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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
“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” - Thornton Wilder It was the anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union when he got the call from Moscow. Some of the Russian oil companies had abandoned their wells, left their rigs with the ...read more
Scripture: Luke 12:34
Tags: Work, Daily Living, Family Priorities
Denomination: Charismatic
Robin Norwood in her book, “Why Me? Why This? Why Now?” writes, “A very wise old fried of mine who has just celebrated his 100th birthday said to me about a recent news broadcast he recently heard about 73 people losing their lives in a plan crash: “Don’t they know we can’t lose our lives? We can ...read more
Scripture: Luke 23:32-43
Tags: Death, Eternal Life
Denomination: Methodist
During the civil wars in feudal Japan, an invading army would sweep into town and take control. In one particular village, everyone fled just before the army arrived, except the Zen Master. Curious about this old fellow, the general went to the temple to see for himself what kind of man this master ...read more
Tags: Death, Hope In Death
Lloyd Prator writes, “Take Adolph Hitler or better Joseph Stalin because he killed more people. What if, at the last minute, as Stalin lay dying, he turned his heart to Jesus and confessed his sins? Suppose he repented at the last minute, repented of the 14 million Russians Stalin killed… Would he ...read more
Tags: Forgiveness, Repentance
Paradise originates from the Persian language which means a beautiful garden but the ideal paradise is the King’s garden. Kings had beautiful gardens with exotic animals you wouldn’t see in that part of the world. It had flowing water and trees and was a place of serenity or peace. And when someone ...read more
Tags: Heaven, Paradise
Ron Smith was in law enforcement for 20 years. After he retired, he was asked to join a prison ministry of his church. He scoffed at the idea, knowing he had put a lot of those guys in prison and he, above all, knew what types of peoplethey were. But eventually he broke down and joined and God ...read more
Tags: Forgiveness, Compassion, Hope, Reconciliation
David Smith writes about crucifixion. They would take the upright beam and place it in a hole in the ground and fix it steadfast. And then they would take the victim and lay his hands on the cross beam, driving spikes into his quivering flesh and with a rope would hook it onto the cross beam and ...read more
Scripture: Luke 23:33-38
Tags: Crucifixion, Death On A Cross
The word ‘forgive’ in this passage is in the imperfect tense. We tend to think it is in the present tense and that Jesus prayed this prayer once and then moved on. The imperfect tense in Greek means that the prayer is not said once but continuously, through the scourging and the crucifixion as he ...read more
Tags: Forgive, Forgiveness For Others
In Fox’s Book of Martyrs, there is the story of a 26 year old mother named Perpetua. The early church was growing dramatically and she came to faith in Jesus. The Roman government was trying to get her to renounce her faith but she refused. They threw her in prison. Her father came and begged her ...read more
Tags: Grief
Charles Moore writes, “Alan and I met 20 years ago. We were both students at Cal Poly. I was a freshman and he was a junior. As a physics major, Alan was both intelligent and articulate. How Alan got on with his studies, however, is still a mystery to me. Alan was vritually blind. He could not see ...read more
Tags: Evangelism, Fellowship, Community
Some years ago we had some friends in our apartment complex that needed some help moving. Now, no one enjoys moving and everyone usually tries to avoid this type of labor if possible. But, these people needed some help so I volunteered myself and our oldest son Zane to help them move. We began ...read more
Scripture: Luke 23:33-35
Tags: Responsibility, Laziness, Bystander
Denomination: Other
Pastor and Leadership speaker John Maxwell tells the story of his brother who was called to active duty during the Pueblo crisis in Korea. He says he could remember standing in his father’s office when my father found out the news and went to his brother, hugged him and said, “Larry, I’m going to ...read more
Scripture: Luke 22:33-38
Tags: Perseverance, Conversion
Several years ago I read a story written by a preacher in the Philippine Islands. One day he was passing a large church on Good Friday when he spotted many selling incense, candles, veils and rosaries. He also saw several small boys who were running about selling crosses. He heard them calling, ...read more
Scripture: Luke 9:23
Tags: Take Up Your Cross, Carrying Your Cross, Message Of The Cross, Cheap Grace
Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ
From a simple wooden manger to a cruel wodden cross, God is demonstrating ...read more
Scripture: Luke 2:12
Tags: Christmas, Manger, Cross
Denomination: Baptist
When all through the town, Folks were snuggled comfy and sound. All my night guests had checked in, And I was exhausted and tucked in my kin, When out at the door the I heard a swift rap, of the door knocker knocking interrupting my nap. I sprang up from my cot to see what was the issue, Couldn’t ...read more
Scripture: Luke 2:1-20
Tags: Inn Keeper, No Room In The Inn, Christmas, Christmas Eve
Denomination: United Methodist
Complacency and self indulgence were having a chat the other day. Complacancy was saying. “ my those other Christians are far too serious. “ Eat drink and be merry I say and then explode into heaven Painless death though thank you very much.”.” Laziness said. “ Yes but get someone else to prepare ...read more
Scripture: Luke 4:1-13
Tags: Temptation, Laziness
Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed
A Little Pointer on Keeping a Balance Here’s a little bonus tip that I’ve found helpful to keep my wits about me as I live next to these wild Vikings we call sinners, pagans, and wacko unbelievers while keeping my vertical relationship with God strong. It’s called “whimsical holiness,” which is ...read more
Scripture: Luke 7:34
Tags: Witnessing Tools, Loving Neighbor
Once at a young girl’s funeral, I had to make just such a decision. The girl’s father was a member of our church and an air force serviceman. He was an aide on Air Force One and had flown with the president many times. A few generals and lots of upper-crust brass attended the funeral. When it came ...read more
Scripture: Luke 15:20
Tags: Touch, Healing Touch, Hugging
Kenneth Bailey tells the story of teaching some short courses at the Lutheran Church of Latvia. While there, he observed the interviewing of prospective students and inquired of the interviews what questions they asked. They said, “The most important question is ‘When were you baptized?’ And he ...read more
Scripture: Luke 19:11-27
Tags: Boldness, Risk
Hugh Hewitt in his book “The Embarassed Believer” contends that most Christian are embarrassed believers. They do not talk about their faith or church. They don’t have Bibles on the corner of their desks. They never engage others in spiritual conversations. And the result has been the dramatic ...read more
Tags: Witness, Witnessing, Embarrassed