Riverside Baptist Church

06/18/2026

June 18
Reading from Ecclesiastes 5
A Moment with the Master
Reading through the Bible one chapter a day

Ecclesiastes 5:7 "For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God."

In this chapter there is a clear demarcation between two experiments in Solomon's wisdom; in verses 1-7 his attention is drawn to the acts of religion and then in verses 8-20 he marks the attitudes of wealth and honor. To me there is a more reality of wisdom given in this chapter than we have seen in the past. The truths are more obvious and the proverbial wisdom is much more palatable.

Religion is a killer, it promotes form and experiences over living in a relationship with our holy God. Solomon warns in verse 1, "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil." Man's religion is all about legalism, keeping a strict order, following the rules, having certain experiences. What the Lord wants us to have is a relationship, something that motivates us to want righteousness from a desire to walk with our holy God. We have seen it and may have even been caught up in the emotions of a well crafted sermon where we quickly come and make the promises of a more devoted life only to walk out from under the emotion back to the reality of a lack of that devotion. That is what Solomon warns against when he speaks of the over use of our mouth with promises and vows that never get paid. Religion which builds its following on guilt for unfulfilled promises is not the place for a child of God who is called to live a life in God's grace. "For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God." (5:7)

Maybe you are one of those who has decided that your comfort is found in the accumulation of wealth. Solomon, has a lot to say about that and he certainly can speak from experience, being one of the wealthiest men who has ever lived. In verse 10, he gives us a great insight into the futility of wealth when he says, "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity." So many people have tried to satisfy their desire for happiness with wealth only to find it an empty hole that can never be filled. As he says, "As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand." (5:15) That old saying that we have never seen a hurst pulling a U-Haul is correct. The things that really should matter to a child of God is that of a spiritual legacy, instilling the truth of God's word into the hearts and minds of our prodigy. Finding the joy of living a life enhanced by the riches of God's grace and sharing that joy as the greatest riches we could ever obtain. "Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion." (5:18)

06/17/2026

June 17
Reading from Ecclesiastes 4
A Moment with the Master
Reading through the Bible one chapter a day

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. (10) For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up."

Here we have such a wonderful truth, one that has been preached and shared by millions of people. We were created to interact with others. At creation, the Lord said of Adam, that it was not good for man to be alone, so He created Eve to walk together as one. We definitely need each other. However, in context this truth comes in the middle of another one of Solomon's experiments for wisdom.

As he starts out he looks at the two positions of man; one is the oppressed and the other the oppressor. Here he established that neither of them had anyone to comfort them, that being alone in their misery or in their triumph of evil, what good was there? He even says it would be better to be one who had never lived than to live and see the evil that man brings upon himself. Then he goes back to the empty motivation for a man to work if he has no one to enjoy the work he has done. He feels this life is empty and the person's actions are done in vain. By the end of the chapter, his fatalistic attitude looks at the fact that even if people keep having children and life continues, that the work of this person who was alone will never be acknowledged. His conclusion again is that all of this is "vanity and vexation of spirit."

Had it not been for the two or three verses in the middle of this thought that brings out the necessity of human interaction, this would be some of the most depressing scripture we have read. To Solomon who was reported to be the wisest man who ever lived, we struggle with his estimation of man. We know that man was created for a purpose and in Christ we never walk alone. We have the truth of John's writing that states in 1 John 1:3, "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." And he continued with this thought in 1 John 1:7, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." Dear child of God we are not bound to a life of emptiness, but of fulness! We have been called to walk worthy of our calling and to find our comfort in the Lord and our fellowship wrapped in His love and involvement. Let us walk in His light and enjoy the fellowship it brings as we serve one another. Never shy away from fellowship and working together, this is what we have been called to do. There is a saying we might apply here; have a friend, be a friend and bring a friend to Jesus.

06/16/2026

June 16
Reading from Ecclesiastes 3
A Moment with the Master
Reading through the Bible one chapter a day

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT) "Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end."

Considering these chapters are part of God's divine, inspired and inerrant word, you might be questioning the reason for the Lord to include these ramblings of a man who is evidently unsure of his purpose. Let me assure you, we have these writings for our purpose and in the middle of a passage that wanders from one end of God's sovereignty to man's fatalistic view of God's creation, we find this verse that gives a truth of the whole. Ecclesiastes 3:11, "Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end."

This chapter starts out with verses that are many times memorized and repeated in funerals and weddings. They speak of the times of life with one side of a life experience and then with the opposite or concluding side of the experience. I think for the child of God whose life is centered in Christ we find a reminder that life has options. For some the option is to simply accept God's design such as "a time to be born and a time to die" to which we have no options, that is left up to the Lord. However, there are others which present great opportunities to make some great decisions; (4) "A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance."

