Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Feb 18, 2011
FURTICK ON AUDACIOUS FAITH
"We set a goal of reaching over one thousand people in our first year of ministry. Since the average church size in America is fewer than one hundred and twenty, and the first rule of goal setting is attainability, I guess we were overshooting it a bit. But we wanted to
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Presbyterian/Reformed
I THOUGHT WE'D TALK MORE ABOUT GOD
Some years ago, a woman came to me for counseling. Her husband had died suddenly from a rapidly growing cancer, and she was overcome not only with grief but with fear regarding her future. She did not now know who she was or where she was to go. She was beside
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Eric Keller on Jan 31, 2011
ONE OF MANY OPTIONS
Ask people to raise their hands if they remember a time when businesses were closed on Sunday morning.
Note to the congregation that the younger ones (likely those under 40) do not have their hands raised.
There is a difference in the generations. One generation remembers a
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Jan 25, 2011
"THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN..."
The 747 jetliner taxiing down the runway, with the passengers all buckled up for takeoff. A voice came over the speakers in the plane's cabin,
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard Flight 22 for London's Heathrow Airport. We
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Jan 14, 2011
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KNOW WHERE YOU STAND
The Johnson and Johnson company once had in their mission statement that employees would “operate with honesty and integrity” Several weeks before a major incident involving Tylenol, the president of Johnson and Johnson sent a memo to all the presidents of divisions in the
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Kenton Wood on Jan 1, 2011
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CARGAR LA BATERIA
CHARGE THE BATTERIES (TRANSLATION FOLLOWS)
Tengo en mi mano un taladro inalámbrico. Es relativamente nuevo. Pero, al apretar el botón, apenas da vuelta. ¿Qué necesito hacer? Cargar la batería.
¿Conoces a personas Cristianas que sus vidas apenas dan vuelta? Claro. Hasta
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Presbyterian/Reformed
LOOKS GREAT, BUT WHAT DOES IT DO?
I once read about a certain Mr. Wahlstrom who purchased an old bombsight and took it apart to see what made it work. As he began to put it back together, he decided to add to it some spare parts he had from other projects. Over time, friends and neighbors took an
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Dec 9, 2010
based on 8 ratings
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FORREST GUMP: SOMETIMES THERE AREN'T ENOUGH ROCKS
In the movie Forrest Gump, Forrest has a lifetime friendship with Jenny. In one scene, when both of them are grown and Jenny is just beginning to retreat from her lifestyle of sex and drugs, they are walking down a dirt road. Soon they come to the
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Nov 30, 2010
SEND US SOME ETERNITY
An English postal worker was in charge of letters inadequately addressed. One Christmas season he discovered a card from his own daughter to Santa. It said, "We're very sad at our house this year. My little brother went to heaven last week. You needn't leave me anything. But
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Presbyterian/Reformed
YEARNING FOR YOUR BELOVED
Hearing God’s voice begins as a matter of affection. We have to listen for the voice of God the way a lover listens for the voice of the beloved.
During the year before my wife and I were married, I lived in a remote city, and what I discovered is that there is no pain
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Nov 23, 2010
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PREPARING FOR DEPARTURE
I once read how, in the spring of 1981, a young man was flown into desolate northern Alaska to photograph the natural beauty and mysteries of the tundra. He took along 500 rolls of film, several firearms, and 1,400 pounds of provisions.
As the months passed, the words in
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Presbyterian/Reformed
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?
Not long after I got out of seminary, I decided I needed more training. So, I applied for a pastoral residency position at one of the largest churches in our denomination. It was a church in Prairie Village, Kansas, just outside of Kansas City, Missouri. As it turns out, the
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Presbyterian/Reformed
THE IN-LAWS: "ARE YOU A PRAYING MAN?"
Sheldon Kornpett was a quiet, reserved man with a successful dental practice in Manhattan, that is, until he met his future in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Vince Ricardo. Sheldon’s daughter was soon to be married to their son, so Sheldon’s wife hosted a dinner party at
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by D Marion Clark on Nov 15, 2010
"I THINK YOU'VE SEEN JESUS."
The real putting off and putting on is not so much about our determination to make improvements but about giving ourselves over to our Lord to do the real work in our lives.
In the children's book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, there is a particularly bad boy named
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Nov 9, 2010
based on 2 ratings
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NO ROADS REQUIRED
David Livingstone charted great paths for mission in Africa. One time a missionary society wrote him a letter saying, "We have some people who would like to join you. Do you have some easy access roads to get where you are?"
Dr. Livingstone wrote back, "If you have men who will
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Nov 5, 2010
HOW MOST FAIRY TALES BEGIN
There's the story of a four-year-old who tugged on her dad who had been watching political ads and begged him to stop and read her a fairy tale. Weary of watching the ads, he agreed and began reading the fairy tale. No sooner had he begun, however, than she interrupted
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Presbyterian/Reformed
BIBLE: LIFE SUPPORT
I didn’t always go to church; in fact, I didn’t start attending anywhere regularly until I was in the ninth grade. But I wasn’t exactly a stranger to church. Occasionally, this friend or that one would invite me to go to Sunday School.
I remember one time -- I must have been
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Presbyterian/Reformed
IMITATING EVERYTHING
The most influential person in my life was a man by the name of Charles. He was the pastor of the church where I went as a teenager. You may have heard me talk about Charles before, and, if you have, you may remember that he taught me how to drive, he helped me learn a trade
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Oct 18, 2010
When the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco was being built, there was a great fear of workers falling. Bridge builders have a superstition that one man will die for every million dollars spent on the project. This bridge was budgeted for $35 million, so the fear was pervasive. The chief engineer,
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Presbyterian/Reformed