Newsletter 5/1/2025

Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.”  - Ecclesiastes 12:1

I have been reading through Ecclesiastes again because my devotional time in John has been cut short by some recent travel for work. I’ve stated many times that it is the book of the Bible that I resonate with the most. And this past week I really needed to hear the wisdom inked inside its pages. 

I’ve been in Miami for the last few days for work. By the time you read this I’ll be back in California. But I know what you’re thinking…”how can you be in Miami and be working at the same time?” Good question, I asked myself the same thing. Nevertheless, I do tend to get introspective and pensive when I travel. I’m a constant observer of my surroundings and my awareness level grows more intense when I’m not in a familiar environment. And this city has a lot to see and do, so I was in a state of unrest the whole trip. 

So besides being in a hotel and spending three days sitting down in meetings for many hours with some HR professionals, Presidents of Conferences, and fellow Executive Secretaries, here’s what else I’ve seen in the Magic City; a festive and colorful Latin culture, upscale restaurants, lots of expensive cars, people obsessed with beauty, exercise, the beach, and small dogs, high-rise apartments that cost upwards of $20,000-50,000 a month, and some good old fashioned exploitation of women (which is not good at all). Probably the most eye popping thing I saw was this massive nearly 500ft yacht casually docked across from the stadium where the Miami Heat play basketball. As we walked by I curiously asked the security guards who it belonged to. They responded in Spanish so I’ll translate, “property of Google”. I looked it up on the spot (using Google) and sure enough, one of the co-founders of Google owns the brand new yacht. The price tag? Only a cool 450 million. 

Can I be honest? I struggled with all of this. Ecclesiastes is a book written by a wealthy monarch who literally had everything he could have ever want. So much so that for a time, he lost his hold on God. His conclusion was that everything, everything, is absolutely meaningless. He lamented that fame was meaningless, the pursuit of money and material was meaningless, the wandering desire was meaningless, the fact that after all of our suffering and misery on earth that every man will eventually die the same death regardless of how they lived was also meaningless. And here I was, in a perfect climate surrounded by everything a person could want, and the pull of it all made me want to want it too. The 10th commandment had never seemed so relevant. But like Solomon, I also saw the emptiness of it all. And how easy it is to forget God in a place like this. 

But I have one more story. On the flight to Miami I sat next to a tech entrepreneur who was apparently doing pretty well with his business. He too was traveling to a conference in the same city. We talked about the pros and cons of AI and the digital world. He was one of those Silicon Valley guys that while optimistic about technology, recognized the dangers and even tried to keep his now college aged kids from being lost in it. He said something that struck me, and stuck with me. He stated that he asks his kids, “what are you going to do with this magnificent life you’ve been given?” What a question. This secular tech guru basically said to his children, make sure you use your time on this earth wisely and do not waste your youth on foolishness. Because one day your life will be over, and everything will be gone. Make it count. Is this not the message of Solomon? Your life will end one day. Everything, regardless of its perceived worth and the pleasure that it offers, will one day be gone. So use the life you’ve been given to remember that you have a Creator and to do something that honors Him and that prepares you for the life to come. Solomon’s voice is as loud today as it was then. Don’t forget God. Do not let anything in this life make you lose hold on Him. Make your life count for the Lord before your time is ultimately up. 

Pastor Dean