Verses from the talk on "Words"

At Church at the Park today, we talked about the words we use, their importance in our lives and what the Bible has to say about them.

Facts about words
20,000 words a day spoken for the average woman
7,000 words a day spoken for the average man 

When you think about the words you read , the words you hear, words we think, words we hear, and you realize that words are a huge part of our lives.

Words are powerful.

Good ones are valuable.

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.
Proverbs 25:11 ESV

They can start or stop a fight.

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1 ESV

They can bring healing or hurt.

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Proverbs 12:18 ESV

They have the power of death or life.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Proverbs 18:21 ESV

Words tell who you are.

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.
Matthew 15:18 ESV

God cares about what you say.

He commands what words we are to use.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 
Ephesians? ?4?:?29? (ESV)

He has a standard for our words.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians? ?3?:?17? (ESV)

Every word you say should fit under the umbrella of representing Christ and should be a testament to thanking God for who He is in your life.

God created words for us to use to tell about Him.  Your words are what you are to use to share truth of Christ with others.

He holds us accountable for our words.

I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
Matthew 12:36 ESV

It's not just the words that you say, but other words as well.

The words you read...
The words you think...
The words you write...
The words you post...
The words you cheer...

The words you give value to that others say...

What kind of words should we say?

THINK - 5 questions to evaluate the next words I am about to say.

True - Will it be the truth? - Psalm 5:6, Ephesians 4:15, Proverbs 12:19

Helpful - Will it be helpful? - Phil 2:3-4 
Inspiring - Will it inspire them to be better? - Hebrews 10:24-25

Necessary - Will it be worth being said? - Proverbs 10:19
Kind - Will it be kind?  - Ephesians 4:32

Kind is not just smoothing things over and avoiding conflict...it's saying the truth in a kind manner.

If it doesn't pass all of these questions, then don't say it.
If the message is important enough to be said, then find a way to say it that it fits all of these categories.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 ESV

What really is thankful…

Every year, we approach this season of “Thanksgiving”.  We meet together with family, watch football, and avoid that relative that always has to bring up the controversial debate topic (or maybe that’s us).  For some it’s a “family” time, for others it’s a time of remembrance for what God has done for us, for some it’s both.  The theme of the season though is thankfulness.

For most of us, thankfulness is something that we do, which really fits in with the taking a day each year, but for the Christ follower, it should be a way of life.  All over God’s Word, he speaks of thankfulness.  Psalm 69:30 says that I will “glorify Him with thanksgiving”.  In other words, the way I glorify God is to point out the work He’s doing (His glory) here and to thank Him for it.  We sing to thank Him when we gather together (Psalm 147:7; Psalm 69:30)  In 2 Corinthians 9, the writer tells us that God gives us everything we have so we can, out of thankfulness for what we do have (not bitterness for what we don’t) be generous with those things to others, and THAT very generosity will result in thankfulness to God.  In every request of God, we should ask with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6).  If “in everything” missed anything, there’s one of my favorite verses in the Bible, Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (emphasis added).  The greatest thing to be thankful for is that Jesus who allows us to reconnect with God  and to know what life is meant to be.  The Bible, a collection of 66 books, written by 40 different writers over a period of 2000 years, without consultation between authors, simply inspired by God Himself, just drips with the message “Hey BE thankful.”

It’s amazing the pain that people can get used to, we adjust and adapt, as a God given ability to survive, but at the same time, we adjust the other way.  It’s amazing the blessings that we can get used to and overlook.  In fact, we don’t usually realize they are there until they are gone.

As you approach Thanksgiving, don’t just take a moment for thankfulness, but commit to live in thankfulness all throughout the next year.  Get a post it note and write something you can be thankful for each day and stick it on your desk.  I have a friend who starts each day posting on Facebook something he’s thankful for.  Get creative, but resign to live a life that is thankful...you will find that a thankful life is better than a demanding one, and everyone might enjoy you better this Thanksgiving as well.

Words to the Wise: Leaving conflict behind

When talking about leaving a tough situation with a friend, this wise friend threw out the metaphor of leaving "firing shots over your shoulder" and how that's how some leave tough situations, trying to inflict pain on others as they leave.  I really latched onto that picture of a cowboy riding away from a fight on a horse in the old West.  At full gallop, the cowboy would look back and fire a couple of shots at the enemy as he left trying to pick off a bad guy or to do as much damage as he could.  After thinking on that picture and had some thoughts about parallels that are flaws in the "shooting over the shoulder" strategy in leaving a tough situation. 

