tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752420.post115256427980666626..comments2023-08-20T01:16:36.709-07:00Comments on Decompose: Confessions of a Jaded Negativist - #3Mike Duranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02223354088258809968noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752420.post-1152886159427535582006-07-14T07:09:00.000-07:002006-07-14T07:09:00.000-07:00Great thoughts, Mike. I've actually heard a sermon...Great thoughts, Mike. I've actually heard a sermon on the life of Solomon. There is truth to Ecclesiastes. Apart from God, all in meaningingless. For without God, we are nothing. <BR/>I guess the key is to stay focused on God rather than men. For God is the one constant. The only unchanging One. <BR/>Thanks, Mike!Heather Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15018641352722945047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752420.post-1152732813088478062006-07-12T12:33:00.000-07:002006-07-12T12:33:00.000-07:00Mike ~ just wanted to thank you for your comment t...Mike ~ just wanted to thank you for your comment to my comment:-) I think we all appreciate when people are being real. God bless you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752420.post-1152709785112117852006-07-12T06:09:00.000-07:002006-07-12T06:09:00.000-07:00Mike,This whole series has been excellent. I'm a p...Mike,<BR/>This whole series has been excellent. I'm a preacher's kid and my brothers are preachers, too -- I know how the church can hurt its own. I appreciate your honesty and your faithfulness through the doubt and trial. I'm coming to realize more and more that we don't really appreciate joy until we've experienced the opposite.lindaruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08641353710444426267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752420.post-1152686639265023532006-07-11T23:43:00.000-07:002006-07-11T23:43:00.000-07:00"No. It just means I can't stay there." ... what s..."No. It just means I can't stay there." ... what separates those who trust in Whom they cannot see from those who don't.<BR/><BR/>Ecc 4:1-3 ... Uhhhh ... tough place to be ... one I never thought someone like me could find themself in ... yep, needed that therapy ... and a divorce from what kept me there.<BR/><BR/>Everything is meaningless? Prozac? Yes. No; but there's some other good stuff out there that works, too! God bless the pharmaceutical companies ;)<BR/><BR/>What brought Solomon to this place is not necessarily what brings others to the same place.<BR/><BR/>Ecc, from a different light, validates reality for some of us who can feel his words ... and it brings us hope ... from out of the depth of meaningless life is a well of Life found in God.<BR/><BR/>Phil 4:8 ... a verse my counselor brought to my attention over and over and over again ... the hope from the well of Life :)<BR/><BR/>Great post, Mike. Thanks for your willingness to share and in doing so to hold yourself accountable. It's not that we're perfect; it's what we choose to do with our imperfection.Amehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14358641966141610513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752420.post-1152681681642615922006-07-11T22:21:00.000-07:002006-07-11T22:21:00.000-07:00I have been trying to put my thoughts to words. T...I have been trying to put my thoughts to words. There are a few situations occuring as I type that I have allowed to hold me captive and your posts are quite timely.<BR/><BR/>What I'm trying to spit out here is a genuine, from the heart, and from that painful place that lessons seem to hit...Thank you.~michelle pendergrasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04963999375035588206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752420.post-1152669786493577342006-07-11T19:03:00.000-07:002006-07-11T19:03:00.000-07:00Hey Janet and Vicki, thanks for the comments. Jane...Hey Janet and Vicki, thanks for the comments. Janet, some of my all-time favorite Bible verses are in Ecclesiastes. Like "...even a live dog is better than a dead lion" (9:4). This gives hope to all us Chihuahuas.<BR/><BR/>Dear Vicki, I noticed you mentioned recently on one of your sites (I think) that you were having some tough emotional times. I appreciate your continued encouragement and positive outlook. No doubt this is indicative of a heart rightly yielded. Lord bless you both!Mike Duranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02223354088258809968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752420.post-1152638182081445492006-07-11T10:16:00.000-07:002006-07-11T10:16:00.000-07:00I can so appreciate your journey, Mike, and recall...I can so appreciate your journey, Mike, and recall from Ecclesiastes 'to everything there is a season'--even our seasons of jaded negativism. May none of us stay there, but look to the Author and Finisher of our faith through it all. I'm going through my own disenchantment, for lack of a better word, but God is 'sorting me out' and bringing me to a deeper realization of who He really is. Everything else is truely meaningless without Him.<BR/><BR/>God bless you and thanks for sharing your life with us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752420.post-1152628423500562202006-07-11T07:33:00.000-07:002006-07-11T07:33:00.000-07:00I love Ecclesiates- there is so much truth in ther...I love Ecclesiates- there is so much truth in there. Like when he talks about how you work hard your whole life to earn things your offsping will just squander when they inherit it- so true! It's all focus. Looking at the world, at temporal things, there is plenty to be cynical about. Our minds needs to be on the higher, spiritual plane, the big picture, eternity. When we do that, we are more able to see the beauty around us.batgirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11095415308248827150noreply@blogger.com