According to the US Census Bureau, almost 30 percent of the people living within five miles of our church do not have the ability to paint their own home. If population projections are correct, that number will grow to nearly 35 percent by 2011. These folks are not impoverished or disabled, yet
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Denomination:
Church Of God
What if we had entered this sanctuary this morning to find it filled with cigarette smoke? Yet we fill God’s house with it! What if you found a spittoon ate the end of each pew? Yet God’s house is filled with tobacco juice every time we put just pinch between the teeth and gum. What if every
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Nov 5, 2007
. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke prophetically calling America to right the wrongs of racial discrimination.
At one point after a defining court victory, Dr. King spoke with the president about enacting legislation to protect the civil rights of people of color. The president sided with Dr. King
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Nov 5, 2007
God spoke to me recently through a homeless guy I know. This man is a full-blown practicing alcoholic. Does he live out the Shema of Jesus? No. Not even close. But he is pretty intelligent although not very wise (except he does exhibit occasional profound insight). When he is sober and cleaned up,
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Oct 29, 2007
We live in a safety first culture. When I was a kid, we didn’t wear helmets when riding our bikes except on the BMX track. I turned out ok. Today we wear seatbelts, have car seats, and heaven forbid that the kids might actually get to ride in the back of a pick up truck. Not only that but cars now
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Oct 29, 2007
based on 1 rating
| 1,295 views
But loving is hard. The way is narrow. Not many really love the way Jesus does. Even in churches. We are more consumers than lovers. We are more takers than givers. I’ve poured into people and given and given as I know many of you have. I’ve poured into groups of people in this way. And they keep
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Oct 29, 2007
It is a narrow way. It is a difficult road. We have to leave much behind: our wants, our needs, our baggage, and our misconceptions. One time when we were first married, Kendra and I planned a trip to Cedar Point. I like to save money so we stayed in a hotel about twenty minutes from the point. It
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Scripture:
Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Oct 15, 2007
There is a guy named Shane Claiborne who sees this Shema of Jesus to do to others as a radical call to a radical way of living. When he was in college at Eastern University near Philly, the newspaper had a headline about some homeless families that were being evicted from an old, abandoned
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Oct 15, 2007
Two men were walking along discussing God, eternity, and judgment. One of them stops and says, “You know, there is a question I’d like to ask God.”
“What question?” his friend responds.
“How could you let all the evil and despair and injustice occur in this world?”
“Yeah, it doesn’t make sense!”
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Oct 8, 2007
When we give good gifts, we think of Christmas. There is a lady that my Dad knows who literally spends well over $500 on her child (that is one child) for Christmas. She doesn’t make a lot of money. She is an hourly employee in a service industry job. Translation: She makes at best a little of
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Oct 8, 2007
And since we work hard and live so affluently as part of the American Empire, when prices rise or we lose our jobs or another company makes a “run for the border” or gas prices hit $3.00 a gallon, most of us don’t consider God. He may be a peripheral idea. Out here on the edges of consciousness but
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Oct 8, 2007
Recently the stock market plummeted after hitting another record high and who saved the day? The empire! They lowered one insignificant rate but resulted in millions of dollars that would have been spent on interest to be used for spending. The empire saved us!!
Meanwhile nothing really changed
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Oct 1, 2007
In the first game of the best-of-seven, 2004 American League Championship Series between baseball’s New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, Boston’s ace pitcher Curt Schilling was in pain. An ankle injury kept him from being able to plant his foot and throw the ball with his usual skill. Schilling was
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Rich Wyatt on Sep 27, 2007
based on 3 ratings
| 1,789 views
All the credit goes to Dr. Sam Luke for this illustration. Dr. Luke tells this story:
I was taking the church through Evangelism Explosion in an effort to go out and witness for Christ. But there is an added dimension to witnessing, the Holy Spirit. I was going to teach everyone how to witness
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Jim Kane on Sep 24, 2007
Four things strike me about Abraham’s journey to where God was leading him:1. He knew there was a destination. 2. He took a known route. 3. He knew the goal. 4. But, he
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Jim Kane on Sep 24, 2007
As followers of Christ, we are ordinary people on an important daily journey that reveals the power of
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Denomination:
Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Sep 24, 2007
based on 1 rating
| 1,150 views
As a recovered alcoholic, I have a God-given opportunity to share with other alcoholics so that they also may recover. But the very first question is, “Do you want to get better?” If the answer is “no” or “I don’t have a problem” then the response is, “Sorry to bother you.” Pursuing the issue will
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Denomination:
Church Of God
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