As Solomon continues in this writing, he speaks of those God-given tasks that as humans we must all participate. We all must work and live our lives. In verse 11, he gives a bit of insight that we can all benefit. "He has planted eternity in the human heart." We are eternal beings, by that it means man is created for eternity, we will live and the choice is ours as to our eternal destination. Although as the verse stated we do not know the whole of God's design, we do have the opportunity to decide our eternal home. When Solomon speaks in verse 20 that we all return to dust, he is right in the sense that our bodies will die and become dust again, however, our souls will live forever. As Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that when we are absent from these bodies, we will be present with the Lord. The fatalistic view that Solomon is working through in this passage is not the view of a person who has been born again. We have been given a life of hope and faith centered around the acceptance of the Lord's gracious gift of salvation. We have learned that we have been given a life of grace and we are no longer stuck in a life of just existence but in a life Christ described as the abundant life. Dear child of God, refuse to believe the lies of Satan, that you do not have any choice in your life, because in Christ you have the choice of grace and it is a life full of victories and joy.

06/15/2026

06/15/2026

June 15
Reading from Ecclesiastes 2
A Moment with the Master
Reading through the Bible one chapter a day

Ecclesiastes 2:26 "For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit."

Oh my, after reading the Proverbs it is hard to imagine that same man of such wisdom is writing with such a pessimistic and discouraging tone, but it is. Again we hear Solomon during a time when he was questioning everything in light of his search for wisdom. He begins this chapter with his search for wisdom in folly and entertainment. In verse 3, he says, "I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life." He continues to use his wealth to provide every avenue of what men call joy and in the end says it is all "vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." Do we imagine that in this time of a dried up spirit he finally woke to the truth that as he says in Proverbs 17:22, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

He then wants to test the validity of wisdom verses that of the foolish. Verse 15 says, "Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity." His argument was that whatever he might obtain in his wisdom could be left to the foolish to do with as they want. So, in his estimation, it seemed foolish on his part to use his wisdom to benefit the fool. But wait, Solomon must have come to the reality that his God given wisdom was extremely valuable because in every chapter of the Proverbs he extols the value of wisdom.

The last experiment Solomon tests against wisdom is that of work or labor and what becomes of our work when we die? In verse 19, "And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity." His final thought was that what God gives to the wise, the sinner can find for himself so there was not difference in his rather warped estimation and concludes "This is vanity and vexation of spirit."

Dear child of God, I am so glad that the Lord led Solomon to the truth and we find it written for us in the Proverbs. All three of these areas of work, life and joy are to be the areas that we as God's children excel in as a result of God's wisdom. We understand that our work is a way for us to show the world the importance of God's design. Our lives are to be an open witness of finding God's purpose and then passing it on to others. And our joy as a child of God is found only in walking with the Lord through our life experiences. All of these are at God's best only because of the faith we can put in Him for our results. Dear child of God, enjoy life, laugh a lot, and demonstrate to this old sin sick world that there is real joy and fulfillment in a life centered around Christ!

06/14/2026

Pastor Jim Newton's sermon video, "Faith Over Fear," Daniel 6:11-18

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

06/14/2026

June 14
Reading from Ecclesiastes 1
A Moment with the Master
Reading through the Bible one chapter a day

Ecclesiastes 1:13-14 "And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. (14) I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit."

This is Solomon's writing and it is a time in his life when we was questioning everything. In search of wisdom he looks at all of creation and although in his statements, God has given him a clear understanding to how things work, I believe he misses the importance of what he knows. He complains that generation after generation pass though this earth but it never changes. Many see history in that light of pessimism, but that is the truth of God and His immutability. Man's influence whether good or bad will never change who God is and how God works in the lives of men. Not a bad thing, but a very good truth to consider.

Solomon goes on to speak of the sun, the winds, the course of the waters as almost being boring at his search of wisdom. It is a "ho hum" spirit at the thought that these just continue to do what they do without any change. But again we see the awesome nature of God's creation. God established the course of the stars and our sun was commanded of God go give us light and it is perfectly positioned to do as God commanded. The earth is set on a course that perfectly allows it to circle the sun in an orbit that gives it the seasons for planting, growing and harvesting its vegetation. The winds travel in a circuit that was established by God to carry with it the temperatures needed for man to prosper by its seasonal aptitude. The laws that God established for what is called the hydrological cycle where the waters of the earth travel in a divine circle evaporating from the seas, carried by the clouds over the land to rain and provide the nutrients for the vegetation to grow, then to flow from the rivers and streams back into the seas to start its course again. Solomon in his search found this vanity but in truth it is the miracle of the supernatural work of God!

