Is a Christian denied a pleasurable life? Are we relegated to lives of drab monotony and duty? On the contrary, we are created to experience pleasure.

We face the same kind of pressures and stress that Timothy faced, with perilous times ahead of us, threatening the existence of the nation and the church.

Solomon already lived the wild side, considered it deeply over, and reported on it. If we will listen to what he says, we can avoid all kinds of heartache.

Mr. Average Briton would laugh if accused of being an alcoholic, yet he seems incapable of making it through a day without quaffing a couple of pints of beer.

The only kind of pleasure that fulfills comes from applying God's Holy Spirit in serving others. We must seek those permanent things which are from above.

Ecclesiastes 1-6 contains an indictment of materialism. The only lasting fulfillment comes from establishing and maintaining a relationship with God.

The Baby Boomer generation has taken on characteristics of narcissism, self-absorption, and excessive self-centeredness, leading to rampant materialism.

Few human faults can hinder Christian overcoming like self-indulgence. If we can learn to control our desires, we are a long way toward living a godly life.

Solomon ruminates about life being seemingly futile and purposeless. A relationship with God is the only factor which prevents life from becoming useless.

A major key to our spiritual survival is the control, regulation, and re-direction of our appetites from what is not good for us to what is good for us.

God emphasizes Ecclesiastes during the Feast of Tabernacles to show the result of doing whatever our human heart leads us to do. The physical cannot satisfy.

'Affluenza' describes the bloated insensitivity caused by trying to keep up with the Joneses, the stress caused by doggedly pursuing the American Dream.

The favorite-son status of Israel was conditioned on accepting the terms of the covenant with God. Israel, then and now, has placed her trust in material things.