Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 26, 2008
David Cho as a young man was a Buddhist. He was pretty devout but his life was hopeless. He lived in abject poverty in Korea and as happens a lot with people in those situations he was dying. In his case, he was dying of tuberculosis. TB often runs rampant in the slums.
He had heard that the God
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 26, 2008
based on 3 ratings
| 1,571 views
I was reminded of two young ministry students down south who stopped at a rickety old shack to “share the gospel.” There must have been a dozen kids running around apparently doing whatever they wanted. It was chaos. The house was falling apart.
A woman completely and totally disheveled answered
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 19, 2008
based on 1 rating
| 3,019 views
If you really want to discern what direction God is leading you then get better acquainted with God. Connect with Him on a consistent basis.
Forty years ago a Philadelphia congregation watched as three 9-year-old boys were baptized and joined the church. Not long after, unable to continue with its
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 19, 2008
based on 2 ratings
| 1,068 views
I love the story about the cowboy who was riding along and came upon an Indian lying flat on the ground with his ear pressed to the earth. The Indian said, “Wait. Wagon. Two miles off. Drawn by two horses. One black. The other gray. Four people on board: man in a red flannel shirt, his wife, and
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 19, 2008
based on 1 rating
| 1,370 views
As a boy, Larry Crabb stuttered but now he is a popular speaker and psychologist. He recalls one time as a young man when felt pressure by expectation to pray out loud because that was the tradition of his church. In a terribly confused prayer, he recalled “thanking the Father for hanging on the
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 18, 2008
The Celtic was of spirituality was amazingly holistic. It did not reflect the dualism of the modern age. The Irish such as Patrick understood that the earth was the Lord’s. They saw God’s hand at work in nature (in their environment). They saw their work on earth to be part of their spiritual
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 18, 2008
Another result is that we pervert our assignment to care for the earth. Humans have misunderstood the use of having dominion over the earth as a license to do what we want with the earth. After all, since it is all going to be incinerated (rather than purified by a refiner’s fire), then let’s use
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 12, 2008
Interactive Worship (praying for one another)
At this point a chair is brought out called the mercy seat and people take turns sitting in the chair as others gather around to "lay hands on" and pray for.
(sorry this is not really a
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 11, 2008
based on 3 ratings
| 2,765 views
I am reminded of the guy who shows up at heaven’s gates. Peter asks him, “Did you do anything self-sacrificing or noteworthy to show that you loved God and loved others.”
“Well,” he replied, “There was one thing. I saw an old lady that was being taunted and ridiculed and physically abused by a
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 11, 2008
There is story that probably was not real but like any parable simply conveys a deeper sense of truth (stories often do that which is probably why Jesus used so many stories to talk about the kingdom). In this story an elderly woman has learned that she has an inoperable, terminal illness. She
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 11, 2008
There is an old story of a pastor that plays hooky from church and goes to the golf course. Peter points out the pastor’s sin and God tells Peter that He will punish the pastor. The pastor proceeds to play the greatest game of his life. His drives were long and straight. His putts were nothing but
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 4, 2008
based on 1 rating
| 1,541 views
Our lives are filled with signs and symbols. It has been estimated that we observe over 15,000 images a day. I believe more and more that we need Spiritual signs to help us negotiate this world more so than ever. Baptism is one such important sign. It is sign
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 4, 2008
based on 2 ratings
| 3,073 views
As a result of poor planning, Dennis from Kay, Texas, needed some same-day dry cleaning before his trip. He went to a store that said, “One-Hour Dry Cleaners.” “I need this in an hour,” he told the clerk.
She said, “I can’t get this back to you until Thursday.”
“I thought you did dry cleaning in
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 4, 2008
based on 2 ratings
| 2,194 views
Shane Claiborne tells about how his little community of faith received some money. First, they won a lawsuit against the police of New York for misconduct. Shane with several hundred people had protested the arresting of people for sleeiping outside by sleeping outside. They were arrested, charged,
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Scripture:
Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jan 14, 2008
When Shane Claiborne was in Baghdad during the initial stages of the Iraqi war as a civilian and peacemaker, he attended a birthday party for a girl whose family he had become friends with. She was turning 13. (I told the story last week of Shane’s harrowing escape from Baghdad in the midst of
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jan 14, 2008
based on 2 ratings
| 2,071 views
Before I read as this is a new year, I wanted to share with you last year’s winners for the wackiest label contest. These are labels that seem the most ridiculous sponsored by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch. I’ll start with some of the honorable mentions.
Cyndi LaMonde of Traverse City submitted a
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jan 7, 2008
In Irresistible Revolution Shane Claiborne tells about his decision to go to Iraq before the war began. He counted the cost finally deciding to go Iraq to stop terrorism and the war in order to love our enemies. After spending much time in Baghdad in the midst of the bombing, he and his friends
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jan 7, 2008
When we came home on New Year’s Day, the weather got pretty bad east of Cleveland. We planned to stop and did stop at exit 223 for gas, bathroom, etc. And it was pretty bad. We had been going the last 25 miles at about 40 mph. And we were moving faster than a lot of folks. We saw several cars in
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jan 7, 2008
The problem is there are times when we don’t feel like we are a new creation. Like the group of women that met for an afternoon of lunch and shopping. At lunch they began to share some of the things in their lives. Superficially at first but then they moved into more intimate topics and details. It
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Denomination:
Church Of God