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The writer of Ecclesiastes was incredibly wise. He recorded a great observation in chapter 3 verses 1-2, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.” (NIV 1984) Over two years ago, it was a time to start this podcast. Everyone needed encouragement. We were reeling from the pandemic, suffering through hyper-partisan news cycles and watching political leaders radicalize and divide people. I started the podcast to encourage others and spark their faith in Jesus. Today, the pandemic is over. Yes, the hyper-partisan media and radical politics remain. But it is no longer time to start. It is time for a change. After more than 800 daily episodes, it is time to pause the podcast. It is time for me to step away to evaluate, recharge and plan the future. I don’t know how long the pause will be. It could be a few weeks, maybe a few months. If you’d like an email notice when the podcast resumes, go to www.sparkingfaith.com/feedback. Use the form to register for an email update. I have also included the link in the show notes. That's www.sparkingfaith.com/feedback. I really appreciate you for listening to the podcast. People in several countries have tried it. But the core of the listeners are in the heart of the United States. Thank you so much for listening. Register for an email update: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/feedback/ Visit Elmer Fuller's author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/ Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

An old chorus goes “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart.” It’s a peppy little tune. Each verse adds some words, making it fun and challenging to sing. Another verse goes “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in the depths of my heart.” How’s your joy today? Do you have it deep in your heart? Is it there to stay? Remember, Joy is not happiness. Happiness depends on circumstances. If you get a raise at work, you are happy. No raise? You’re not happy. Lose your job? You are unhappy. But joy can exist through each of these circumstances. It comes from within us and doesn’t depend on external things. Couldn’t we each use more joy in these times? How can we find joy? Listen to Jesus’ words recorded in John 15:10-12, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (NIV 1984) Jesus tells us that the route to complete joy is to love others with the same type of unselfish love he expresses for us. Want some joy? Love others as Jesus has loved us. How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/ Visit Elmer Fuller's author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/ Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

We live in a crazy, mixed-up, broken world. Just look at some of the things that happened in the United States this past year. Men who think they are women demand to participate in women’s sports and change clothes in women’s locker rooms. And they are celebrated for doing so. Schools and libraries expose children to sexualized drag shows. Teachers allow students to act as the opposite gender while keeping it secret from their parents. Doctors cut off the gender-specific body parts of boys and girls who suffer from gender dysphoria. Many people demand the right to abort a child at any point during pregnancy. OF course, these are the most extreme forms of brokenness we see. We don’t even blink any more at people who insist on sexual expression outside of God’s design for marriage. Or at the vitriol and hatred people spew on social media. We’ve even come to expect increasing crime in our streets. Would you call this world loving? Probably not. But the real question is whether we are loving. 1 Corinthians 13:6 says, “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” (NIV 1984) It is not enough for us to shun the evil in this world. True love rejoices with the truth. I like the idea of rejoicing, don’t you? In the face of a broken world, love others by rejoicing in the truth. How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/ Visit Elmer Fuller's author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/ Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

A couple of days ago, I contrasted the mixed martial arts bouts called Ultimate Fighting Championship with love. Both are extremes. The first seeks to defeat another through aggression and inflicting pain. But love is extreme because it seeks what is best for another, even if it requires self-sacrifice. Sometimes it is good to examine the extremes. But we also can learn more about love by contrasting it with something that is similar, yet not the same. In 2 Peter 1:7 we are told to add “to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.” (NIV 1984) Brotherly kindness can also be translated brotherly love. So what is the difference between brotherly love and the word love in this passage? They are different words in the original language. Understanding the differences between them is necessary. Brotherly love is the emotional connection we feel with family or close friends. It can be a powerful emotion. The Greek word phileo describes this type of love. But it differs from the ultimate love. The Greek word agape is used in multiple commands we see to love God and each other. This love chooses to provide what is best for another, but not because the person is winsome or deserving. It is unselfish. Today, choose to do what is best for others, to provide what they need, to bless their lives, even if it requires sacrifice. How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/ Visit Elmer Fuller's author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/ Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

