Skip to content Doing the Right Work: How to Avoid Practical Atheism Dec 2 · 30 min ...more
Doing the Right Work: How to Avoid Practical Atheism
December 2, 2025 · 30 min
Pastor John Mark tackles this topic through a powerful exploration of James 4:13-17, challenging us to move beyond being "practical atheists" who make plans without consulting God.
Series "Men's Breakfast" with John Mark Caton December 2, 2025 · 30 min · "Men's Breakfast" with John Mark Caton
Pastor John Mark tackles this topic through a powerful exploration of James 4:13-17, challenging us to move beyond being "practical atheists" who make plans without consulting God. ...more Show the full description Show less Pastor John Mark tackles this topic through a powerful exploration of James 4:13-17, challenging us to move beyond being "practical atheists" who make plans without consulting God.
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John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
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Living with Purpose: God's Plan vs. My Plan 0:02 Welcome to Men's Breakfast with John Mark Keaton. Join us as John Mark shares his insights with other men in his ministry rooted in the timeless truths of the gospel. Today's message will encourage you to0:14 inspire, inform, and invest in the lives of others. This is Men's Breakfast with your host, John Mark Caton.0:21 Back in James, and go to go to James chapter 4, And we have been talking over the last couple of weeks about doing the right thing the right way. And I'm fired up again just to talk about,0:33 you, man. Really, as we look to tomorrow and for you, many as you look to today, in your life, in your marriage, in your career, how should we look forward, to0:45 be who God wants us to be? And over the last couple of weeks, if you've missed them, you can go find them on the podcast. We started talking in this series doing the right work, the right way. We looked at God's Got0:56 Stuff for us to do. I've got some growing up that I need to do. I've got some stuff I need to learn. Justin Hillhouse taught a couple amazing lessons. I've got people who aren't like me that I don't like that I've got to1:08 deal with. That I want to do. I need to learn to tame my tongue. How many of you have done pretty well since then? How many of you struggle, right, with this? Our1:19 tongue, it's just amazing. As as James said, it's got deadly poison in it all the time. Then we talked about fighting and quarreling. And so today, we come to James chapter 4, and I want to talk to1:31 us about God's plan or my plan. You know, when I think about journeying forward, how am I going to live? And really, what is life really all about? If you look at James chapter 4 verse 13 to1:43 17, here's what it says. James chapter 4 verse 13 to 17. Here's what it says. He says, now listen, you who say today or tomorrow, we will go to this or that1:55 city, spend a year there, carry on business, make some money. He says, why do you not even know what will happen tomorrow? Why would you say that? What is your life? Now just listen2:07 to that phrase, what is your life? Alright? You're making all these plans. What is your life? He says, you are but a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. He says, instead, here's what we ought to2:19 say. If it is the Lord's will, we live and do this or that. As it is, instead, you boast and you're arrogant. You have arrogant schemes. All such2:30 boasting ultimately ends up being evil. If anyone then knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do that, it is sin for them. Man, as you2:42 leave here today, guys, what is a good thing that you know you need to do? What is something that you know you need to do? Is it a conversation? Is it to be kind to somebody?2:55 Is it to love someone? Is it to, reconcile with someone? What is the good that you need to do? Because here's the reality. If you don't do it, James, the3:06 brother of Jesus, little brother of Jesus said, it's sin. And here's here's what we also know just in the way we are going to break this huddle here in a few minutes, and go our separate ways. There are certain things3:18 that you need to do that are good, that I don't, because I'm not in that office. I'm not in that relationship. I'm not in that conversation. I'm not in that quarrel. I'm not in that strife. Right?3:30 And I think that's why James says, listen, we all have our own journey to make. We all have some place to go. And if there is good that we know we ought to do and we choose not to do it, for them it is3:42 sin. Leave here today, say, man, I am gonna do everything I can to do the good that God is calling me to do in my space, in my place, on my path, and in my way.3:54 But go back to that phrase. He goes, what is life? I got caught up with that what is life? And so I just googled. I said, you know, what is life? Let me give you a couple of people's answers. Hans4:05 Christian Andersen, that Danish author. Here's what he says, life is a fairy tale written by God's finger. What is life? He says life is a fairy tale4:17 that is written by God's finger. That's not bad. Right? Here's another 1, Robert Browning. Have any anybody ever heard of Robert Browning? English poet. He says, life is probation. Now that kind of4:29 feels right. And the earth is not the goal, but it's our starting point. So it's almost as if when we are here as followers of Christ, this is our probation, this is our4:41 starting point, but ultimately this isn't our goal. There's something higher, there's something bigger. Thomas