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I Desire Mercy Not Sacrifice
Experiencing the mercy of God in our lives
Ready & Faithful
Looking to Jesus for help now and hope in the future
Why Suffering?
Help your church understand God's plan in pain
NFL Quarterback’s Pre-Game Generosity Impacts Family There was a time when the bread-winner of the family worked a night shift in a low paying job and relied on food stamps to feed their large family. But that all changed after the Saint Louis Rams won the Super Bowl in 2000. And because of those ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 3:1
Tags: Generosity, Giving General
THE LOVE OF CHRIST ENABLES BELIEVERS I like the way one pastor put it years ago (1986) when he became overwhelmed with all the "ideals" he was collecting from church growth seminars and books. He said, "Quite frankly, I'm sick to death of ideals. I have so many ideals and I've been so frustrated ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 4:13-16
Tags: Growth In Christ
Benedict Arnold In American history, there is a man who became famous for all the wrong reasons. You have probably heard his name, even if you don’t know the details of his life. Benedict Arnold is a name that brings to mind betrayal and treason; yet he actually was a gifted man and a great ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 2:18-27
Tags: War
FRIEND OF THE SON Rick Warren talks about Ron Dunn, a friend of his, who took his young son to a carnival one time for his birthday. His son had picked six boys to go with him, so Ron bought a roll of tickets. Every line he'd come up to, he'd pull off seven tickets and give them to all the kids. ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 5:1-12
Tags: Friendship New Friends
HIS LAST THOUGHTS WERE OF HIS CHILDREN A Union sergeant was killed on the first day of fighting in Gettysburg. He was just one of more than 3,000 Union soldiers who died in the three-day conflict. When his body was found later that week, lying in a secluded spot in Gettysburg, he was holding a ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 3:1-2
Tags: Love, Father's Day
THE FALSITIES OF MORMON AUTHOR BETTY EADIE The idea of hell and judgment are nowhere to be found in Betty Eadie’s bestseller, Embraced By The Light, on the N.Y. Times bestseller list for more than 40 weeks, including 5 weeks as #1. In November 1973 Eadie allegedly died after undergoing a ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 4:1-3
Tags: False Teaching
THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT So is your sin and guilt getting the better of you? Well, now "There’s an app for that." CBS News reports (February 9, 2011) a new application for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch called the "Confession Booth app. All you do is confess to your iPhone! It sells for $1.99 ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 1:9-10
Tags: Confession Of Sin
Denomination: Nazarene
OUT-OF-WHACK PRIORITIES USA Today ran an article on October 25th, 1995 that is a great illustration about priorities. It reads... "Ronald Warwick, captain of the luxury cruise ship Queen Elizabeth II, questioned a passenger who paid full fare for his dog to join them on an around-the-world ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 2:15-17
Tags: Worldliness
THE DESTINY OF MATERIALISM The lure of wealth, or what we might call the magnetism of materialism. “Finns [people from Finland] who can’t get enough of winter swarmed to the northern town of Kemi for the opening of a sprawling ice castle that features a theatre, a playground, an art gallery, and ...read more
Tags: Materialism
NOT ENCOURAGING A young couple, very much in love, were getting married in church. However, the bride was very nervous about the big occasion and so the preacher chose one verse that he felt would be a great encouragement to them. The verse was 1 John 4:18 which says: "There is no fear in love. ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 4:18
Tags: Weddings
ONE RASCAL AMONG HONEST MEN A king visited a slave ship, and there was a slave galley where they chain men to the oars and they row and a man beats the drum and another man has a lash to make them row. And they would take the prisoners of the state and put them to use, pulling on the oars. The ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 1:8-10
HOPE OF MARIA Hope weans God’s people from seeking and trusting this world. The story is told of Maria. She lived in a small town in southern Kentucky. She did not see or hear from her husband for years. Edward was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division during the Korean war and captured when the ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 3:2-3
Tags: Pleasing God, God Brings Hope
GIVING UP THE WORLD A man once said to D. L. Moody, "Now that I am converted, must I give up to the world?" "No," answered the evangelist, "you need not give up the world; if you give a ringing testimony for the Son of God the world will give you up pretty quick. They ...read more
Tags: Christian Witness
WORKS-DRIVEN RITUALS Every year a great throng of people make pilgrimage to the Shrine of Guadalupe in Mexico, a site where supposedly the Virgin Mary once stood...however unlikely that is. They go there hoping to get her attention, and to get her to intervene for them with her son Jesus. They ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 1:7-10
Tags: Action
WHO DO YOU SAY I AM--IN ENGLAND? A teaching assistant accused of looting. An 11 year old girl appears in court and admits breaking windows in Nottingham. Teenagers appear before Magistrates with no parent in attendance. Magistrates ask, "Where are their parents?" Two girls interviewed by the BBC ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 3:4-10
Tags: Sin Exposed
Unusual Laws in Kansas Laws are important in any society in order to keep peace and order. But there are laws and then there are laws. Here are some laws that are still on the books in our state of Kansas. • In Derby, it is illegal to hit a vending machine that stole your money. • In Dodge City, it ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 3:4
Tags: Law, Ten Commandments
NOLAN RYAN DIDN'T CHANGE ME In 1991, Ryan, our son, age 6 at the time, played Challenger Baseball, a modified version of the game for disabled children. At the end of the season, each child received an official Challenger baseball for his or her participation. We asked Ryan what he wanted to do ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 1:6-7
Tags: Sanctification
Denomination: Baptist
FORGIVE AND FORGET There's a wonderful story about the cardinal of the Philippines, named, oddly enough, Cardinal Sin. When Cardinal Sin was a bishop, a young woman in his parish claimed that she had visions of Jesus. Bishop Sin was given the task of determining if these visions were authentic. He ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 1:9
Tags: Forgiveness General
MAKE IT YOUR AIM NOT TO SIN The whole purpose of John's letter, he says, is that we not sin. One day as I was studying this chapter I realized that my personal life's objective regarding holiness was less than that of John's. He was saying, in effect, "Make it your aim not to sin." As I thought ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 2:1
Tags: Holiness
ARE YOU TIED TO THIS WORLD? Moody said that some people are trying to live by faith as though they are paddling hard in a row boat, while all along their tie-down is still fastened securely to the dock. He declared, "They are tied to this world. Cut the cord! Set yourself free from the clogging ...read more
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