Jeremy R. Geerdes Posts

Proverbs 24:17 is a tough verse for me. After sifting through so many verses talking about when and how to realize joy, this one seems a stark contrast. And it’s for that reason that I think it’s so important. You see, Proverbs 24:17 challenges us, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not […]

Yesterday, I rand in Proverbs 17:21 into the realization that I can take great joy from my kids, but only if I choose to parent them to be wise when they grow up. Today, in the very next verse, I’m struck by another realization. The verse reads, according to the HCSB, “A joyful heart is […]

As a Dad, I get Proverbs 17:21. It drives me crazy when my kids do things that are ill-advised, and it breaks my heart when they do things that they know are wrong. The fact that they are only young children really doesn’t negate this, but at least I have the consolation of knowing that […]

Continuing through the book of Proverbs in search of keys to having real joy, I stumbled just now across a couple more verses that are almost back-to-back in Proverbs 15. They stand in stark contrast to each other and are actually a pretty apt commentary for a great number of people and situations that we […]

I’m having a hard time the last couple of days. Yesterday, I didn’t know what to make of the joy passage I was studying. And today, I’m not sure, either. But I guess that, if there is one thing that I’m good at, it’s being wrong. Just ask my wife. So I’m going to throw […]

Here’s another jewel out of Proverbs, this time chapter 12. Yesterday, I discovered that the righteous’ success brings joy to even secular communities. Today, we learn that those who promote and counsel peace have joy, too. Now, I understand that this doesn’t sound particularly profound. Of course, those who are at peace will have joy, […]

I have long known that the book of Proverbs is filled with wonderful, wise sayings. I mean, isn’t that what you would expect from a book titled “Proverbs”? But this afternoon, as I sit in the car waiting for my daughter to emerge from her school, I ran across an interesting verse in Proverbs 11. […]

It’s been a couple of weeks since I posted anything about my word study on “joy,” but today, as I finally moved out of the book of Psalms and into Proverbs, I ran headlong into one of my favorite – and most challenging – passages in all of Scripture: Proverbs 5:15-23. It is a striking […]

This morning, as I was getting dressed, I heard my four-year-old son exclaim, “Oh, dammit!” To say the least, I was shocked. I don’t talk like that, and I don’t recall my wife talking like that. So he must have picked it up from school, family, or (gulp) church. I don’t particularly like any of […]

PowerPoint and projectors have become almost ubiquitous in worship services. They play a number of very helpful roles in the church service, from displaying lyrics to the song to projecting Scripture and sermon notes during the message. In our sanctuary, on any given Sunday, you can also find announcements, pictures of recent church activities, comic […]