Carlyle, the British historian, Thomas Carlyle said this about life. What is life? He says,4:53 life is a little gleam of time between the 2 eternities. Life is a gleam of time between the 2 eternities. That's that's kind of interesting that you think about5:04 eternity past, whenever God spoke everything into existence, when God existed, now life is this gleam of time, this little short space of time between5:16 the past, eternity past, and eternity future. And so we're sitting here in this moment, in this space, in what we call life, but the reality of it is it's just a5:28 gleam of time. It's almost as if the ray of the sunshine that as we look forward, man, that's ultimately life for the believer. Is eternal life5:40 is more than just a gleam of time. William Shakespeare, surely we've heard of him. Maybe this is 1 you deal with. He says, life is nothing more than a fairy tale told by an idiot, Full5:52 of sound and fury signifying nothing. Now, I don't know. That doesn't sound like a great life, but it sounds like 1 I've lived from time to time. Right? I mean, life Listen to this.6:03 Life is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying absolutely nothing. And so what is life? When you think about what is life, if I just said6:15 fill in the blank, what would you fill it in with? With? My life is or life is fill in the blank. What would you say? And6:27 James, the brother of Jesus, wants to answer that question for us and really tell us how we should live whatever light, whatever part, however long life is left for us. He says, here's how you should live. And6:39 now notice, as you go back, he says, some people live certain ways. He says, there are a lot of people that live like atheist or practical atheist or they at least don't acknowledge God. You said, where did you see that?6:51 Go back to verse, verse 13. He says, now listen you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that and spend a year there and carry on business and just make money. He says, some people just live life like7:03 God doesn't matter. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do that. Here's where I'm gonna go. Here's what I'm gonna do. Everything's gonna be fine. It doesn't have anything to do with whether God wants me to do this or not. And7:13 remember what the psalmist said in Psalm 14 verse 1. He said, the fool says in his heart, there is no God. The fool says in his heart, there7:25 is no God. Guys, let's not be Christian fools. Let's don't be men who are fools, who will come to church on Sunday or will come to Tuesday morning Bible7:36 study, but then the rest of the day and the rest of the week, we live like practical atheists control of everything and I control my own destiny. I control my own future. We make plans7:48 apart from God. And James says, don't be that way. Man, the psalmist says, a fool says that I can live my life my way and be happy, and things are gonna turn out8:00 well. James says, man, don't live your life as a practical atheist. You say practical atheist because my guess is there's no 1 in this room that is an actual atheist. There might be 1 and and and if8:11 you are, I'm glad you're here. I think there are more people maybe in this room that you live like an agnostic. You know, the difference between an atheist and an agnostic. Atheist says there is no good God.8:24 The Psalmist says you're a fool. The agnostic just says, you know, I'm not sure if there's a God. Right? I just struggle with understanding. I look around. I look at creation. I look at the universe,8:36 and I think, man, you know, there's gotta be something. There's gotta be a higher power up there somewhere. So that's what an agnostic is, but says, I'm just not sure.8:48 But as men of God, men of faith who have looked at the evidence and come to the conclusion, man, there is a God and his son Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross, buried in a8:59 tomb, rose again the third day, when I come to that conclusion, I am a Christian, but I know a lot of Christians who live as practical atheist. When9:11 they wake up in the morning, they don't console God. They don't say, hey, God. Give me your wisdom. Give me your will. Direct me in your path. Lead me to the right conversation. And the place. And we9:23 just ignore that. Man, and as you think about what does he say? Look at it in verse 13. James chapter 4 verse 13. He says, Now listen you who say What does a practical atheist look like? He says,9:35 listen you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make money. Man, that just means you're short sighted. You're not looking for eternity in9:47 the future. You're just living in the moment. And so as you think about being short sighted or a practical atheist, he tells us a lot. He says, they choose their own time. They think they can9:59 choose their own time. He says, you who say today or tomorrow. Act like you control your time. At the end of the day, what do we know? Man, scripture tells us10:11 that our days are numbered by God. But a practical atheist says, hey, today or tomorrow, I'm gonna do this. I don't need to consult God. I'm gonna be fine. But then10:23 James says, not only that, they choose their own location. So they'll go to this city or that. They choose their time. They say, hey, today or tomorrow, as if I control my time. They choose their location. Well, I'll go10:35 to this city or that city, and I'll journey down. He didn't stop there. He says, they choose their own duration. I'll stay there a year. No regard for God. No regard for10:46 anything. I'm gonna