: Being Deliberate With Life :
In this edition of “Timeless Wisdom from Rev. Ermal Wilson” we will hear the first of three sermons from a Revival at Trinity Wesleyan Church in Oak Hill, Ohio. In this first message he shares with us from the prayer of Jabez, which he had been preaching on long before the book make the verse […]
We live in a world where you can find pretty much everything online. There are archives of all kinds out there. You can hear voices every since there have been devices to record them. Of course, this massive online collection is also filled with billions of hours of meaningless content that makes many of us […]
Proverbs 10:1-2 The Proverbs of Solomon: A wise child makes a father rejoice, but a foolish child is a grief to his mother. Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from mortal danger. We live in a day where it is fairly common to move in with the parents. The interesting thing […]
Proverbs 9:13-18 The woman called Folly is brash, she is naive and does not know anything. So she sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, calling out to those who are passing by her in the way, who go straight on their way. “Whoever is […]
Proverbs 9:11-12 For because of me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage, but if you are a mocker, you alone must bear it. I am a big Ohio State Buckeyes fan. And not just in my physical […]
Have you ever crammed for a test? I know I did. For much of my life I have been a procrastinator. For some reason, there are just some things that I can’t get motivated to do until the last minute. I don’t know why. I understand it with things like paying the bills, paying taxes […]
Argumentum ad hominem. Woh, latin boy! What you speaky? Okay, if you’re not familiar with logic and the fallacies that exist when trying to make a logical argument, let me introduce you to the Argumentum ad hominem, commonly referred to as ad hominem. It’s basically the, “you’re ugly”, come back you might receive when you’re […]
Welcome to the Wisdom Willow Bed and Breakfast. Wisdom Willow (WW) sits nestled in the valley at the base of reason and understanding. This beautiful Jewish home is well removed from the main pathways. Originally built mid-century, some-time, BC is now the destination of many travelers along the the path to righteousness. We have exceptional […]
You can imagine the scene in your head. Maybe it’s from a movie, I don’t know as I can’t remember what it would be from…But, the scene goes something like this. There’s a grumpy older gentlemen (We’ll call him Jethro) who has an intial interation with a kid – (Calvin). A younger kid, probably 8 […]
The glue that holds everything together. The only real key to success in life. The answer to why your life is such a wreck. The reason you haven’t been able to get all of your life running in the same direction. Why it feels like you have 6 horses pulling you, each in a different […]
Do you want to be the guy calling all the shots? Do you want to be the guy making all the decisions, the guy with the real authority? Do you want to be the real “man?” I guess the real question is, who is that man? If you want the lights, fame and glory, then […]
This may totally color your opinion of me, but my wife and I are fans of the show “The Big Bang Theory.” We don’t love all of it, but I kind of connect with the geekyness of the characters on the show. While I never collected comic books, never watched star trek, have never been […]
When my wife and I got married, we didn’t have much money. Of course, we’d heard people say that if you wait until you have enough money to get married, you’ll never get married. I hear people say the same thing about having kids. If you wait until you’re ready to have kids, you’ll never […]
I remember the first time I watched Toy Story. Everyone was talking about it. We were all amazed at how real the animation looked. There was so much detail, pieces of fuzz here and there and scuff marks on the door. As you can imagine, our kids love the movies as well. All three of […]
A few years ago, before we lived in our current house, we lived in a neighborhood that had a few older people in it. We actually lived in a town which had a larger than normal older person population. You had to give up on the idea of getting anywhere fast. There were just too […]
If you were an only child, you missed out on a lot as a kid. My wife was and now that we have four kids she knows some of the things that she missed as a child. First there are the problems: There is always someone who wants something different than you. You may or […]
I have absolutely no desire to try to walk across hot coals. Just don’t. You may try to tell me that I can gain some kind of mental power out of it, but I will laugh at you. If you think you get mental power and clarity by walking on hot coals, you must have […]
Thanks to my wife, we have been having family nights on Fridays. It’s one of the best things we do as a family. We have heard about other families who do this and love it, but for some reason we never did it. Probably because I was dragging my feet. I don’t really know why, […]
I have floaters in my eyes. I’m sure many of you have them as well. I noticed them one summer day while I was looking up at the blue sky. It freaked me out. It looked like a worm that I could kind of see through, but still see the outline of. I didn’t know […]
I guess I’m getting old. I had a conversation with a young man recently who didn’t know what the Challenger was. I had to explain it to him. He was about 15, so it was kind of depressing. Not just to think that I am getting old, but to think this young man had existed […]
Let me be real with you. I’ve not wanted to write this post. I’m not the kind of guy that you’d be able to compare to an ant. I’m the other guy in the story. I always have been, and I probably always will be. At least when it comes to my natural bent. I […]
A few months ago – actually years – before we had our first child, we decided we needed a new car. We had two cars, a ’95 Jeep Cherokee and a ’92 Plymouth Sundance. It was also 2006, so our newest car was 11 years old. And, I was making a 120 mile round trip […]
I am blessed with an amazing heritage from both my parents and their parents. They are all amazing people who have been astounding examples to their families and the effect of their lives will be long-lived. They were not perfect, nor are our families. But, each in their own way, set amazing examples for us […]
Sippy cups are a great thing. I remember the ones we had when I was a kid. They were the Tupperware kind. They had a snap on lid that was pretty hard to get on – so chances were pretty good that you were going to spill the whole cup of juice trying to get […]
There was one day in my freshman year of high school that would be forgotten (or blocked out) as most of them are if I had listened to my sister’s advice. And after I experienced this day, I really wish I had listened. Really, really. If you grew up in a family without a lot […]
The Man. We’ve all been a pawn in his scheme at some point in time. Victims of the endless profiteering and prisoners beneath the fist of iron. Whether it was suffering through the public school system, the ridiculous gen ed. requirements for a Bachelor’s Degree, insurmountable interest on ill-advised debt or slaving away the best […]
Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a prepaid hotel at thousands of locations around the world? I mean, seriously, who wouldn’t want that? And the deal sounds so good. On the surface. Get a free trip to Las Vegas just for listening to our sales pitch. Seems so simple. I have no problem telling someone […]
Chances are pretty good that most of you who read this post won’t know much about horses. That’s good, because I don’t either. However, there are a couple of things I do know. They are powerful, fast, strong and easily spooked. They have been extremely useful throughout history because of their speed and strength, but […]
I hope that by this point in this series you are really starting to develop some separation between the ways of the wicked and the ways of the righteous. I know that I am. It’s getting easier and easier for me to visualize the wicked. Especially in this passage. “They cannot sleep unless they cause […]
We are fans of “The Biggest Loser” in our house. We love the stories and seeing people truly regain their lives. It’s amazing to see someone go from being near death to being healthier than the average American in a short time. There is a short segment they did on the show for a couple […]
Who doesn’t love wearing a Burger King crown? The only problem is, it’s not a real crown. And, when you’re wearing it you’re just a big billboard for Burger King. It would be a lot more fun to wear if it was made of real gold and jewels. Well, probably not more fun. It seems […]
I have had several email addresses in my lifetime. I started way back in the day with hotmail. Then, I got a gmail account. Shortly after that I started messing around with email addresses associated with my own domain name. One of the reasons I will abandon an account is that it gets on junk […]
Humility. It’s not a concept we hear much about these days. It’s certainly not a value that is lauded by present society. Everywhere we turn there is someone getting attention who likes it just a little too much. In fact, I would say there are far too many people who are addicted to attention. The […]
“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” – John Wesley. I don’t know about your town, but around here we […]
I seem to be on a roll when it comes to making admissions into the depths of my soul, so I figured I’d just keep it going today! So, I’ll admit, that if we had the money and the space (and it wouldn’t cost me my wife…), I would build a bomb shelter and fill […]
This whole section of this chapter (Vs. 13-26) is about the blessings we receive from having wisdom. It’s amazing to think that blessings could be received from obtaining something that is free. At least in the sense that you can’t buy it with money. Just take a look at the blessings that have been discussed […]
They’re passionate people aren’t they? I mean, how many people do you know who love something so much they would be willing to chain themselves to it. I really like my Keurig, but not enough to risk my life for it. I can pretty much guarantee, if someone comes after my Keurig with bulldozer I […]
I’m going to be very honest with your to start this edition. There are a couple of things that I’ve really wanted in my life that are proving to be the proverbial indian head penny. They are things that I’ve wanted for quite a while, but every time I start to get close to being […]
I don’t know how many of you are parents, or if you have parents, but I am one and I have some. Do you ever say or do you remember your parents saying, “I’m only doing this because I love you.” Even though what they’re doing doesn’t really feel like love at the time. Maybe […]
Get rich quick! You can have the life of your dreams right now! No need to wait, just do this simple step and you’ll be rich beyond your wildest expectations. Have you ever chased one of those schemes? Ever been a part of a pyramid scheme or thought if you sold enough widgets and gizmos […]
Have you ever met someone who truly believes they are the wisest person they know? I have a feeling that just by asking that question someone’s face popped into your head. I have known several, and not to boast, but there is no way they are as wise as me! Okay, I’m kidding. I’ll freely […]
I have been excited about this passage from before I started doing this series. This is one of the most quoted and most memorized verses in the whole Bible. But, I’ll be honest, one of the reasons I’m excited is because it brings to memory a song I learned in VBS when I was a […]
Two nights ago, before I finished yesterdays’ proverbious, I came into the house and turned on the church channel. I don’t know if you have the church channel where you live, but we have it here. It’s a free, over-the-air, station that we get. Normally, they’re playing stuff I would never watch. I mean, how […]
Ever yell at the TV? Are you willing to admit it? If so, join with me right now and say, out-loud, “I yell at the TV like they can hear me.” I remember when I was a kid and my dad would…raise his voice…at the tv. I thought it was so ridiculous. He obviously knew […]
In college I had the privilege on several different occasions to sing in travelling music groups. They ranged in size from 3 to 90. It was fun to travel to different churches and get to know different people. I’m the kind of guy that likes a change in scenery from time to time, so being […]
When I was a younger teenager (I’m not exactly sure of the age) I experienced something rather unpleasant. It was a warm, summer day and I had been outside doing something. I grew up in the midwest, southeast Ohio, actually. And if you’re from that area, you know that summers tend to be warm and […]
I’m going to be honest with you, like any parent, I’m terrified of something happening to one of my kids. Of course I have all the usual fears that they’ll choke on something, get burned by the stove or a hot pan, cut themselves with a knife. But there is one thing in particular that […]
Have you seen the movie, Martian Child? If you haven’t, it is one I would happily recommend, and you may want not want to listen to this introduction… There is a scene in the movie when Dennis, the little boy goes missing. David (John Cusack) does what any parent would do if they couldn’t find […]
Does wealth entice you? Do you want to be rich? I’ll be honest with you, I do. It seems to me that life would be so much easier if we had more money. And I don’t mean just a little more, I mean the kind where I never have to worry about money again. You […]
Today we encounter the theme of the entire book of Proverbs, as well as its two primary characters. Yes, I realize that this isn’t a narrative per se, but the first few chapters of this book are written as wise man speaking to his son or “my child.” So, what is this theme you may […]
Why is wisdom so important? Well, wisdom is not only knowing what is right or true, but it is acting in accordance with that truth. In other words, wisdom is more than knowledge. Many people know what the right thing to do is, but not nearly as many people do the right thing. That is […]