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Bill Hybels Recalls A Time When Dr. Gilbert ... PRO
Contributed by Matthew Rogers on Feb 21, 2002 (message contributor)
Bill Hybels recalls a time when Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian was speaking for a leadership conference at Willow Creek Community Church. He writes about it like this… “Dr. Bilezikian said there’s life-changing fellowship in biblically functioning community. That was a far cry from the childhood experience of a lot of his audience! The only kind of fellowship that many of his listeners had witnessed revolved around the fifteen or twenty minutes after the service when the men would stand around the church patio and ask each other superficial questions.
‘So how’s it going at work Jake,’ one of them would ask.
‘Fine, Phil. Say, you driving a new pickup?’
‘Used,’ Phil would reply. ‘What do you have going this week?’
‘Not much.’
‘Well, great fellowshipping with you, Jake.’
‘Same here.’
That was about it. They’d (find their wives who) were having similar conversations, and go home until next week.
But the Bible says true fellowship has the power to revolutionize lives. Masks come off, conversations get deep, hearts get vulnerable, lives are shared, accountability is invited, and tenderness flows. People really do become like brothers and sisters. They shoulder each other’s burdens - and unfortunately, that’s something that few of the people in that audience had experienced while growing up in church.
In many churches it just didn’t seem legal to tell anyone you were having a problem. Families that sat in the same pew for years would suddenly disappear, because the husband and wife were in turmoil over marriage problems. Instead of coming to the church for help and prayer and support, they fled the other way, because they didn’t feel the freedom to say, ‘We love Jesus, but we’re not doing very well. Our lives feel like they’re unraveling. We need some help!’
The implicit understanding was that you shouldn’t have a problem, and if you did you’d better not talk about it around the church.
I learned that lesson well. When I got old enough to stand on the church patio after services,...
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A Wife Went With Her Friend To The Police Station ... PRO
Contributed by Bo Dunford on Apr 15, 2005
A wife went with her friend to the police station to report that her husband was missing! * When the policeman asked for a description, she said, “He’s 6 foot 2, has deep blue eyes, dark wavy hair, athletic build, well-groomed and sharply dressed, weighs 185 pounds .......” * “He’s ...read more
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Citation: N.t. Wright In For All God's Worth. ...
Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Feb 27, 2004
Citation: N.T. Wright in For All God’s Worth. Christianity Today, Vol. 41, no. 12.] We live in a world full of people struggling to be, or at least to appear, strong in order not to be weak; and we ...read more
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Several Years Ago At A Promise Keepers ...
Contributed by Timothy Smith on Sep 3, 2005
Several years ago at a Promise Keepers conference, Dennis Rainey placed animal traps on stage. They were big ones too. Bear traps and even an African safari large animal trap that took two men to open. There were a dozen or so traps, and he set or opened them all. Then Dennis Rainey had a father ...read more
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Consider This Short Poem Entitled "Power Of ... PRO
Contributed by Chris Hodges on Jul 28, 2003
Consider this short poem entitled “Power of Words:” A careless word may kindle strife A cruel word may wreak a life A bitter word may hate instill A brutal word may smite and kill A gracious word may smooth the way A joyous word ...read more
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The Assyrians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, ... PRO
Contributed by Evie Megginson on Feb 2, 2005
The Assyrians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans had their many gods—gods of war, gods of industry, gods of agriculture, gods of cities, gods of towns, and various others. But in all of paganism’s galaxy of gods, there never was one called “god of hope.” That is ...read more
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