One, shooting over the shoulder isn't very accurate, especially speeding away on a horse, so they never hit what they intended to hit.  They don't really ever damage any of their targets.  When you leave, those shots never make it back to those that hurt you, so they are usually completely oblivious to your gunshots...or one might get through out of nowhere and then everyone around wonders why in the world you'd be so cruel to do that, because those innocent bystanders in close proximity have no knowledge of the situation.

Two, because they have no accuracy, they usually cause damage that they never intended.  The only possible people who get "hit" by things are those people that those fleeing on horseback have a relationship with that have deal with them.  Think about it...you don't hang out with the folks that hurt you, you hang out with the folks that love you.  Whether a new relationship or an old one (pre-dating their hurt), friends are forced to relive the pain with the rider time after time.  It might be a relationship from the place of pain that didn't have a part in the hurt, but constantly feels the need to either apologize or exist in a vat of hard feelings against others because they are have to interact with them.  It could be the rider's spouse or children or just good friends..they take a bullet(s)...either way, you end up really just shooting your own team.

Three, they never really truly leave the situation.  Getting farther and farther away, as they lose perspective on things, the details of what happened gets distorted and out of focus.  Their attention is focused on something they can't control and they waste their time with things they can't/wouldn't/won't fix.  The facts just get worse, like a caught fish just gets bigger each time you tell the "story", and they just stay one step away from the situation and the hurt.

In keeping their focus on what's behind, they are not able to deal adequately with the present.  It's like they ride away believing a rope is tethered to them and to the situation and to them, trapping them to that moment in time.  At any second, they are prepared to teleport themselves back to that moment in time, any time someone will listen to them re-tell the injustice.  They blame those in that place or those from that situation for never letting them leave, but, if they were to step back and examine the two ends of the "rope" carefully...they'd find one end in that situation just laying on the ground and the other end, not tied to them, but just grasped in their clenched fist.

Consequently, because they are ignoring the present, they also are unprepared for the future.  They usually crash into and destroy something in their future because they were unprepared for it, because they spent too much of their life looking back.  They never leave the past behind.

Ultimately, the greatest damage the rider ever does is to himself.  This damage usually becomes something that they blame on the tough situation and people in their past that just "ruined" them.  The truth is that it is their own toxicity that is eating them away from the inside.  It will continue to eat away long after the memory of the past has faded into nothingness, because anything that remotely resembles the pain becomes their new nemesis, drawing their ire and judgment.  Truly, the most dangerous and unhealthy thing of the situation is something that they carried away inside themselves...the inability to be secure in who they are and move on to the future that Christ provides.

Want to know if this is you?
What's the big hurt in your past?  Like the ol' "how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie pop" cartoon...how many comments does it take you to get full on mad about that situation/person?
Do you refer to it often? 
Do people know where you are going very early in the conversation?
Does it drive your decisions now?  Do you find yourself spending a lot of time building defenses to avoid getting in that situation again?  (Nothing wrong with avoiding a bad situation, but are you obsessed with doing so?)
Do you see trails leading to a repeat of that situation often?
And a real situation arises like it...how fast do you get into full strike mode?

Word to those who wish to be wise in their life...don't be this person, that's not Christlike, and living this way accomplishes nothing.  Drop the rope, leave it behind, forgive and set yourself free.

Easter blog series: Takes 1 to know 1, Dishing on Church Folk-We know everything about the Bible..

Having been in church most of my life, I know a lot of "church" people.  I've been lucky though, because I've been able to have a wide array of experience in my life and part of that is knowing a lot of people who aren't "church" people.  It's amazing what people not in church think about church folk...most of it due to experience with a "church" folk who has somehow become representative for everyone.

From my experience, I thought I'd dish on some church folk and some common thoughts about them that ARE and AREN'T true.

Myth:  We know everything about the Bible.  IN fact, so much, if I talk to church people, I'm just going to feel stupid trying to explore "spiritual things".

