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GIVING BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO
One Saturday I was working in the yard, and I came walking around the corner of my house. And there was a boy there, on a bicycle. He was wearing Scout uniform, and I’m guessing he must have been about ten or eleven years old. It didn’t take me long to figure out what he
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Contributed by Gaither Bailey on Oct 16, 2010
Jack was an impressionable 15 year-old. He attended the local Presbyterian Church with his family since he was a baby. He studied for confirmation and was confirmed taking his place in the congregation. He attended youth group meetings and sat in church every Sunday. His 16th birthday was fast
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Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Oct 13, 2010
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In 1999 the church I was serving designated a particular Sunday morning service for celebrating the lives of our shut-ins. Every effort was made to get them to the church that day. We highly encouraged their family to make arrangements but had volunteers step up where that didn’t work. After the
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Presbyterian/Reformed
I remember years ago, when I was the pastor in another city, we had a man in our church that worked in a local processing plant. His name was Doug. One day, a new guy – a fellow by the name of Mike – showed up to work there, and Doug got acquainted with him and invited him to come to our
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Presbyterian/Reformed
A GIFT OF THE WORD
When I was a teenager, my pastor gave me a little pocket New Testament, bound in red leather. And inside, on the flyleaf, he had written a note. And with the note was a Scripture citation: Romans 12:1-2. I couldn’t wait to turn to that passage and read what it said. If you know
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THINK STEPS, NOT PROGRAMS
In his book, Seven Practices of Effective Ministry, Andy Stanley writes: "Think Steps, Not Programs" (p. 88). The idea is this: Instead of having a strategic vision that focuses on programs, you have a strategic vision of a people-process, a pathway that takes people from
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Gaither Bailey on Oct 2, 2010
Funambulist - Jean Francois Gravelot (The Great Blondin)
On June 30, 1859, at 5 pm, Blondin made his first journey across the Falls. Blondin utilized a 1,300 foot long, 3 inch diameter manila rope stretched from what is now Prospect Park in Niagara Falls, New York to what is now Oakes Garden in
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Sep 28, 2010
Alex Haley, in his book, Roots, shared the story of an old slave who one day drove his master to a great ball at an adjoining plantation. As the slave sat quietly in the buggy waiting for his master to return, he became aware not only of the sounds coming from the big house, but of strange music
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Sep 22, 2010
Alexander Fraser Tyler, in his 1770 book Cycle of Democracy, wrote, "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse (generous gifts) from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Sep 15, 2010
Patrick Henry, in May of 1765, stated, "It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that his nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples
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Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Sep 15, 2010
WEAKEN MY CONSCIENCE
A man was talking to his psychiatrist. He said, "I've been misbehaving and my conscience is bothering me."
The doctor responded, "And you want something that will strengthen your will power?"
The man replied, "Actually I was thinking of something that would weaken my
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Presbyterian/Reformed
TRAINING IN GODLINESS
Our daughter-in-law has participated at times in triathlon competitions. The triathlon is an endurance event in which you swim a certain distance, ride your bike a certain distance, and finally, and without resting, run a certain distance. It is a very demanding test of your
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Aug 30, 2010
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A MESSAGE ON LYING
A minister, one Sunday morning, said to his congregation, "Next week I plan to preach about the sin of lying. In preparation for that message, I'm asking all of you to read Mark 17 this coming week."
The following Sunday, he stood up to preach and asked, "How many of you took
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Aug 26, 2010
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A Beautiful Prayer
“I asked God to take away my pain. God said, ‘No. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.’
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. God said, ‘No. His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary.’
I asked God to grant me patience. God said, ‘No. Patience
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Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Aug 26, 2010
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “Marriage is more than your love for each other. It has a higher dignity and power, for it is God's holy ordinance, through which he wills to perpetuate the human race till the end of time. In your love you see only your two selves in the world, but in marriage you are a
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Contributed by Terry Barnhill on Aug 8, 2010
In his book, “Miracles”, C. S. Lewis says, those whose faith is in science and experiments will learn “what regularly happens in Nature; the norm or rule to which she works. Those who believe in miracles are not denying that there is such a norm or rule;
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Aug 4, 2010
A Sunday school teacher, in her class of 5 and 6 year olds, had just finished discussing this commandment about honoring your father and mother. She asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and
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Presbyterian/Reformed
based on 1 rating
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CONVERTED NOT ONCE, BUT OFTEN
A person of no less stature than Ruth Graham, the daughter of a Presbyterian missionary and the wife of a world-famous evangelist, struggled with this idea of a "moment of conversion." She was raised in the faith and knew that she was secure in Christ, and yet she
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Jul 27, 2010
THE SABBATH SERVES US
A story is told of a wagon train of Christians traveling from St. Louis to Oregon. They observed the Sabbath day by stopping to rest and not traveling. But as winter approached some in the group began to panic that they would not reach Oregon before the snow fell. So they
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Presbyterian/Reformed
based on 1 rating
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PUTTING THE DOG IN DOGMA
The pit bull, as you may know, is bred to be a fighter. But what you may not know is what they were originally bred to fight with. The pit bull is a actually a mutt that made good -- having terrier and mastiff breeds in its line. From the mastiff side of the tree, they
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Presbyterian/Reformed