June 22

Accountability day.

Planning ahead ... next Monday, 7:00 PM at 251 Courtland Ave... a celebration party for reaching the half way mark!! Let me know if you are attending. So far I have Len, Dom, Jan, Ron, Juan, Helena, Barb and Laurie.

Pride and Prejudice

It was the most magnificent ship ever designed. Everything imaginable was built into it. Not only was it the biggest, it was sleek, fast, and absolutely unsinkable. The designer of the ship boasted, "Not even God could sink the Titanic." Every proven safety feature and several new ones went into its construction. It slid out to sea from Liverpool, England, on a serene April morning. Gleaming against the sky, it was majestic. The pride of Britannia rode out to sea. New York was its next harbor. The notables of society were its passengers and they basked in the splendor of its luxury. Elegance was the word for Titanic's interior. Lavish in its decor, menus, and entertainment, it surpassed the highest expectations of its passengers. But three quarters into its maiden voyage, on the fringe of Newfoundland's frigid banks, the Titanic became a catastrophic nightmare. Even when the Titanic struck the iceberg, the crew and passengers were confident that everything was fine, that they didn't take immediate action. Yet within two hours, on April 15, 1912, the unsinkable Titanic plunged to its death 4 miles below the icy surface, taking with it 1500 passengers, most of its crew, and all of its treasure.

I think you can make a strong case that pride was the cause of the sinking of the Titanic. Pride and the delusion that accompanies it is a deadly foe. Not only did it claim the Titanic but pride also has claimed many individuals through history. Today we read about pride claiming the life of King Uzziah. “But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall.” What a sad commentary on a life that was well lived up to that point.
It is a warning to all of us who live in Stamford to beware of the dangers of success.

Do you know how to discern if you have a dangerous amount of pride in your lives? The litmus test for pride is prayer. If you pray you are trusting God, if you don’t pray you are trusting yourself.

A timeless lesson for us from Uzziah, our strength is our weakness. In the area that we think we are strongest, that is the exact area we are less likely to depend upon God. We are ripe for a fall when everything is going well. Confidence leads to overconfidence, independence, pride, insulation from God which leads to destruction

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling.