Contributed by Terry Barnhill on Jun 15, 2011
THE TRUE BLESSING
When God blessed Abraham, He blessed him so that he could be a blessing to all nations. To be a true blessing to others requires that we share with them the power of God’s transforming Truth.
If you give food to a man who is trapped in a pit, they are still trapped in that
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Presbyterian/Reformed
WHEN YOU CAN'T FIGHT, PRAY
Nancy told me the other day that, not too long ago, she overheard Graham praying. Here he was, near the end of his life, beset with a failing body more than nine decades old, and what was he praying for? His country. Your country. Mine. He fought for this country. He
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Jun 13, 2011
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FOUR WEEKS AWAY FROM THE SPIRIT
An Anglican bishop was asked to preach at a conference in England. For many weeks he did not respond to the invitation. Finally, the corresponding secretary for the conference wrote him a note which said, "We must know if you are coming. We need to make our plans."
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 11, 2011
NOT MUCH OF A MAN...?
A weary truck driver who pulled his rig into an all-night truck stop late one summer evening in Broken Bow, NE. He was tired and hungry. The waitress had just served him when three tough looking, leather-jacketed bikers of the Hell's Angels type decided to give him a hard
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 11, 2011
SEXUALITY, SELF, AND IDENTITY
Michael Foucault, in The History of Sexuality: "Sexuality is a word that now serves a purpose like the word soul did in the Middle Ages. In that period, people believed that one's soul united the various aspects of human identity and gave significance to that
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Presbyterian/Reformed
SPEAKING THE SAME LANGUAGE
Back in 1991, I went on a mission trip to the former Soviet Union. Twenty-or-so of us arrived on a snowy November day in Samara, a city of more than a million people located on the Volga River. We were there for about ten days, and our mission was to help start a
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 10, 2011
KING HENRY II'S ANGER
King Henry II of England, back in around 1200, had a lot of power. He put an end to a long and bloody civil war, and ruled both England and a large chunk of France for many years. He was so famous that a movie was made about him, about 25 yrs ago, starring Richard Burton and
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 10, 2011
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THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL
John Wesley: "There is no [conflict] at all between the law and the gospel; that there is no need for the law to pass away, in order to the establishing of the gospel. Indeed neither of them supersedes the other, but they agree perfectly well together. Yea, the very same
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 10, 2011
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THE PEACEMAKER
Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones, who were "on the outs" over a very trivial matter. This deeply concerned Deacon Brown, so he prayed that he might be a peacemaker.
He called on Smith and asked, "What do you think of Jones?"
"He's the meanest crank in the neighborhood!"
"But," said
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Jun 10, 2011
REVENGE IN WITNESSING
Yubis was filled with grief and didn't know where to turn. Yubis' husband--a pastor--was brutally murdered as a martyr in Colombia for his faith and teachings of Jesus Christ. As a result, their two-year-old daughter was despondent--and she stopped speaking. She would only
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 9, 2011
THE MAN WHOSE HEART IS PURE
Charles Spurgeon: “The man whose heart is pure, will be able to see God in nature. When the heart is clean, he will hear God's footfall everywhere in the garden of the earth in the cool of the day. He will hear God's voice in the tempest, sounding in peal on peal from
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 9, 2011
FORGIVING FLOWERS
Fifteen years ago in Houston, a man named Ron Flowers accidentally shot school teacher Deirdra Washington through a car window during the course of a failed drug deal and was sent to prison for 35 years. Her family was consumed, destroyed by grief and anger. For 14 years Flowers
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Presbyterian/Reformed
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TREES DON'T STRUGGLE TO GROW
Rich Ratts, former pastor of Grace Community Church here in Jackson and a now a church planter in Traverse City, once spoke at a pastor’s appreciation breakfast I attended. He began by talking about a cheery orchard outside his window. One night when he couldn’t go
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 8, 2011
THEY NEVER GUESSED
A certain man, a Christian, accepted a new job among very profane people. He was very anxious and fearful about how he would be received. When he came home from the first day on the job, his wife asked how it
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 7, 2011
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John Wesley: "It is impossible for any that have it, to conceal the religion of Jesus Christ... As well may men think to hide a city, as to hide a Christian; yea, as well may they conceal a city set upon a hill, as a holy, zealous, active lover of God and man."
He goes on to say that "it is
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Presbyterian/Reformed