Here is a myth I can relate to.  You've got a document, roughly 2000 years old (some parts older, some not so much), that's basically been one of, if not THE most influential document in existence.  It's wisdom is culture-less, time-less, technology-less...it fits in every situation and it continues to last...and something that complex...can ANYONE be an expert on it?  The Bible in my bag is over 1000 pages...that's kind of standard, some are shorter, some are longer, but the truth is, all of them have the same verbiage roughly (different translations might choose "ran" over "sprinted"...6 of one)...it was written by men INSPIRED BY GOD, who no one can completely understand (it's unfathomable), so can anyone ever know everything there is to know?

Here's what's funny...if you are an Atheist, you intimidate church people lots of the time, because they feel like you've studied the Word and are armed with all these questions that are designed to hang them up that only a Seminary professor can answer...so, guess what, we think the same thing about YOU.

Here's the truth:  We are just trying to learn and apply...the stuff we learn is HARD to apply, it may take a moment for some, but years for others to understand...it's not an intelligence thing, it's an experience thing, that's based on experiencing life with God.

Some people outside church feel that people inside church know so much more about spiritual things and their questions might be seen as stupid, because you don't hear Christian people ask the question...so you think..."Oh I must be the only one that doesn't know".  It's been my experience in the church that on some subjects and everyone has them, they just keep their heads down and hope no on calls on them...they feel the same way.  They can't articulate it.

We took the Lord's Supper (or Communion) last week and I had a man pull me aside.  He said he'd been a Christian for almost 8 years and didn't know if he should take it...we talked about it and he found out that he absolutely should.  Because he was brave enough to ask the question (fair enough after 8 years), I got to talk with him about it, he has an informed position about it and he can explain that to someone else.

Why does this happen?  Well, sometimes, we, as leaders, tell this stuff so much, we gloss over basic details.  We might use a term, like "justification"*** (see below), that carries a lot of meaning, assuming that everyone knows what's up with that...they might not, or they might get the concept, but not have it associated with that word, so there's a disconnect.  

Sometimes there's processes in the church that are confusing that we've just learned to navigate by attending over and over, that we've come to accept...but confuses a new person at church because it doesn't make sense.  The Bible makes sense, but a lot of the time, we humans make it sound like it doesn't...that's on us, and it's because we are learning.

When I talk to the people at Bay West on Sundays, I try very hard to make sure that I address any "elephants in the room" in communication.  I try to make sure that everyone understands that questions are "the devvvle" (to quote Bobby Bouche's mom in Waterboy).

Sometimes, church people have this immense pressure when a religious questions arises...  1 Peter 3:15 tells us to this "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you."  It's almost like the room goes into slow motion...all the lights dim and the spotlight goes on you and Regis goes "final answer?" in some "Who wants to be a millionaire" moment, but instead of losing the "million" dollars, you feel like you are about to send someone to Hell with the next words you say.  That verse is not talking about being able to settle every spiritual conundrum that has every come up...it's about being able to quickly point to Jesus Christ for the reason that you have hope and do what you do...that answer is EASY.  Another Bible verse puts it this way (2 Timothy 2:15) "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."  That says do your best, not if you are learning and don't know it all, you are dismissed from Heaven...lighten up, God is using your life to teach you and for you to teach others, as sub-plots to the big plot of REVEALING who He is to all of us.

It's that important that we help others out...it's intimidating at times...but taking that pressure on yourself is not productive in the moment.  I try to be informed, but if I don't know, making something up is worse...better to be honest (that's what the Bible tells us to do, see how that works).

If I don't know something, I'll flat tell you most of the time.  If things are working right, I'll try to find someone smarter than me or if it's a matter that there is no clear solution, I'll tell you.  I think as the leader, if it's okay for me to have a question, it makes everyone more open to share their questions about things, so we all can be used by God to teach each other.

I'm not perfect either...no one likes to be wrong and the more you expected to know (like a pastor), the easier it is for you to fall into the trap of saving your rep...If I'm feeling prideful and have an "I-don't-want-to-look-bad" moment, I might try to hem-haw.  I think all people can fall into that...

So, if you come to church as a first timer or someone who hasn't been in a while, don't be afraid to ask questions...the truth is, your fresh take might bring up something that others need answered...it might clear up something that we've communicated by "taking for granted" that everyone understands something back down the line that we didn't explain well.

