the dumps on how long winter has been, then we get a glimpse of warmth only to have it taken away again. Maybe that is only here in St Louis. Whatever it might be, we typically look at Wednesday as the downslide of the rest of the week, looking forward to the weekend.

Whats funny about this conundrum we seem to walk into every week, is that we tell get hyped for the weekend only to start the week drained from whatever it was that we did over the weekend! Granted, that is not necessarily a bad thing. Really its not a bad thing at all.

Encouragement is one thing that always lifts me up. Not sure about you, but I love hearing an encouraging word. It brightens the day a little and makes whatever the next task is a little easier to dive into.

So I hope what this scripture is for you on this Hump Day – an encouraging word that can push you to the end of the week and into the weekend!

John 15:9-17:

9“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.16You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.

 

 

This is a reminder that we all need –

Jesus loves you.

Jesus died for you.

Jesus wants us to love people just like he loves us.

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February 23, 2023
in Church, DTOTD
by Brendon
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un-learning

” for even the twelve had to unlearn many things before they could effectively serve him.” – Warren Wiersbe – Be(series) Compassionate – Luke 1-13 pg. 79

  It would be hard pressed to say that there are things in our lives that have been engrained in our beings throughout life. If we can state clearly and without doubt, that we have nothing to unlearn……then I would state that you might be joking or that you don’t need to read this. A friend of mine once said in a sermon, ” if you think your relationship with Jesus is good and you don’t need anything right now, then you’re probably lying.” I would agree with this statement 100%! All of us have things in our lives that hold us back from the fullness that is God’s grace that can lead us to a peaceful and loving life. The interesting thing about this situation that we all find ourselves in life is that there is most likely things that we have to unlearn to be able to move us forward in the relationship that we want or desire with Jesus. Jesus in the book of Luke when he is giving his Beatitudes sermon, challenges not just the mass amount of people that is following and listening to him, but he is challenging the Disciples that he had just appointed to be the new nation or to bring in the era of the Church. Everything from how we act around others, to how we learn or what we learn, to what we watch, what we listen to, who we listen to and how we make decisions every day. Jesus is challenging all of them in the way that they look at their every day situations and circumstances and to think differently and react differently than what they have done the rest of their lives, up to that point. There was something that came out of reading the chapter from Warren Wiersbe’s Be series book that rings true in reflection on what my journey has been like.
  1. Humility – this is something that is hard to do because I believe that at the heart of what Humility is, is misinterpreted or misunderstood by those who hear the word. The word Humility is not something that entails putting yourself ‘down’ when coming around others. In my estimation and my understanding, Humility is the process in which you ‘ elevate those around you’ more than you elevate yourself. Case in point, I have a feeling that all of us have the ‘one upper’ in our circle of influence. I know for a fact that I have run through seasons of life where I have been that person. It’s not the best place to find yourself. However, as we journey and work hard at this idea of Humility, it allows us to see how Jesus cares so much about you and I, that he was raised on a cross to save us from the life and ending that we deserve. W. Wiersbe has a great quote – ” The Humble person is the only kind of person that God can Save.” If we take a snapshot of our lives, have we been saved because we have accepted and humbled ourselves before God stating that we need him?
  2. Character – This one I believe can be grasped a little easier than other big words in the Christian Journey. However I loved the way that Wiersbe broke this down – [Character is Determined by the Choices that we make. However, choices are made by the VALUES that we have learned. The Values that we base our life on, are based on the values accepted by faith.] I wonder and I am going to be doing this myself, what are the VALUES in life that we have to unlearn that has been engrained in our beings?
  3. Obedience – Obedience requires an action. It requires a next step for each and every one of us. Obedience is the process in which we hear something and do what we hear. It could be as simple as – chew your food before you swallow. Obviously we know what would happen if we tried to swallow a full 12oz medium rare steak, probably not the best outcome. It could be as hard as – love those that hate you. I don’t think I have to go on that point too much. Obedience is something that Jesus calls anyone who listens to him too. Obedient to the life that Jesus lived and the practices that he teaches for our lives. Obedience I believe is not the mindless….ok i will do it…. but it is out of the humility and character that we have learned, to be obedient to the way that Jesus calls us to live our lives.
That was a mouthful and an overflow of what is in my heart after reading and studying Luke 6. I wonder though, how many of us need to unlearn certain things that we have been doing our entire lives. Things that may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But if you add up all of those things, it may become this large boulder that is standing in front of us and we don’t know how to get around. As a consolation, I believe that there is a silver lining in all of this as I sit and ponder on the things that I need to unlearn. The silver lining: In the midst of our faults and failures that we all have. The witness that we have and the stories that each and every one of us have on this journey with Jesus, can and should point to the Grace and Love that Jesus has for you and I.
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February 23, 2023
in Church
by Brendon
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To be the most welcoming church anyone can experience