In the business world, good communication skills are vital. CEOs of companies have to review information and reports from across the organization. Internal and external communications flood their email boxes. What every CEO needs is a way to quickly review information. So, other business leaders learn to summarize. One common form is the one-page executive summary. A business unit or person may develop a multipage report filled with text, charts and graphs, but it starts with a summary no more than one page in length. The CEO can then see the gist of the information and choose whether to read further or not. In fact, we all rely on summaries for text messages, advertising slogans and other forms of communication. Even Jesus used a summary. He once summarized the way to live with these words from Matthew 22:37-39, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (NIV 1984) Love is the standard for every relationship. Husbands are to love their wives, wives their husbands, parents their children and each of us our neighbor. Multiple passages in the New Testament command us to love others as Jesus loved us. Love is so important, it summarizes our duty to God and to each other. Add love to your faith today. How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/ Visit Elmer Fuller's author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/ Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

What comes to mind when you hear the word ultimate? The word means the most extreme or important version of something. Does the word remind you of the Ultimate Fighting Championship? It is an extreme form of mixed martial arts. Opponents punch, kick, wrestle and throw each other about the ring. Thy pin each other, twisting limbs and causing pain. Oh, some things are illegal, like spitting or hair pulling, or kicking someone in the head while they’re lying the mat. If they are standing, kick them in the head all you want. You just can’t do that while they’re lying on the mat. This type of fighting is ultimate because it is extreme. An opposite to ultimate fighting is love. Love seeks what is best for the other. And love can be extreme. God is the ultimate example of love. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (NIV 1984) God sacrificed his son to pay the penalty for our sin. That’s extreme love. Jesus also shows ultimate love. He had a choice. Galatians 2:20 says he loved us and gave himself up for us. God is our model for how to treat others. His example is extreme. We must show love like the ultimate example of love, God himself. How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/ Visit Elmer Fuller's author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/ Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Have you ever stepped on a Lego® brand, plastic building block with a bare foot? They hurt! The hard little blocks have sharp edges and corners that painfully poke a foot. But that is not their intended purpose. They were made to snap together to create larger, complex objects. Each little block is attractive in its own right, often white, blue or red in color. But they are even more interesting when assembled into a car, plane, building or animal. I’m sure you have played with Lego® blocks at one time or another. A few weeks ago we started looking at 2 Peter 1:5-7. It reads, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.” (NIV 1984) Did you notice the phrase “add to”? Peter tells us that developing our character starts with faith, but we add other things. It is not quite like snapping Lego® blocks together. But developing the traits Peter mentioned takes our effort and God’s spirit. Character is a mosaic of different attitudes and qualities. Assemble them together and our character is more beautiful than each trait by itself. This week, we will examine the last trait Peter tells us to add, love. It is the epitome of godly character, for God is love. How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/ Visit Elmer Fuller's author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/ Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