I'm not an expert...here's what I am.  I'm a guy, as the Campus Pastor and leader, that believes that God specifically called him out to lead.  It's not because God thinks I'm especially smart...it's not because God thinks I'm especially holy...it's not because God thinks I'm the best Christian there is (or in the local vicinity -- let's clear that up, I'm not).  Then why did He call me?  Because through me being obedient and trusting Him to lead people to Him, He will show His glory and accomplish His plan...part of it might even be the world thinking "how in the world did THAT happen with that guy playing a prominent leadership role --- he's a moron."  God's been doing stuff like that for centuries...while He uses the smart and talented, He also calls the ignorant and the seemingly untalented, so ALL kinds are in the church, not just the ones who know everything about the Bible.

Church people are just learning, no different than anyone else...let's do it together and help each other.  That's why church is here.  That's it.  We don't bite and if we do, doesn't that prove that we need Jesus all the more.

What does that mean for non-church people?  Lighten up...your church going friend will not have every verse in the Bible memorized and can make a mistake.  You don't have to know it all to go to church either.

What does that mean for church people?  Lighten up...if you don't know, say you don't know.  God won't disown you if you tell the truth...

***Incidentally, if you were wondering, justification is just the process by which God justifies us being a part of His family forever (Jesus' death for our sin, our acceptance of that belief and following Christ with our lives -- )  It's not just forgiving us, but it's making us "righteous" or "just" or satisfying the Law of God -- kind of like Him paying the fine, we aren't just forgiven of it, God makes it right for us.

Blog series: Takes 1-2-Know-1: Dishing on Church Folk-We're perfect (or think we are).

Having been in church most of my life, I know a lot of "church" people.  I've been lucky though, because I've been able to have a wide array of experience in my life and part of that is knowing a lot of people who aren't "church" people.  It's amazing what people not in church think about church folk...most of it due to experience with a "church" folk who has somehow become representative for everyone.

From my experience, I thought I'd dish on some church folk and some common thoughts about them that ARE and AREN'T true.

MYTH #1:  Church people have it all worked out perfect with perfect lives (or they act like they do, but secretly, they don't).  It's funny that this is a common theme among folks.  Honestly, I've seen evidence to back the parenthetical part of this statement on more than one occasion, but a greater understanding of this myth let's you know it's not true.  I'll show you why it's ironically comical that this is a rep for people in church.

One...I've never met anyone on the Earth, that,in their right mind, in a totally honest moment, that thinks they are perfect...in the church or out.  I'm not sure that person exists.  I've seen arrogant people before, but usually, in my experience, that's really just subconscious/conscious overcompensation for weaknesses that they are really trying to hide or have yet to admit.

Two, one of the most fundamental beliefs of Christianity is that in the same way, ALL of us are imperfect and have NO chance to achieve it on our own.  The very fact that anyone walks into church and/or enters into a relationship with Christ is admitting that you are NOT perfect...that you are flawed.

This sparks a couple of other questions:

Why do some of them "act" like they are perfect?

- The easy answer is because they aren't.  Acting like you are, like anyone on the planet, is proof that you aren't perfect, because no one is.

Another reason is ignorance.  Some people still haven't learned what it means to admit your imperfections.  It means that you are always 100% flawed, but you are always trying to connect with a perfect God.  While God is moving us toward being complete or perfect one day, that's not done the moment you decide to follow Christ...some folks don't know what to do with that.

Another reason is insecurity.  It's not easy to admit your weaknesses to others, even though that's what the Bible asks us to do.  Some people mistakenly think that acting more "disgusted" or "appalled" at the acts that sin comes out as in a person's life, somehow makes them seem to be more right with God.  All that does is cause people to be moreActually, insecurity is fueled by pride.  We all want to look like we know what's going on and, true to form with our condition, we aren't...it causes some problems.

Another reason is misguided expectations.  Some people actually believe that when they enter a relationship with Christ that somewhere, somehow, they'll achieve this (pardon the expression) "Zen-like state" where nothing bothers them, nothing ever goes wrong, they never do anything wrong or make a mistake again and the sin nature that's part of of every person on the planet just goes away.  Not true.  Following Jesus' path is a way to deal with the effects of sin and because of Jesus' leadership and strength, we can have the power, the understanding and the awareness to choose a choice that isn't controlled by sin in our life, but to think that we will never struggle again is foolish.  For me, as I've grown in Christ and learned more about Him, I've actually found MORE things that I need Christ for, rather than less, and that's exactly how it's supposed to go as we grow in Him.