spend a year of my life there. And then he doesn't even stop there. He says, they choose their own enterprise. I'm gonna carry on some business over there. So did you get that? There there no regard10:58 for God. Now James is gonna give us the answer how we do it and the beautiful thing is you can still choose today and tomorrow. How many of you know that? You can still choose a city. You can still11:10 choose a business. You can still choose to carry on business. And notice this, they make money their goal. He says, and you say I'm gonna carry on business and make money. How many of you know making money11:22 is good? I don't know about you, but if I have a choice, just want you to know how spiritual your pastor is. Between making money and not making money, I'm making money. How many of11:34 you know that? I just want you if y'all thought I was so spiritual, right, that if I had a choice between making money and not making money, that I would choose not making money, you will be sorely disappointed. I'm11:45 choosing making money every time. But here's what James is not saying. He's not saying it's not good to live in the moment. He's saying it is good to live in the moment. He's not saying11:57 it's not good to plan because it is good to plan. He's not saying it's not good to say I'm gonna go to this city or that city. He's saying it is good to make a choice. He's not saying that making money12:08 or carrying on business or or making plans are not good. What he is saying is if we do it without consulting God, we're probably gonna miss God's ultimate12:20 will for us. I've done it. You've done it. Anybody ever gotten to the end of something that you look back and go, Man, I kinda think God probably has something better planned for me?12:32 I have. That man, I wish I would have prayed as much as the beginning when I started this thing as I prayed at the end when I'm begging God to put it back together. Am I the only dude that's ever prayed that12:44 prayer? Right? There have been a lot of times we get to the end of something and I say, God, I'm gonna really need you to clean this mess up. And I do think God's probably not the way I put him, but I think there are a12:55 lot of times God looks at me and says, you know, I wasn't even there when you made that mess. Why you want me to come in and clean it up? Right? James is saying, listen, man, especially you guys that are working,13:07 you young guys, you you guys that are in your middle age, that you're working, you're moving. Man, he is not saying don't plan. He says, man, focus. Live in the moment. Man, choose your place. Choose your13:18 space. Choose the office. Choose to carry on business, choose to be wildly successful, but do it not as a practical atheist, but listen to this, as a13:30 practicing Christian. So you can do those same things.13:42 Wildly successful, and do it as a faithful Christian. And when you get to the end, then you and God can, metaphorically speaking, hug each13:53 other. And say, God, thanks for blessing that. You are in it in the planning. You were in it in the success. You were in it all the way through.14:05 And guess what? When I went to that city, I was salt and light to the people I worked with. I was able to share my faith and point them in the right14:17 direction because it was all about God on the journey. And if you don't, Jesus told a story. Look at Luke chapter 12. We'll14:29 put it up on the screen. Many of you remember this story. Jesus was in a conversation with his followers and his people, about money. And he says, and if we14:41 do what James, the brother of Jesus, tells us to do, when he says, man, if you just waste your time, you focus all on me and live as a practical atheist, you look live like this guy. And so Jesus is kind of telling them14:52 talking to them about the importance of money. Here's what he said in Luke chapter 12. He says, and they told them this parable, the ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, what15:03 shall I do? I have no place to store all my crops. Then he said to them, this is what I'll do. I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I'll say15:15 to myself notice how many times he says myself, myself, myself. I'll say to myself, you have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink, and be merry.15:27 Look at verse 20. But God said to him, you fool. Guys, that's what we don't want to end up being. James, the brother of Jesus, is saying whatever you do,15:39 don't get to the end of your life and be a fool. Not just as it relates to salvation, but as it relates to the way15:51 you spend your moments. Matter of fact, we enjoy doing some foolish things here at16:03 Cottonwood Creek. But I will tell you, how many of you know there's a big difference between doing some foolish things for fun and being a fool at the end of your life.16:15 Good Lord. I don't want to get to the end of my life and look back and say I was a fool as it related to my family, as it related to my finances, as it related to my resources,16:27 as it relates to, man, the impact I can have on my community, my, those I come into contact with. Man, just thinking. But God said to him, you16:38 fool. This very night will be your life will be demanded of you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? Do you realize16:50 that every 1 of us will come to that moment in our life? Do you realize that every 1 of us will come to17:02 that moment in our life where it's this very night This very night. As you age, you probably think of it more and more, don't17:14 you? This very