Dear child of God, we can view life like Solomon describes and be old grumps that complain about everything, or we can be the witness of a God who is in control of everything and find our lives filled with exciting adventures into understanding the supernatural work of our Creator God in the world around us. It is our choice, but understand we have plenty of people who will try to bring us down by their misunderstanding of God's amazing creation and involvement in the course of man. We truly serve an awesome God!

06/13/2026

There was good attendance today at our W2W ladies luncheon held at Los Pericos Restaurant in Huntsville. We were happy to see Tanya Herrin there today and all the other beautiful ladies in attendance. A good time was had by all.

06/13/2026

June 13
Reading from Proverbs 31
A Moment with the Master
Reading through the Bible one chapter a day

Proverbs 31:10-11 "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. (11) The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil."

This concluding chapter contains two sections: the first is that of The Wise King verses 2-9, and the second is that of The Excellent Wife verses 10-31. Both are the teachings of a godly mother according to verse 1, to King Lemuel, whom ancient Jewish tradition identified as King Solomon, but who is, otherwise, unknown.

Verses 10-31 offers a beautiful description of the excellent wife as defined by a wife and mother. Spiritual and practical wisdom, plus moral virtues, are the character of this woman in contrast to the immoral women of verse 3. The principles and character of this woman are truly the prayer of every mother for the future wife of her son, and the married pattern of her daughter. They describe what a virtuous woman would be and are the marks of that wife whose value to her husband and family would be far above anything else.

It begins with the wife and her attitude toward her marriage, verses 11-12. She is so completely loyal to her husband that he has no need to be jealous of her. She is wrapped up in his love for her and cares for him in such a way that he never lacks for anything that she can provide. In verses 13-21 speak of her industrialness, ambition and compassion. She is a strong woman, who knows how to work and sees her own value in what she can provide for herself, her family and others. She has wisdom in dealing with the outside world, buying and selling in order to better care for others. Verse 18 gives a great insight into her attitude of her self worth when it says, "She perceiveth that her merchandise is good." She not only takes care of her family, she has a compassionate heart to help others, "She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy."

Verses 22-29 speak of her inner qualities that make her who she is. Verse 22 speaks of her feminity and her love for being a woman. Verse 23 tells of the pride her husband has in her. Verse 24 tells of her ability to deal with the merchants. Verses 25-26 tells us she is a strong and honorable woman full of godly wisdom and kindness. Verses 27-29 tells of her familial loyalty, taking care of the needs of her household, and able to build great relationships with her children. She is loved, admired and appreciated by her husband and children. Verses 30-31 explain her best as being one whose beauty is found in her character as a child of God and her witness is continually being praised by all who know her. The Proverbs 31 woman can be found. I have found her in my wife and my daughters and in many of the godly women that serve the Lord in and around the church.

06/12/2026

une 12
Reading from Proverbs 30
A Moment with the Master
Reading through the Bible one chapter a day

Proverbs 30:4 "Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?"

This collection of proverbs in this chapter are from a man named Agur the son of Jakeh. Do we know anything about this man or the names of his sons or his father? No, there is nothing we can add to their existence except that Agur is given credit for this passage, and might I add that as it is part of the cannon of scripture, he wrote these proverbs under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He is included as one of the holy men of God of 2 Peter 1:21, when it says, "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." And the question he asks in verse 4 is one the Lord might have asked of Job when He put him to the test. The answer to this question is one we all should know even though we have not ascended to or descended from heaven. What is the name of the one who controls the winds and gives direction to the waters of the earth? What is the name of the one who decided the boundaries of the earth and its universe? We know Him as God the Father and His Son as Jesus the Christ. In fact we know Him as Isaiah 9:6 describes Him as Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace."

We also would agree with Agur's truth of God's word that he gives in verses 5 and 6, "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." It is obvious that this writer understood the importance of the very words he was writing were to be a part of God's word. God's word is so powerful, so pure, so filled with the wisdom and holiness of its author, the Holy Spirit, that there is no room for man's addition to it nor for man to make a decision to eliminate any of it. We can easily see why there have been so many who have found their peace and comfort, their counsel and direction, their wisdom and knowledge from its pages. How many great hymns have been written about the truth of God's word. "Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life, let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life. Words of life and beauty, Words of faith and duty. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life." As we hold this wonderful book in our hands and read from its pages, we have been given the greatest honor to be able to hear and understand the mind of God.