SUNDAY (LIVE) - May 17, 2026 | The Grind: Ecclesiastes 7:1-13 - Good Name

Chapter seven, Solomon's gonna say, here's the good life. And son, it begins with a good name. He doesn't begin with success, a job, marriaging, marriaging, marriage, parenting. Doesn't say, hey, you need to know how to use a skill saw. You need to have this education. You need to have this degree. You need God's will. He doesn't start with any of that. It's number one, hey, how's your name? [00:40:34] (31 seconds)  #GuardYourName

Laughter is like dessert. Everybody needs dessert, and it cannot be organic, and it can't be it's gotta be bad for you, dessert. That's good dessert. But what's really good for you is exercise. That's what helps your heart, not dessert. Sorrow is exercise for your soul. That's what it is. It exercises your soul. It gets you straightened out. What am I supposed to be doing? I've been gone astray. Now, I'm in God's word. Now, I'm repentance. Now, this is saving my soul. Not easy, but good. [00:54:57] (45 seconds)  #SorrowHeals

That's not what Jesus says. If you've been sinned against, you go take it. Because that other person probably doesn't even know. They're blissfully living their life. And we're sitting there waiting, you didn't even come and talk to me. What? Jesus is really honest about the world we live in. It's not Camelot, it's Sinhalot. So, take care of it. If you have this in your heart, don't let it fester there. Don't let your teeth get grinded. Don't No. You go. You're the one holding on to this. Pay attention to yourself. [01:02:13] (37 seconds)  #ResolveConflict

There was a thing that many years ago men would say that my word is my bond. If you have a business, you know this. You gotta, like, get a bond. Right? Million dollar bond. It's security that, hey, I'm gonna finish this. So I got a million dollar bond. Hundred years ago, it was my word is my bond. I don't need a insurance payment. If I give you my word, I will faithfully complete what you I love that. I hope my word is my bond. If I told you that I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do it. Period. My word is my bond. I will be faithful. [01:11:13] (34 seconds)  #MyWordIsMyBond

In first Corinthians chapter four verse two, it says this, it is required. Not it's recommended. Not it's a good idea. Not you should work on this. It is required for stewards. Anyone that's involved in the kingdom is a steward of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. It is required of stewards to be found faithful. Number one requirement. When we get to heaven, we're gonna prayerfully hear, well done, good and faithful servant. That's my goal. That's what I put in my map. Are you faithful? Do you finish? [01:10:30] (43 seconds)  #FaithfulSteward

So that we turn to the only one that can straighten us out, Jesus Christ. He's the only one. He's the only one that can create clean hearts in us and renew right spirits inside of us. He's the only one Revelation two seventeen says this, one day we get a brand new name. No matter how muddy and soiled our name may be down here, good news, one day Jesus Christ gives us a brand new name that is all these qualities, that is the right one. He's the straightener. [01:18:34] (32 seconds)  #JesusRenews

Ecclesiastes is the thing that's supposed to get us in that, I need help. And then we turn to Jesus and say, change us. That's Christianity, by the way. That life reveals the dirt in my heart, and then I go to the only one that can actually clean me up, the author and the finisher of faith. Jesus cleaned me, changed me, transformed me. What's bent and what's rough in my life, change it. It's why every Sunday we come to the table. And the reason why we come to the table is we're ending reminding ourselves that we come to the only one that can straighten us out. [01:19:06] (36 seconds)  #FromEcclesiastesToChrist

Oh, really? And you wanna talk to me? Good. Because I wanna talk to you as well. Because I've seen something in you. Oh, you see a speck in my eye. Okay, log head. Let me tell you about the log in yours. And then stage two is they're just morons. Deflection. Oh, they're idiots. Oh, they don't what they're doing. And stage three, some remorse. Oh, maybe he's right. And then hopefully, repentance. If if you know, not everything people say is true, but if it is, then you repent on the right that is in me. Okay. I need to change. Receive rebuke. [00:59:46] (49 seconds)  #ReceiveRebuke

Maybe you're here today and you are in a season of real sorrow. Know this, it won't last. Remember chapter three. There's a season for everything. The season of sorrow will one day be gone, but embrace it. Pray, Jesus, what do I need to learn right here? Have I gone astray in some way? Is there a part of me that through patience and perseverance, you're completing where I'm lacking right now? Trust Jesus in it. Have I lost the path? Have I gone astray somehow? Bring me back to your word. [00:57:18] (36 seconds)  #SorrowIsSeasonal