night. Man, I hope it's not. But if it is,17:26 would I be counted as a fool? Man, James, the brother of Jesus' men, we don't want to be fools when they get to the end of their life. If all of a sudden God gave17:38 you an hour to live, would you need to spend that last hour apologizing for not doing the right thing? Or would you be able to just look people in the eye and say, Man,17:50 I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. James, the brother of Jesus, is just modeling what Jesus told that parable about that rich man. He goes, all he cared about is his own stuff.18:02 He says, man, I've done so well and, you know, clearly he was a successful business person. He says, I've got so much stuff that I need to tear down my barns and build bigger barns. Why? Because I want it for18:14 myself. And tonight, he says, God said, you fool. Don't be that way. And I love what James says. He's just real honest. He says, some of you say today or tomorrow, we'll go to this city or that. We'll18:25 carry on some business and we'll make some money. Those are not necessarily bad things unless you're living them for yourselves and you're not practicing your18:37 faith. Now just jump down. He says, you can live a significant life without really understanding it. Notice verse 14, back to James chapter 4 verse 14. He says, Why do you not18:49 even know why why you don't even know? He says, Don't you say today or tomorrow? He says, Why you don't even know what will happen tomorrow? He says, What is your life? He says, You are but a mist that appears for a18:59 little while and then vanishes. We understand that morning dew, that morning mist. Right? You ever been been in a place in a city or whatever? You see it here from time to time. You have that19:11 morning fog and then by noon, it's all burned off. He goes, man, that's kind of like us. That's that's kind of like us. Or perhaps this way, here's what the psalmist said. Psalm 102 verse19:23 11. He says, my days are like the evening shadow. I wither away like the grass. Now, that evening shadow, anybody ever been hunting? It's the deer hunting19:35 season. I love to sit out there in the field and you see that evening shadow. It just begins to walk across the field. And then what happens? It gets longer and longer19:47 and longer and longer. And then what happens? The shadow just goes away. Why? Because the sun sets. He says, at the end of the day, he says, our lives are like19:59 that, the psalmist says, is our shadow gets longer and longer and longer and longer and more significant, and then all of a sudden it just goes away. He says, man, we're like the grass that20:11 withers away. You say, pastor, this sounds pretty discouraging. No. No. It's not. Because James doesn't leave us that way. Look at verse 15. He says, instead of being that way, there's a better20:22 way. Instead of living your life like a practical atheist, let's live it like a practicing Christian. He says, here's how you do that. He says, instead you ought to say, if it is the Lord's will,20:34 we will live and do this or do that. See, there's just 1 twist. Man, just to constantly wake up with the opportunity to say, God, you know, God, if it's your will, here's my plan20:46 today. God, if it's your will, I want to be a better husband. If it's your will, I want to walk into the office. I want to make some calls. I want to go to this city or that city. And if I go to this city and that city20:56 and I work there for a year or so, God, I want you to bless me in that space and God is blessing me. Here's what I want you to do. Make me wildly successful, not so I can tear down my barns and build bigger21:08 ones, but so I can bless other people. Does that make sense? See, he's not saying don't work hard. He's not saying don't make plans. He's not saying don't focus on today and21:20 tomorrow. What he is saying is man, when you wake up in the morning, we need to look to God and say, God, man, whatever I have today, I give it to you. Whatever I do today,21:32 I give it to you. And however you bless me God, I'm not gonna use it on me. I'm gonna use it on my community. I'm gonna use it on my family. I'm gonna use it on others. I'm gonna I'm gonna bless my employees. And so I21:44 love what James is saying. He's not saying, leave here with some sort of meandering, unfocused life. He's saying, as a matter of fact,21:56 live it way more focused than you ever have before. By saying this, God, go to work, as I spend time with my family, as I hang out with the guys,22:08 whatever it is, I'm going to give you the glory. If you give me another day, I'm going to use it for your glory, God. If you give me another week, I'm going to use it for your glory, God. If you give me another month,22:17 I'm going to use for your glory, God. If you give me another year, God, I'm gonna use it for your glory. If you bless me in my business, I'm gonna use it for your glory. That's exactly what Now look at it again. Instead,22:28 you ought to say, if it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that. Now, the spectrum that they live in the if for22:40 far too long, right? Anybody know anybody like that that it's just kind of they're they're so worried about missing God's will that they almost do nothing.22:51 Man, I don't know whether God wants me to go to work for this company or that company. I don't know if God wants me to do this or if God wants me to do that. And I just wanna tell them sometimes just because I'm an23:02 impatient pastor. I'm saying, here's what I know. God wants you to do 1 of them. Right? I don't