Christmas Sorrows’: What do we do with our sorrow? In Psalm 77 the comforting honesty of a sorrowful Asaph, gives us permission to feel and express our sorrow before it morphs into the harsh and corrosive emotions of resentment, bitterness, and wrath.

John Tannous guest speaks for Open Door to the World weekend at ODF. A weekend of celebrating what God is doing through ODF around the world. The Tannous family has long been serving in China at a medical clinic. John joins us to share about the ministry of reconciliation.

Ecclesiastes 12

And now Solomon brings us home, literally! He reminds us that our youth is the time to develop the depth of our relationships with God. For there will come a time for most of us when we will be living off the vitality of the faith we have risked in our youth. What a fitting way to wrap up this series! Solomon finishes by bragging on himself a little. But in actuality it is his last call for us to trust the wisdom of God in others. It is a powerful and appropriate transitional passage for our next season at Open Door. Enjoy.

Solomon is not the young man he was thirty years ago when he wrote “Song of Solomon.” Here, in chapter 11 of Ecclesiastes, he's reflecting on what he wishes someone had told him back then, what he wishes he had trusted back then. It's a call to be generous and fully engage with each day while the “light is pleasant.” And it is an admonition to early on chose to “remove” the dysfunctions which can rob beauty, strength and purpose from your the rest of your days.