Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 26, 2012
DREAM CENTER
At age 16, Matthew Barnett dreamed of a church that would be open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year serving the inner-city’s physical and spiritual needs and bringing a message of hope to the hopeless. In 1994 at the age of 20, he moved from Phoenix to Los Angeles to pastor a small
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 26, 2012
IT ALL GOES BACK TO THE HEAD
Mike Slaughter tells the story of his dog Luka, a giant schnauzer. Luka had an infected toe for several months on his back leg and one of the things that he noticed is that Luka will tend to drag that back foot causing him to scrape his toe. Their vet couldn't figure
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 26, 2012
THE PLACE OF ABUNDANT ADVENTURE
Mike Slaughter tells the story of going to Darfur, Africa to minister to the refugees. "It was the first time in my life I knew I was going into a situation with a probability I could die; a situation that was utterly dangerous. There were people with guns. We would
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
based on 7 ratings
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THE TABLECLOTH
The brand new pastor and his wife were assigned to their first church in Brooklyn and were to reopen it. They arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw the church, it was run down and needed a lot of work. They set a goal to have everything done in
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
based on 1 rating
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THE UNEXPECTED CHRISTMAS
When I was in seventh grade, like so many youth at that age, music became a huge part of my life. I was awakened to the sounds of music of Elton John’s Greatest Hits, SuperTramp's Breakfast in America and Led Zeppelin 2. So my hope and dream was to build a stereo system
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
based on 1 rating
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AT CHRISTMAS ALL ROADS LEAD HOME
Marjorie Holmes writes, "At Christmas, all roads lead home. The filled planes, the packed trains and overflowing buses all speak eloquently of a single destination: home. Despite the crowding and the crushing, the delays, the confusion, we clutch our bright
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
THERE IS GOOD IN ALL
Norman Vincent Peale tells the story of one Christmas when he was 15 and his father, a physician turned minister, received a call from a brothel in the red light district. The madam had a girl who was dying and was calling for a minister. Quietly, his father explained to his
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
A MOTHER'S CHRISTMAS PRAYER
On Christmas Day, Mike Nicholas, a tall and slim young man with dark hair was making his way south on I-85 just below High Point, NC trying to hitch a ride. For two years, he hadn't been home. His family had heard nothing from him. He and his mother had a disagreement
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
"I DIDN'T SAVE YOU. GOD DID."
Fireman Edward Cushing tells the story of an old frame house burning on the southside of Chicago. He ordered the hoses to start fighting the fire and then dashed inside and pulled three people out. When the blaze was over, the Chief came over and told him he did a
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
based on 1 rating
| 4,200 views
VISITED BY ANGELS
Dr. Ralph Harlow tells the story getting away with his wife Marion for a few days to visit family and of walking with his wife through the woods of Ballarvale, MA as Spring was breaking forth. The path that he and Marion were on was spongy as they walked along a beautiful creek.
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
based on 1 rating
| 2,152 views
GO FIND SOMETHING TO DO FOR GOD
Ruth Rettig tells the story of having gone through unsuccessful cancer surgery and following up with chemo in Houston, which meant 500-mile roundtrips from their home in central Texas. The trips were exhausting enough but the chemo made her feel sick to death. She
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
GRACE AND GEORGE WILLIAMS
Max Ellerbusch tells the story of the Friday six days before Christmas. He was working feverishly in his instrument repair shop so he could have all of the Christmas holiday at home with the family when the call came. His 5-year-old Craig had been fatally struck by a car.
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
SKELETONS IN OUR CLOSETS
The Rockefeller family is considered to be one of the most philanthropic families in the world, helping humanity globally in issues like economics, religion, education and environmental affairs. Yet the Rockefeller family tree is filled with many skeletons.
William Avery
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
50-SOMETHINGS FOR JESUS
At the age of 58, Tom and Elaine Samply cashed out their retirements and moved to the Czech Republic and opened a coffee shop called Common Grounds where he taught business principles to atheists. After they were there for six years, they had enough business that they
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
STOP EXPECTING LIFE TO BE PERFECT
Donald Miller has written a book called, "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years." It's about the journey Don went on when a couple of filmmakers decided to make a movie about his life, based on his book Blue Like Jazz. Now during the process of writing a screenplay
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
TAKING THE GOOD PATH
The media interviewed the second Chilean miner freed, and here is what he said, "The time down there changed me. God had one hand and the devil had the other hand, and when I was down there, I decided to let go of the devil and hold onto God. I buried 40 years of my life down
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
SIX KINDS OF TOXIC PEOPLE
Life Coach Cheryl Robinson says there are six kinds of toxic people. There are the blamers who are always complaining about what is wrong in their life and blaming others.
Then there are the drainers. They’re like vampires who will come and suck everything out of you
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Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012
based on 1 rating
| 4,865 views
REPENTANCE IS NOT A ONE-TIME EVENT
Doug Tegner tells the story of attending a one-day leadership retreat called to deal with his church's current crisis. Redwood Chapel was founded in 1962 and has since hosted the Bay Area Sunday School convention (BASS), had strong music programs, planted vibrant
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Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Jan 15, 2012
LONGING
In his book The Spiritual Life of Children, the famous Harvard psychiatrist Robert Coles tells the story of Alice, a ten-year-old girl who came from a family that did not believe in God. She expressed her doubts to him with these words: "I remember... I saw the people next door coming
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Contributed by Mark Schaeufele on Nov 10, 2011
TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE
One of my all-time favorite movies is "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." In the movie the father in the story tells his daughter, "Tula, there are two kinds of people
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