Contributed by Steve Smith on Jan 23, 2010
A good example to this though is our sign project. We know that based on our regular offerings that we could not afford the gorgeous sign out front. But we also know that in order for God to be able to change the hearts of others, we must 1st get them into church. The sign gives us a means to
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Contributed by Steve Smith on Jan 25, 2009
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READ THE INSTRUCTIONS
Debbie's laptop broke several months ago, causing some frustration. We couldn't afford right now to put it in the shop, so we decided to attempt repair. We found a hard drive for really a great price, so we purchased and installed it into the drive bay.
Suppose I failed to
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Contributed by Steve Smith on Oct 14, 2008
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Film: The Green Mile
Tom Hanks – Paul Edgecomb; Michael Duncan – John Coffey
Coffey had the ability to reach inside and remove one's sickness. Hanks had a kidney infection/stone. Coffee reached out and touched him and was able to literally take on that sickness and remove it from Hanks.
The
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Contributed by Steve Smith on Dec 15, 2007
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ILLUSTRATION: “Outragious Claims” by Lee Stroble
A Story from Maggie
“Do you understand that you represent Jesus to me? Do you know, do you understand that when you treat me with gentleness, it raises the question in my mind that maybe He is gentle, too. Maybe He isn’t someone who laughs when I am
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Contributed by Steve Smith on Oct 8, 2007
On December 2001, the "Leaning Tower of Pisa" was finally reopened to the public, after having been closed for almost a dozen years. During that time, engineers completed a 25 million dollar renovation project designed to stabilize the tower. They removed 110 tons of dirt, and reduced its famous
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Baptist
Contributed by Steve Smith on Aug 28, 2007
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ILLUSTRATION: FORGIVING MY ENEMY
Ronald Reagan’s attitude after the 1982 attempt on his life made an impression on his daughter, Patti Davis who shared this about that time:
“The following day my father said he knew his physical healing was directly dependent on his ability to forgive John
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Baptist
Contributed by Steve Smith on Aug 28, 2007
Ron McClung is a former pastor of 33 years and wrote these words:
“God sees the dream in our hearts. People all around us have dreams of being better than they are, of doing better and climbing higher. Yet, sometimes we don’t recognize the dreams because we don’t see them clearly as God does.
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Baptist
Contributed by Steve Smith on Jul 16, 2007
"Worry is the warning light that God is really not first in my life at this
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Contributed by Steve Smith on Jul 16, 2007
Graham Scroggie - "Pray when you feel like it, pray when you don’t feel like it,
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Contributed by Steve Smith on Jul 16, 2007
POEM: DON’T QUIT
When things go wrong as they sometime will,
when the road your trudging seems all up hill,
When funds are low and debts are high,
and you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit
rest if you must but please don’t quit.
Life is queer with it’s twist
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Baptist
Contributed by Steve Smith on Jul 16, 2007
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ILLUSTRATION: BY LIFE OR BY DEATH
John Piper, in his book, “Future Grace”, reprinted a letter by Carl Lundquist, former president of Bethel College and Seminary. In 1988, the doctors told him he had a rare form of cancer which invaded the skin over his entire body and ended his life three years
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Contributed by Steve Smith on Jul 16, 2007
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ILL: The Heart of Worship
There’s a recent song that was written by a young man who lead the worship at church. He was an extremely talented singer, but the preacher there took him aside and told him that he could not lead the singing at church until things changed because he saw that he was more
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Baptist
Contributed by Steve Smith on Apr 4, 2007
ILL: THE TRIANGLE OF MINISTRY
If you picture a triangle – at the top is Jesus because we know “He is the way, the truth and the life.” At the bottom of the triangle are the different members of the body that God has uniquely placed here.
In the middle is the Holy Spirit. (READ JOHN 14.26)
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Contributed by Steve Smith on Feb 26, 2007
Hudson Taylor says it this way: “The branch of the vine does not worry, and toil, and rush here to seek for sunshine, and there to find rain. No; it rests in union and communion with the vine; At just the right time, and in the
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Contributed by Steve Smith on Feb 26, 2007
S.D. Gordon tells of a spring storm that broke a large limb on his cherry tree. Although it hung by a very small strand, to his surprise the blossoms came anyway. Later some fruit began to grow as it did on the other branches.
He noticed, however, that only those in full contact with the tree
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Baptist
Contributed by Steve Smith on Jan 6, 2007
I read one time about how shipbuilders back in the days of sailboats would prepare the masts for their ships. They would go to the forest and find an appropriate tree, then they would clear out all the surrounding trees and leave that one standing, leaving it exposed to the wind and storms.
As the
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Baptist
Contributed by Steve Smith on Jan 6, 2007
"We were on shipboard," relates a captain’s wife, "lying on side from storm in a Southern harbor. We were obliged, first to make our way ashore. The waves were rolling heavily. I became frightened at the thought of attempting it, when one came to me, saying, ’Do not be afraid: I will take care of
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Baptist
Contributed by Steve Smith on Dec 23, 2006
My wife Debbie, told all the family that instead of giving her a Christmas gift this year that she would prefer that we take whatever amount of money we were going to spend on her and spend it on someone in the hospital or the nursing home.
In fact, every Christmas Day, she and the kids bake up
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Baptist
Contributed by Steve Smith on Dec 23, 2006
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Let me close with an excerpt from Sharon Jaynes’ book, “Celebrating a Christ-centered Christmas”:
An African boy listened carefully as his teacher explained why Christians give presents to each other on Christmas day. "The gift is an expression of our joy over the birth of Jesus and our friendship
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