Another reason is that there is an enemy who wants us to fail.  The Bible tells us the Devil is alive and well and is trying to get us to be stupid and hurt others...like we aren't capable of doing it on our own because of our own problems.  He helps confuse people into thinking that if you are a Christ follower, then you hate sin, then you have to be perfect and hate people who aren't and then if you aren't a Christ follower, then you can't be one because you sin...it's flawed logic, but it's amazing how many people buy into it.

Basically in a nutshell, here's a Christian...an imperfect person who is resigning himself/herself to the fact that they can't make it on their own, but realizes that there really is a solution to making it through life and they've found Him.  His name is Jesus.  Now, they are trying to learn to live in that situation. 

There's a great song by Natalie Grant that says this and it kind of sums up this topic.  "There's no such thing as perfect people, there's no such thing as a perfect life, so come as you are, broken and scarred, lift up your heart and be amazed...and be changed by a perfect God."  The truth is that you've got to learn to exhibit grace to others, just as you receive it yourselves and that's how God planned for it to be.

This week, I'm going to try to deal with a few more dish on church folks subjects...hope this helps non-church folk understand church folk or maybe even, church folk understand themselves a little better.

Beyond the Vow...

This week we are starting a series at FBC Melbourne at our Bay West Campuses and Melbourne Campuses called "Beyond the Vow" and it's a crucial one.

As a pastor, I see a lot of marriages, both inside the church and outside of it, that are experiencing trouble and because we are human, it can get a little disheartening, even if the majority of the marriages around us are in good shape.  Even so, you have to think...why is that?  The disparity of marriages in the church in trouble or ending in divorce, really is not that different statistically from that in the world and why is that?

I believe that part of the reason is that we've legislated and written and analyzed and psycho-analyzed our marriages to death.  We've struggled through the definition of roles of the spouses and what's fair and what's not and what's too constricting and consequently, what's too freeing...and in all that verbiage, we've forgotten what marriages are for.

For the month of March, we'll be going through this series in our worship services, but we'll also be bringing in Dr. Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, who's done a lot of Biblical study on marriages, to help us take an intense look at our marriages on March 23-24 at our 2 to 1 Marriage conference.  Feel free to signup to come if you'd like here 2to1marriage.com .

Also, in the month of March, off the heels of our Hungry for God series, our church will be participating in a corporate fast***, seeking God intently to move in the marriages in our church that are under attack and for vision/direction for our church as a whole moving forward in how we serve God in the Melbourne/Palm Bay area...March is going to be a HUGE month.

In Beyond the Vow, we are going to take a good hard look at the reason anyone gets married in the first place, exactly what marriages are and AREN'T supposed to accomplish and how we can take that knowledge and "re-track" our marriages on a path that will really last "'til death do us part".

Don't miss it.

***Basically Pastor Scott, Senior Pastor at FBC Melbourne, has called our entire church to take some time and let go of something that we do this month, and use that time seeking God's presence in these areas.  Formally, we are asking members and regular attenders of FBC, both campuses, to consider fasting for a period of time in the month of March from food or some other form of physical gratificaion to seek God's presence in these two areas in our church.  For more info on fasting, you can click here for our page on fasting and some resources OR you can listen to our sermons on fasting here from our "Hungry for God" series.

Misunderstood passages in the Bible, a little study never hurts

"Where there is no vision, the people perish..."  Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

For a long time, I jumped on this verse...sounds AWESOME doesn't it and it is.  I heard it preached and used in bible studies and it was presented with something like a building program or a future plan for a church and it just works.  Where there is no vision, the people perish.  It's a great verse to inspire people to a cause...and I'm sure there's an element of that interpretation that is true, but after looking at it and studying the Bible around it, I'm not sure that's what the verse is talking about here.  If we take the verse simply as that, there are some weird shoots that can spring off the plant and give us some trouble down the road.

Funny, but a lot of people who would quote this verse might balk if someone said "I just had a vision".   "Vision" has become a term for an ability to see where things must go, such as what an project, organization or movement could be when it hasn't even started yet and then making it happen.  Is that what the Bible is saying here?  If you can see where things are supposed to go, then you have a vision and if you don't, those involved will perish?  

