Sojourning Under the Sun: Sabbath Suffering (Luke 14:25-35)

Christ uses very strong language regarding our Christian life.  He tells us that we are to actually hate our families.  Is this a contradiction of the 5th commandment?  I thought that we were to honor our parents?  I thought that we were to love our Lord as first priority and love our neighbor as ourselves?  How can Christ command us to hate our families?

New Wisdom or Shouting Louder? (Job 15:1-35)

The book Job progresses into the second cycle of speeches.  Job and the counselors have had a few interactions regarding Job’s trial.  You would hope that they would start to think about this life and suffering in light of the Gospel rather than whether or not Job is righteous enough for God to love him.  So, as we start the second cycle do they actually start talking about a cross shaped logic/wisdom or do they just shout louder? 

Wisdom in Strange Places (Ecclesiastes 9:13-18)

One would think that if they were saved from a dire consequence the amount of gratitude would be overwhelming.  Now, if our house was in danger of being destroyed you would think that we would be consumed with joy if someone saved it.  What if we liked our town and someone saved it?  We would probably want to have a parade and name a day after the individual who saved it all.  However, there is in instance where that did not happen.  Why was someone so significant forgotten?  What does such forgetting have to do with wisdom?