based on 5 ratings
| 2,755 views
There are times when people are not ready for what happens, even though they should be ready. My friend Curt Hatch went to Moody Bible Institute. He paid his own way by working at a night job. Curt had to choose, at times, which classes in which he would stay awake. One of those was not a first
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United Methodist
based on 5 ratings
| 1,978 views
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 1 Thessalonians 5:3
Babies arrive at their own schedule. I learned that when our firstborn (Jennifer) came. Elizabeth had gone into labor and I
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United Methodist
based on 3 ratings
| 2,201 views
There is generally a staff of three in our building, our secretary Patsy, youth and children’s minister Sandy, and the warden, me. One day this week, at a particularly still and quiet moment, there was an incredible BOOM that shook the building. Sandy and I hit the hallway at the same time – we
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United Methodist
On Thursday when I went to pick up my granddaughter from the Learning Center she is attending for the summer there was one of the kids balancing with arms outstretched on a skateboard without wheels and with one of those virtual reality visors on his head. He appeared to be having a blast –
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United Methodist
based on 2 ratings
| 2,108 views
My wife and I and our oldest and youngest daughters are still "Resident Aliens" – just so as not to scare anyone, we had our head antenna and body scales surgically removed so as to look like you all
• We still carry our Resident Alien cards.
• I remind you, my dear friends – as Christians – you
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United Methodist
based on 12 ratings
| 3,863 views
It’s as impossible to imitate or copy Kingdom life without Kingdom birth as it is for a fish to live out of water and breathe air like a human being. It is not a matter of trying harder – or attending “fish church”. That poor fish can try and try till it is blue in the gills and it
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United Methodist
Contributed by David Phaneuf on Jul 28, 2003
based on 61 ratings
| 3,182 views
My friend Norm is a United Methodist pastor. A while back Norm was telling me about one of his parishioners -- Bill. Bill was gravely ill in the hospital, and Norm was visiting with him when the doctor came in, and point-blank told the patient: “Bill... you’re dead! There’s no hope. You’d better
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United Methodist
Contributed by Robbie Parsons on Jul 22, 2003
based on 18 ratings
| 1,562 views
In April 1865, the Civil War was coming to a close. Robert E Lee had surrendered to US Grant. He later begged the southern states to join the Union and be one nation again. Johnson finally surrendered to Sherman, leaving only one major Confederate general to surrender, which he eventually did.
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United Methodist
based on 4 ratings
| 1,957 views
I read a story of a father who was preparing to go on a trip to grandma’s house over the Thanksgiving Holidays. He describes the episode as if it were a theology lab. This father and mother began comparing their mental notes of spiritual perceptions. He said, “A journey is a journey, whether the
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United Methodist
Most children are not naturally aggressive. There are times when children might seem demanding, impatient or even perhaps unreasonable. They do not usually push themselves into the being the center of attention. I once read the story about a tiny boy who was seated at the dinner table in his high
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United Methodist
based on 15 ratings
| 4,398 views
"The intensive care waiting room is a different world. No one is a stranger. They help one another. They grieve with one another and shed tears of joy together. There is no distinction of race or class. Vanity and pretense vanish. Everything focuses on the next doctor’s report or the
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United Methodist
based on 15 ratings
| 2,400 views
I read an account about a storm that came as a surprise. "The storm came roaring in from the Atlantic, and it left the city of New York paralyzed. Ordinarily such a snow fall cause little inconvenience in that city. Snowplows are assembled and crews are at work even as the first flakes begin to
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United Methodist
based on 11 ratings
| 2,596 views
Each and every one of Jesus’ disciples was and is "a diamond in the rough". "Every diamond does not shine alike. Some can never shine because they have never been cut. The brilliancy of the light depends largely upon the character of its facets. Three things are needed to make us shine: (1) We must
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United Methodist
based on 6 ratings
| 3,673 views
I read the story about a football player whose performance exceeded the expectation of others. "…. In the last two minutes of the game, with the score against his team, makes a touchdown. He runs faster than his legs can carry him, and farther than he has ever dreamed of running. When he comes
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United Methodist
based on 6 ratings
| 2,444 views
FINDING REAL POWER
Someone has wisely said what it takes to find freedom in the power of the Holy Spirit.
"It costs much to obtain the power of the Spirit. It costs self-surrender and humiliation and the yielding up of the most precious things to God. It costs the perseverance of long waiting
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United Methodist
based on 11 ratings
| 3,206 views
A young, awkward boy grew up in southern California, plagued by a learning disability that in later years would be called dyslexia. But with his mother’s encouragement and admonishment, he became a strong and capable leader. Years later he was commanding thousands of your Americans in war. When
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United Methodist
based on 3 ratings
| 3,435 views
Children often receive a confidence boost from their mothers when they are down. Wherever a child may have a sense of low self- esteem, a mother build that child’s confidence through her words of encouragement. Enrico Caruso is but one example. As a child his mother encouraged his talent for
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United Methodist
based on 5 ratings
| 8,008 views
There is the story of a young man who went off to college and defied some of the values of his rearing that he had acquired in a Christian home. He had pornographic pictures on the walls. One day his mother came to visit him. She saw his walls but said nothing. Instead, she sent him a picture of
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United Methodist