A real rebuke is you look at person in the eye, you name the sin, and then you say, here's what this did to me. Mom, dad, when you abandoned me, when you left me, when you weren't faithful to me, it made me feel like I was worthless. It made me feel like I had no value, and I've carried that with me. That's a real rebuke. This is what you did, and this is what it has done to me. And the bible says it pays off. [01:03:34] (35 seconds)  #NameTheHurt

It's nuts. And those are the two big pillars right now of our culture, and they hate each other. They're at war with each other. Often, they're at war on my own soul. You know why? Because something that was straight has gone crooked. That's the problem. Something that was stray has gone crooked. [01:14:36] (25 seconds)  #FinishWhatYouStart

Like, I can spend all my time, like, working out, going to the gym, waxing my car, shopping for the right clothes, eating well, kale, quinoa soaked in coconut oil, mushroom coffee, goo goo goo root. I can spend all my time doing all that stuff that's that's just a bombardment today. But if every time my name is mentioned, people say, oh, that moron. What does it matter? That's what Solomon's saying. What does it matter? [00:41:56] (29 seconds)  #CryingCleanses

So the very first thing grandpa Solomon says is, how's your name? Because at this point in my life, I've earned my name. And one day, psalms did talk a lot about death, one day, my name will be chiseled into rock, and that rock will be put over my dead body, and nothing will change then. That's it. It's the name I got. So how's your name? [00:42:53] (29 seconds)  #TruthHeals

Man, how many half finished projects do we have around our house, in our garage? I had build a barn for all of my half finished projects. Like, I need someone to store all this stuff. I have a calculation. It's how many years have you been married, multiply by how many years you've lived in that house. The product of those two is the number of unfinished projects a man has. I've got a lot. Women, you don't get away either. You have that junk drawer that can't even close. Stuff full of half finished ideas. To finish is better. [01:09:26] (34 seconds)  #FinishIsBetter

Embrace it. And I love this little. For by sadness of face, verse three, the heart is made glad. I read this fantastic study on tears where they analyze the tears that you and I have. We get tears from getting a speck of dirt in our eye. We get tears from laughing too hard. And then you have grief tears where you are going through really, really deep sorrow and it's just agonizing. And what they found was they're all different. [00:51:54] (32 seconds)  #RespectThroughRebuke

That the tears you and I cry when we're really, really sad, they're actually packed full of, like, cortisol and all these harmful chemicals that actually damage the tissue of your heart. And what they found was people that cry well actually really let the tears flow. It cleanses their body of harmful chemicals that can actually damage your heart. That Solomon got it right right here. Sadness of the face, the hearts make glad. [00:52:26] (38 seconds)  #ListenToYourCircle

So Wednesday night, sat with I'm doing John Morris's memorial service. So after service, I sat with the family and we're talking about John Morris. It did not sound like advertisements. Because here's what advertisements. Advertisements tell you, this is life. Life is to eat good food and drive cool cars and wear fancy clothes and look a certain way and have a great body. Is that what you hear at a memorial service? Is that what they say when they talk about that person? Wow. She had great clothes. [00:48:10] (39 seconds)  #CharacterMatters

Instead, when there's kind of conflict or issue, here's what we do. We used to say, oh, it's fine. Oh, bro. Hey. Don't worry about it. Oh, it's all good, man. In reality, our heart is hurt, and we're bleeding out. A right done rebuke cauterizes the wound and actually heals us. And the reason why we carry around so many wounds and so much bitterness and so much clenched teeth and so much angst in our heart is the wounds have never been cauterized by the rebuke. [01:03:01] (33 seconds)  #CrownedWithDignity

Be a faithful person. You want a good name? Be a faithful person. Finish the things that you start. And someone puts it this way. Finishing is better than starting. Why is that? Why is finishing better than starting? Because starting is really easy. Finishing is much more difficult. We all have great ideas. We all have hey. Build a house. Pour the slab. Okay. Let's go. We're we're moving. Oh, you got a lot more work to do. Finishing is much harder than starting. [01:08:51] (36 seconds)  #RememberMortality

This is a mark of our respect for their dignity and weight as human beings. That's what Jesus is asking us to do in Luke chapter 17. This is what actually creates community. If you don't do this, then there's all these festering wounds and division, and that's what happens. You just have more and more wounded people and more and more division because it's never been cauterized. The wound's never been healed. So Solomon says, son, you want a good name? Receive a rebuke. [01:06:33] (38 seconds)  #DivineDiscontent