care which company you work for. I really don't think God does either, but he wants you to work for 1 of them. How many of23:13 you know that? That's really pretty clear in scripture. You know, just just take a job. If it's the wrong 1, change jobs, right? And you say, man, you mean pastor, I can sit here and pray and23:24 there can be a little if in my life and I still make a decision? Absolutely. Guys, we live with ifs all the time. How many of you know that? See, I want you to know, God is not about that's part of23:36 faith. See, embracing the if in your life is a part of living a faithful life. I will 100 percent guarantee you that23:48 your pastor lives with a lot of ifs in his life. Man, y'all don't hear me and you won't hear me much. You'll hear me say this a lot. Very rarely do I feel like24:00 Moses walking down from the mountain where God has etched the plans in stone for me. I want you to know that. I I it would be real simple if God always did that for me.24:12 But there are times that God will put before our staff and our church, an option a and an option b, and they both look pretty good and they both also have some negatives involved. And what do24:24 we do in those moments? Man, we get as right as we can with God. We work as hard as we can with God. Then we live out Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5 and 6. Put it up there, Justin. Trust in the Lord with all your24:36 heart. Lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to him and he will make your paths straight. So when you're in24:48 1 of those spaces in life where you're living in an if in life, just do that. Just say, God, at the end of the day, today or tomorrow, I wanna honor you. God, at the end of the day, whether25:00 it's this city or that city, I wanna honor you. God, whether it's whatever business I'm in, whether it's this business or that business, this company, that company, I wanna honor you.25:12 God, whether I make money or don't make money, God, let's be honest. I wanna make money. But if I don't make money, I still wanna honor you. That's embracing the if of life. And then once I embrace the if in life, and I25:24 made it very clear to God and everybody around me that in this moment, I want to honor God. Then I will tell you guys we can absolutely25:37 embrace Proverbs 3 5 and 6. That here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna trust in the Lord with all my heart. You know what? God didn't bring full clarity to everything I'm doing. There's an if in this decision in my life.25:48 And guys, okay, embrace the if in your life. And you can be acknowledged you can acknowledge to other people. Man, that that'll if you will just from time to25:59 time acknowledge there is an if in the choice that you made, it really takes all the pressure off of you. That, you know, you know, I had this decision or that decision. Here's what I knew. I26:11 know I needed to make 1 of those 2 decisions. And the worst thing I could do is not making a decision because even not making a decision is making a decision. Right? So I embrace26:23 the F. I said, God, today or tomorrow I'm gonna follow you. God, whatever business, this city or that city, whatever I do, whether I make money or don't make money, I'm gonna honor you. Then it says, I'm gonna trust the26:34 Lord with all my heart. God, you know my heart. My heart is to honor you and glorify you with everything that I do. And I'm not gonna lean to my own understanding. God, I hadn't figured it out, but you've got it26:45 all figured out. He says, in all my ways, I'm gonna submit to him. And I love that last phrase, and he will make your path straight. See,26:58 once I do all those other things, it's not my job to make my path straight. It's God's job. Did you notice that? I truly27:10 believe that if we will faithfully just say yes to God in whatever we do, that even if I miss a little, but my heart is right, God will bring everything back into alignment.27:22 Guys, maybe there's some of you that that if you're honest, you've lived as a practical atheist for a long time. Can I just encourage you27:34 to embrace those words of James instead? You ought to say, Lord, if it is your will, I will do this or that.27:48 So maybe some of you today that that you've thought about that for a long, long time. But today is gonna be the first day that you truly embrace it. God, if it's your28:00 will, I'm gonna do this, or I'm gonna do that. God, if it's your will today and tomorrow, I'm gonna honor you. Lord, if it's your will, whether it's this28:12 city or that city, I'm gonna trust you. God, if it's your will, whether I make money or don't make money, my ultimate goal in life is not to tear down the28:23 barns and build bigger ones for me. Because the last thing I wanna do is get to the end of my life with my last breath and hear God whisper in my ear28:35 and say, you fool. You fool. I gave you kids. I gave you family. I gave you a church.28:48 I gave you my son and you fool. You wasted it. My encouragement to us as men at Cottonwood Creek,29:00 we can be foolish from time to time and y'all will y'all will join me in that. I can see it in your eyes. But at the end of our days, we're not gonna be a bunch of fools.29:13 Thank you for tuning in to Men's Breakfast with John Mark Caton. For more information on John Mark's ministry and resources, please visit john mark caton dot com. Until next time, remember, we're on29:25 this journey of life together.In this video 0:00 Living with Purpose: God's Plan vs. My Plan
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