” A new command I give to you; as I have loved you, you must love one another. BY THIS all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – Jesus, John 13:34-35

  Guest services is the art of loving people no matter who they are and what there present is and what they might be carrying with them. It is a fine line and gentle line that Guest Services teams balance. On one end, you have the overbearing and the spam like experience. Or you have the opposite end which is essentially no guest service experience at all. Making the above phrase a reality takes time, culture, buy in and execution. Sure it is never easy and it is never going to be perfect.

To Be The Most Welcoming Church Anyone Can Experience, is something worth striving for.

As we see story after story in the Gospels, the over and over Jesus has crowds surrounding him, He experiences people wanting to be close to him. And every time Jesus is surrounded with people, He demonstrates what it means to be welcoming and loving, by showing compassion on them. As a church, we should have the same approach. As we are surrounded by the mixtures of people the we will encounter we should be welcoming and loving just as Jesus was to the crowds around Him. There is a high probability that we as humans are always craving for and desiring to have great experiences also. We could go to a concert and walk away saying that it was an amazing experience. We could go on an adventure and come back with lots of great experiences.

When we are able to combine the two, the experience and being welcoming together, then you have something life changing.

Christmas time around churches are crazy. It is busy. Not only do we have decorations to put out, to-do lists to get done, presents to buy, friends to see, family to have over and maybe even pack to go out of town. But churches are also gearing up for one of the busiest group of services that come all year. Christmas can be seen as the Super Bowl season for churches. In the midst of that busyness, it is hard to balance work and life. It is hard to balance emotions. As we see in scripture, when Jesus was born, it was busy. People were going back to their homes that they may not have been too in a very long time. Inn’s and places to stay were filled to the brim. There was an anxious excitement about seeing family and friends that haven’t been seen in a long time. But what we see is that not only was Jesus born when it was busy, people surrounding the birth of Jesus, had no idea what was going on. As a Guest Services team, this Christmas we have the chance to make a difference in the lives and hearts of guests that come into the churches doors. We have the chance to turn what might be a Christmas and Easter tradition into something that changes the way they look at what a church is. To walk the line of being loving, welcoming, grateful for their presence and to really live out the ‘come as you are’ thoughts. This Christmas, in the midst of the busyness….we have the chance:

To be the most Welcoming Church anyone can experience.

Let’s not miss it.

     
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History of Brooklyn
March 6, 2015
in Uncategorized
by Brendon
0 Comments

History of Brooklyn

No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself.

Because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure? On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee.

“ But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. ”

But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?

On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains.But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising.

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  • Penang Street Food Gallery 1
  • Penang Street Food Gallery 2
March 6, 2015
in Uncategorized
by Brendon
0 Comments

Penang Street Food

No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself.

Because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure? On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee.

“ But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. ”

But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?

On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains.But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising.

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March 6, 2015
in Uncategorized
by Brendon
0 Comments

The Mist of Madagascar

No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself.

Because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure? On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee.

“ But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. ”

But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?

On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains.But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising.

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From the HCC Outreach Team:

Thanks so much for stopping by the Harvester Christian Church Outreach Team’s blog! We hope you find this resource helpful, insightful and encouraging as we strive to Unleash the Hope of Jesus back into our world!

This resource belongs to Harvester Christian Church in St. Charles, Mo.