What does a person filled with brotherly kindness look like? When you think of brotherly kindness, do you picture someone who is loving? Do you see a smile, a gentle manner, someone who is always supportive? Is brotherly kindness displayed by always agreeing with you, or always making you feel good? If this is your picture of brotherly kindness, it is incomplete. Listen to this passage which translates the word for brotherly kindness as “love.” Revelation 3:19-20 says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (NIV 1984) Jesus is the perfect example of brotherly kindness or brotherly love. But he doesn’t always make us feel good. Those whom he loves, he rebukes and disciplines. Does he do this gently? Of course, but he is firm in calling us to do what is right. Remember the times he told someone to “go and sin no more”? This week, we’ve learned that developing brotherly kindness involves deepening relationships with others. Weeping with them, rejoicing with them, working and enduring together, as well as greeting each other warmly. But we also need the willingness to correct each other when we stray from the path of righteousness. Add to your faith brotherly kindness. How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/ Visit Elmer Fuller's author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/ Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Funerals are strange events for children. I remember attending a few funerals as a child and trying to understand it all. As a teen, I disliked the grief and sorrow of funerals. Unless it was family, I tried to avoid going with my parents to a funeral. Nobody really likes a funeral. But we go. As an adult, I’ve attended the funerals of family and friends. I’ve also attend the funerals of people I had never met. I went not because I like funerals, but because someone I knew was mourning the passing of a loved one. A funeral is a time to show respect and honor for the deceased. But more importantly, it is a time to show love and support for those grieving. Sometimes the best thing about the funeral is greeting each other, hugging family and talking together after the service. Grieving together is a display of love. An example of this is Jesus.  Jesus missed the funeral of a dear friend named Lazarus. But he visited the tomb a couple of days later. As everyone else wept, Jesus wept with them. John 11:36 says, ‘Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”’ (NVI 1984) This reminds me of Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” (NIV 1984) This verse gives us a great, short-hand description of brotherly love. We encourage each other in good times as well as in bad. How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/ Visit Elmer Fuller's author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/ Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Have you ever been squeamish? When I’ve traveled to foreign countries, I’ve been reluctant to eat everything the locals eat. Sometimes, it was the sea food. I just didn’t recognize what it was. It didn’t look like fish or shrimp. At other times, I recognized things all too well, like chicken heads and feet cooked with all the other meat. Social customs different from mine also make me squeamish. I grew up in the Great Plains section of the United States. People tend to be stoic. So when I hear some bible verses, I get squeamish. One such verse is 1 Peter 5:14 “Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.” (NIV 1984) Did you know that five times in the New Testament we are told to greet each other with a holy kiss? Does that make you reluctant? Well, relax. Here’s what I’ve learned. In the culture of that day, men greeted male relatives or friends with a kiss on one or both cheeks. Women greeted women in the same way. It was the socially acceptable way to show affection for family and friends. Today we shake hands and hug. So, why all this focus on the holy kiss? If we are going to develop brotherly kindness, we need to learn to greet each other with warmth and affection. How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/ Visit Elmer Fuller's author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/ Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

I used to love watching the winter Olympics as a youth. One event that fascinated me was downhill skiing. Men and women raced down the mountain tucked tight over their skies. They flew airborne off bumps and careened through sweeping curves, their skies bouncing on the ruts. The speeds were incredible. So were the crashes. If a skier made a mistake, he or she would spin across the snow, arms and legs akimbo until a safety fence caught them. Broken bones and other serious injury could occur. After a crash, the commentators would often replay the run and use slow motion to point out where the skier made the mistake. Sometimes, a negative example is helpful. If we are going to develop brotherly kindness, as 1 Peter urges us, we should listen to warnings about mistakes to avoid.  One warning is in Matthew 10:37, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (NIV 1984) The word love is the one related to brotherly love or kindness. This verse tells us that our affection and devotion for others, even for family, cannot be greater than our affection and devotion for Jesus. As 1 Corinthians 16:22 tells us, “If anyone does not love the Lord–a curse be on him. Come, O Lord!” (NIV 1984) How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/ Visit Elmer Fuller's author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/ Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Have you ever wanted to take a skill to the next level? Maybe you want to improve your golf swing or pickle ball serve. Maybe you write, paint or pound out computer code. Sometimes people want to improve a skill related to work. At others,  people want to improve a hobby or pastime. Regardless of the skill, one way to improve it is to imitate someone who has mastered the skill. The same is true in our Christian growth. If we want to improve our brotherly kindness or love, we can imitate God. John 5:20 says, “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.” (NIV 1984) The fascinating thing about this passage is the word love. It is not the usual word to describe God’s love, which is agape. No, it is the word phileo which means to love as a brother or as a family member.  The Father loves the Son. The word describes affection, emotion. A related word in the original language means to kiss on the cheek. Notice also the close relationship described in the passage between God the Father and Jesus. The Father shows him all he does. If we want to develop brotherly love, we also need to spend time together with each other, modeling how to pray, witness and live a life of faith. How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/ Visit Elmer Fuller's author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/ Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.