Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Dec 8, 2007
A young man who had been invited to a dinner given by the South African statesman John Cecil Rhodes arrived by train and had to go directly to Rhodes’s house in his travel-stained clothes. To the young guest’s horror, he found a room full of people in full evening dress. Soon Rhodes appeared,
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Dec 8, 2007
William Carey is considered the father of modern missions. The man who spent his early years as a cobbler became one of the greatest linguists the church has ever known. It’s reported that Carey translated parts of the Bible into as many as 24 Indian languages. When he first went to India, some
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Dec 1, 2007
In A.D. 398 John Chrysostom was appointed patriarch of Constantinople, where his zeal for reform antagonized the Empress Eudoxia, who had him exiled. Allowed to return after a short time, Chrysostom again infuriated Eudoxia, who sent him away again. How did Chrysostom respond to such persecution?
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Dec 1, 2007
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When Hugh Latimer was preaching one day in the presence of King Henry VIII, he reports that he said to himself, “Latimer! Latimer! Remember that the king is here; be careful what you say.” Then he said to himself, “Latimer! Latimer! Remember that the King of kings is here; be careful what you do
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Dec 1, 2007
The appeal to God’s sovereignty is not to foster hope that we will be spared all difficulty, but to foster confidence that when those difficulties come we are not abandoned. Things have not fallen out of hand. We can still rely on the God who has permitted us to face these things to supply us with
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Nov 24, 2007
We allow our daily concerns to turn into anxiety and therefore sin when our thoughts become focused on changing the future instead of doing our best to handle our present circumstances. Such thoughts are unproductive. They end up controlling us—though it should be the other way around—and cause us
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Nov 24, 2007
Someone has said, “Worry is a thin stream of fear that trickles through the mind, which, if encouraged, will cut a channel so wide
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Nov 24, 2007
Taking care of the body has always been a common obsession. Even when we are not starving or thirsty or naked, we still give an inordinate amount of attention to our bodies. We pamper the body, decorate it, exercise it, protect it from disease and pain, build it up, slender it down, drape it with
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Nov 10, 2007
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ILLUSTRATION : Unity: Members of the body of Christ are truly dependant on one another.
Three Indonesian mothers, Eti , Rebekka, and Ratna, were imprisoned two years ago for teaching Muslim children in their Sunday School.
Prison was shocking, discouraging and very hard at first. One of the women
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Nov 10, 2007
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ILLUSTRATION : Martyrdom of Zewar, Christian taxi driver in Northern Iraq.
After hostilities ceased in the Iraq war on the 9th of April 2003, an Open Doors team went to the country two weeks later. They visited church leaders primarily to tell them that we were praying for them, and were ready to
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Nov 10, 2007
based on 3 ratings
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ILLUSTRATION: “No Use but Useful”
Elderly Sister Ann in China was born into quite an educated family. She had four brothers who all became doctors. She, however, was not even taught how to read and write. She began to train as a nurse, but her father fell ill and she was required to nurse him.
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Nov 3, 2007
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John MacArthur noted “Perhaps the best way to illustrate the idea of ceaseless prayer is to compare it to breathing. Inhaling and exhaling is so natural for us that it often seems totally involuntary; it’s actually harder to hold your breath than to breathe. The same should be true of prayer for
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Nov 3, 2007
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The 100-Year Prayer Meeting
In 1722, Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf, troubled by the suffering of Christian exiles from Bohemia and Moravia, allowed them to establish a community on his estate in Germany. The center became known as Herrnhut, meaning “Under the Lord’s Watch.” It grew quickly,
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Nov 3, 2007
based on 3 ratings
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A letter written by seminary professor, Dr. R. Scott Clark who teaches at Westminster Seminary California:
“Ironically, I warned the students in the doctrine of God class Wednesday and Thursday of last week that they must preach and teach the doctrine of providence to their people before their
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Oct 20, 2007
Rico Tice makes an interesting observation in his book, Christianity Explored: “I didn’t have a particularly religious upbringing myself. In fact, my experience of Christianity was limited to a few dull sermons, slightly spooky people in strange garments, hanging about in dank halls and religious
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Oct 20, 2007
There is a story of the Congregational Pastor Henry Ward Beecher who was a great Congregational pastor of the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York for several years. He was one of the greatest preachers of the 19th Century. People would travel for hundreds of miles just to hear him speak. Henry
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Oct 20, 2007
About nine years ago, they found that their worship service had lost its spark Senior minister Mike Pilavachi says, “We seemed to be going through the motions, but I noticed that although we were singing the songs, our hearts, were far from Him.” They became too focused on what they liked about the
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Oct 13, 2007
based on 3 ratings
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The Purpose of the Law
Evangelist Fred Brown used three images to describe the purpose of the law. First he likened it to a dentist’s little mirror, which he sticks into the patient’s mouth. With the mirror he can detect any cavities. But he doesn’t drill with it or use it to pull teeth. It can
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Oct 13, 2007
Law, fulfilled in Christ
The Little Flower
A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers ‘the Little Flower’ because he was only five foot four and always wore a
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Oct 13, 2007
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The Ten Commandments in Verse
Above all else love God alone;
Bow down to neither wood nor stone.
God’s name refuse to take in vain;
The Sabbath rest with care maintain.
Respect your parents all your days;
Hold sacred human life always.
Be loyal to your chosen mate;
Steal nothing,
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