It makes sense...I've seen lots of aimless people with no plan just wander around and waste their lives away, so there's some wisdom in that area...but you have to come back to this.  Is that what the WORD is saying there?  If you are going to quote something, even if the principle you pull seems wise, the passage you quote needs to say what you are attributing to it...good or bad.  I think of it like "showing your work" in math.  I was GREAT at coming up with the right answer early on in Math...hated showing my work, but sometimes, my "processes" only worked for the problem I was on and if I had not been made to show HOW I was coming up with something, so the teacher could correct my logic, then I would have not solved many other problems.  The point is, life is not about just getting the right answer all the time and neither is studying the Bible.  What is the WORD saying here?

If I say, "Look out!  It's a dog!", that means LOTS of things from "hey, take a picture" to "run for the hills", depends on the context.  Let's look at the context of the verse...a lot of the time, you sharpen the point of a verse when you understand the rest of the "conversation".  I usually choose things before and after.  Here is the same passage in the NIV...

¹⁵  The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

 ¹⁶  When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.

 ¹⁷  Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

 ¹⁸  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

 ¹⁹  A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer.

So we've got "correction" for a child, how the "wicked" thrive in going against God and breaking His law (sin)...how "discipline" is good for your son to give him peace...and then we have "no vision" and "people perish", but the end of the verse doesn't really talk about a plan does it?  It says "he that keepeth the law, happy is he."  Then it's about correcting again...

Let's look at another translation of the Bible...NLT...here is what it says...

¹⁸ Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; 

   but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

Or the NIV...

¹⁸ Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; 

   but blessed is he who keeps the law.

That sounds a little different, none are contradictory, but together explanatory.  "Revelation" doesn't carry the same weight as "vision" does in our contemporary society, but it still fits, right?  "Cast off restraint"...that's a very different connotation to "perish"...same thing and both fit together, because of the word choice, so what is the deeper meaning here?

Before we go on, you might ask:  Why another translation?  That's because as you translate something, a lot of the time, there's not a "one word" in the other language that carries the EXACT same meaning.  Sometimes a concept in one language is communicated in another language by a series of words...so let's take a look at another one...one of my favorites.  When you look up a Hebrew word or a Greek word (the languages the Bible was written in), you find several words (like our dictionary) to give the full nuance of what is trying to be communicated.  Because of grammar or context or because it's a recognized colloquial phrase or some construction/textual clue, you choose the meaning.  The Amplified Bible (AMP) is a bible that tries to throw all those words in...sometimes, it can be confusing, but most of the time, it helps focus us in on "what the writer is trying to say"...let's read this verse here.

¹⁸Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]--blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he.

Without the revelation of God to people of who He is, His law that shows the need for mercy and grace and Jesus, people will cast off all restraint...and ultimately, that way will lead to death and they will perish....that's what the writer is trying to say.  It's the validity of following God, not the microcosm of having a grand plan for something.

Now hear me out here...STUDY the bible
1)  Yes, purpose is good for people and an unfocused people DO not fare well in life...but we have a purpose and that purpose is folded into the fact that we are looking emulate and honor Christ in everything we do (1 Peter 2:21-24), we are to make disciples as we go through our lives (never off mission - Matthew 28:19-20)...that's our purpose.  We should not need to supplement that with a building program.  Remember the micro is the brush with which God paints the macro picture.
2)  It's not bad to have a plan.  God gives plans and "visions" all the time...all I'm saying is to use this as the proof-text for any plan you state is wrong, because that's not what it says.  We see life prove out God's plan all the time....God is a planner, he planned all my days before I was born (Psalm 139) and God has had a plan for the world since before He ever created a thing (John 1, 1 Corinthians 2:7 - all over the Word)...good grief, plans are fine.

What I am saying is that when you handle the Word, handle it with care... strive to understand it, when you read it, read it again and again, then in another translation that is GOOD (some aren't), read about the historical context in which the passage was set and above all, do this...read the Bible as a WORK...one Work...it doesn't contradict itself, it expands upon itself, it helps explain itself...sola Scriptura is a Latin term that means "the whole of Scripture" and that is where you see the conversation with God grow...don't miss it.  Show your work...read the context...talk to other believers you trust and most of all, listen to God as you read...have a conversation.

I hope this little Bible Study helped.  Please pray for us as we continue to try to be a church in Palm Bay that shows Jesus to all around us.