Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 8, 2010
Occasionally I meet Christians who say “God is telling me to go and do this or that” and then the next minute God seems to have changed His mind. I remember one guy who made God look like He didn’t know how to make up His mind at all! One day it was “God wants me to do this.” and the next day it
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Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 8, 2010
Most action movies I have seen have some aspect of revenge in their storyline. And I must admit it, when the bad guy finally gets killed, I find myself agreeing with the hero as he says “The guy was a jerk and deserved everything he got!” Am I the only one?
Some friends of mine were driving me
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Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 7, 2010
"Why is the F*** word and and the Sh** word used so freely today? Jesus doesn’t directly include this in what He says about oaths in Matthew 5 but it is there by way of application and other passages enlarge on this area of sin, so I am taking a detour. The spirit of what Jesus is saying in Matthew
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Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 6, 2010
MARRIED BUT NOT ENGAGED
Years ago, Julie and I began to have difficulty in our marriage. I was spending all my time pastoring a small Church, and our relationship was being neglected. It suffered to the point where I needed to take time out of ministry, and we needed to do some repair work. That
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Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 5, 2010
DO YOU REALLY WANT TO TURN IT OFF?
Too often when Julie and I watch a movie, I am forced to turn it off or over because of the coarse nature of the movie, particularly relating to the sex scenes. It is taken for granted that sex is a necessary part of most movies. I disagree! I don’t need to watch
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Illustration:
While I was helping to clean the church, I encountered a 12 year-old boy who was working out his court sentence for theft by doing community service. He asked me what bad thing I had done to be working there. “Why son, I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just helping out the church. What
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MYTHS AND TRUTHS OF HAPPINESS
In David G. Myers book The Pursuit Of Happiness (1993), he addresses the truth about what genuinely brings happiness and contentment to people’s lives. In his epilogue after going through many studies, he sums up his findings:
By scrutinizing the fruits of hundreds
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THE IMPORTANCE OF GENUINE RELATIONSHIPS
Bill Hybels states, "…Community is loving and being loved. Unless you are exchanging deeply committed levels of love with a few people, you will die slowly on the inside. This is precisely why so many people feel almost nothing at all. Through the whole
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Contributed by Peter Loughman on Jan 3, 2010
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ADHESIVE OXYMORON
Why can’t we all just coexist?
You believe what you believe, I believe what I believe. Whatever you believe is whatever you believe.
Have you seen those "Coexist" bumper stickers? I always laugh when I see a "Coexist" bumper sticker. You know, the ones where a symbol from
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Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 3, 2010
HELL, LITERALLY
Now the word for "hell" is interesting. According to William Barclay, it literally referred to the Valley of Hinnom, to the South West of Jerusalem. William Barclay says "It was notorious as the place where Ahaz had introduced into Israel the fire worship of the heathen god Molech,
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Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 2, 2010
Satan says in effect to Jesus in Matthew 4 "JUST COMPROMISE AND YOU’LL GET WHAT YOU WANT", But the AUTHORITY OF RULE doesn’t come with a CROWN OF POWER from the enemy. It comes with a CROSS OF SUFFERING and humility.
Satan says "I’ll give you POWER WITHOUT THE PAIN, A CROWN WITHOUT THE
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Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 31, 2009
I once went to court on behalf of young mother with an intellectual disability. She was a difficult person and the Department of Children’s Services had decided, in their wisdom, to apply the letter of the law and take away her child. It was my task to speak on her behalf and make a case for her,
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Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 30, 2009
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CHRISTIANS AND SALT
I use a saline solution for my contact lenses. It has the same salty consistency as my tears have. Without it I could not clean my lenses and putting them in would be difficult.
I’m told that too much salt is bad for you. The Bible says Christians are like salt. And we live in
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Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 29, 2009
One of my jobs some years ago was working with disabled people. I remember working with a young Christian woman and my job was teaching her how to read. She would readily share her faith to others and I enjoyed the opportunity to encourage her in her faith. I chose the 23rd Psalm in our lessons and
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Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 28, 2009
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"BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS - for they shall be called sons of God."
You may say "Well that’s nonsense. All you have to do is see all the so-called Christians who have been involved in bloody conflict in history, all done in the Name of God". In fact even Al-Qaeda operates in the Name of a god
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STAYING IN TOUCH...IN THE RIGHT WAY
Evangelism issue #1: staying in touch with the world -- in a right way
From InternetEvangelismDay.com:
"There are two major reasons why we so often fail to touch many non-Christians with the Gospel. Firstly, we frequently present the good news in language and
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POEM ON RISK
This is a poem on risk from a classroom wall:
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental
To reach out for another is to risk involvement
To expose feelings is to risk exposing, your true self
To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to
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"I'M NOT A CHRISTIAN, SO..."
You need to know what is going on in the head of a non-saved or pre-saved person.
* "I'm not a Christian, so ... I really don't understand this religious stuff. I did try and read bits of the Bible when I was at school, but found it hard to understand. I never went
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ALONE ON CHRISTMAS
George Mason’s life was centered in his business. He lived alone and refused all invitations to socialize. His brother’s family had urged him to visit but the children always made too much noise. Besides, he didn’t want to buy presents for his nephews and nieces. Instead he
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