Sermon Central
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The Brooklyn Bridge Scam
Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Nov 13, 2022 (message contributor)
The greatest con artist in American history was George C. Parker. After the Brooklyn Bridge opened in NYC in 1883, George C. Parker saw a tourist admiring it, so he decided to try selling it to him. It was so easy, he decided to sell it again. Over a period of years he averaged selling the Brooklyn Bridge twice a week to unsuspecting tourists. He sold it for as little as $50 and for as much as $50,000. He convinced the buyers they could make a fortune charging a toll. He would produce official looking papers to sign the deal.
On many occasions police had to stop the “new owners” from erecting toll booths on “their bridge.” Parker was so successful that he branched out to sell Madison Square Garden and Grant’s Tomb as well (he posed as Grant’s grandson). Parker was arrested for fraud three times and in 1928 was sentenced to life in prison. He was sent to Sing-Sing where he died, but not before selling the bridge again to at least two other prisoners and a prison guard!
You wonder how people could be so gullible. Today, people are still falling for internet and telephone scams. But the most dangerous scam of all is to reject the work of Jesus on the cross and replace it with keeping rules and observing rituals.
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You see, I understand what it’s like to be hooked on prescription pain killers and muscle relaxers. I know what it’s like to wake up drunk in a ditch, laying in your own vomit and not remember how you got there. I know what it’s like to pass out in the middle of the night in a graveyard, ...read more
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It Is In The Hours Of Loneliness That God Does ...
Contributed by Philip Harrelson on Feb 8, 2007
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Child-Training PRO
Contributed by Herman Abrahams on Oct 2, 2004
PROVERBS 22:6 “The Hebrew word for train (h\aµnak_) means to dedicate…. H\aµnak_ seems to include the idea of setting aside, narrowing, or hedging in. The word is sometimes used in the sense of “start.” Child-training involves “narrowing” a child’s conduct away from evil and toward godliness and ...read more
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Do We Know The Pessimist's Creed?
Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Feb 9, 2007
DO WE KNOW THE PESSIMIST’S CREED? THINK, IF THE PESSIMIST HAD A CREED WHAT WOULD IT BE? ALL BUT ME AND THEE! THE PESSIMIST CREED! By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Why rejoice in sunshine? It will just turn to dark clouds and much rain! Besides that, the sunshine can hurt your eyes, More ...read more
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Hans Christian Andersen's Tale Of "The Ugly ... PRO
Contributed by Bruce Willis on Dec 29, 2006
Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of “The Ugly Duckling” illustrates the truth that what you know and believe to be truth determines your behavior. Although hatched in the same nest as the other eggs, this “duckling” looked different. He was big and ugly, not soft and yellow like the other ...read more
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