1) It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to review one of the classic sermons that I have enjoyed engaging with over the last 45-plus years of faith. That does not mean that this will be a brilliant teaching, and it’s not a guarantee that you will like this word. But we are NOT working with the itching ears approach, so it doesn’t matter all that much. What matters is if this word can help us get One Step Closer.

2) I love planning. I even made videos about planning with my son in the yesteryears. What was the classic line in the videos we made? If we fail to plan, we plan to fail. Is that true? No. That’s why those videos were deleted. But is planning bad? Absolutely not. But our planning is ALWAYS conditional. Proverbs 19:21, Many are the plans in a man's mind, but the purpose of the LORD will stand.

3) Again, the Yiddish proverb: Man plans and God laughs. On this show, I want to do the best I can. I want to help everyone get closer as I, too, get closer to the Lord. But guess what? I am flawed. And I have made mistakes in this radio ministry. And I will make more in the future. I am a mess. But I am God’s mess. And you, too, may be a mess. But you also are God’s mess.

4) The bottom line is this: We can't do this Christian thing, this Christian life, this Christian journey, being as dependent as possible upon the Lord. The reality is that in our weakness, His strength shines through. This is not a permission slip to fail. This is a truth to grow up. Our failures do not stop God from building His Kingdom. And our victories are centered around glorifying His name. In a real sense, there is hope for each one of us in our weakness. The reason is that it is the time for God’s strength to shine the brightest in our lives. Wowzers