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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
PRIDE AND GREED SPOIL RELATIONSHIPS Are you so focused on your career, your raise and your ambitions for the future that you fail to realize the gift of relationships that God has given you today? The second rule is that people come before possessions and positions. Otherwise, you might find ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 16:26
Tags: Greed
Game of Life In 1860, a lithographer named Milton Bradley decided to invent a board game where people by playing it would learn life lessons. They would learn about the risks and the rewards in life and decisions and consequences. It was originally called “The Checkered Game of Life.” It was a ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 7:12-14
Tags: Salvation
THE GOLDEN RULE AND THE HOLOCAUST Living the Golden Rule is pretty simple isn’t it? It’s just being considerate, mindful, and thoughtful but sometimes to live the Golden Rule requires great moral courage. It requires a willingness to sacrifice. In March of 1943, Bulgaria which had aligned with ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 7:12
Tags: Christian Witness
Businessman Risks Life for Money Suze Orman in her book, “9 Steps to Financial Freedom” writes: When I was 13, my dad owned his own business—a tiny shack where he sold chicken, ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries. One day the oil that the chicken was fried in caught fire. In a few minutes the ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:24
Tags: Money
RUN WITH ENDURANCE Unlike most competitions however, running the race in spiritual terms is not to try to be first, but to be faithful and finish! The Christian race is not a competitive event to see who comes in first, but an endurance run to see who finishes faithfully. It’s like the ...read more
Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2, Hebrews 12:2-3, Matthew 1:16-25
Tags: Endurance
COST OF DISCIPLESHIP I recently read the true story about a preacher who was standing at the door shaking hands as the congregation departed. He grabbed one man by the hand and pulled him aside. The preacher said to him, "You need to join the Army of the Lord!" The man replied, "I’m already in the ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 16:24-25
Tags: Discipleship, Follow, Deny, Gross
MISUNDERSTOOD It's easy to be misunderstood. Misunderstanding happens all the time. It is very, very easy to be misunderstood. One way to be misunderstood is to be vague and hazy. Just mumble under your breath and utter ambiguities, and I guarantee that you will be misunderstood. Some of you are ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 11:2-19
Tags: Communication Speech
All Roads Lead to Heaven, Travel Agent Max Lucado in a video program based on his book 3:16 Stories of Hope, has a wonderful lesson on the oft heard statement, "All roads lead to heaven". He then gives us an imaginary discussion with a travel agent. " You tell him you need a flight to Rome, Italy. ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 7:21-23
Tags: Universalism
Hurricane Katrina--FEMA Leadership Failure On August 31, 2005, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) regional director Marty Bahamonde emailed the FEMA director regarding the situation in New Orleans immediately following Hurricane Katrina. Bahamonde wrote: “Sir, I know that you know the ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 9:36-38
Tags: Compassion
Prayer for Compassion Then we can pray a prayer like David Mains prayed years ago. He was once pastor of the Circle Urban Church, an inner city church in Chicago, and one day, in the course of his ministry among such great need, he prayed, “Lord, let me see the world as you see it, and break my ...read more
KEEP THE LOWER LIGHTS BURNING We must live as children of the light, not as children of the darkness. If we are dark and sorrowful, how is the world to know that we are children of peace, and joy, and gladness? Our determination must be to keep our lights burning. A few years ago, at the mouth of ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 5:16
THE OLD JUDGE CONVERTED I remember, as I was coming out of the daily prayer meeting in one of our American cities a few years ago, a lady said she wished to speak to me; her voice trembled with emotion, and I saw at once that she was heavily burdened by something or other. She said she had long ...read more
Christians Give In Too Easily to the Devil in Spiritual Warfare In his book Fuzzy Memories, Jack Handey writes: There used to be this bully who would demand my lunch money every day. Since I was smaller, I would give it to him. Then I decided to fight back. I started taking karate lessons. But then ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 8:28-34
Tags: Spiritual Warfare, War
Supernatural Realities Ignored by Current Culture Francis MacNutt quotes theologian Walter Wink in his book “Deliverance from Evil Spirits" and writes: "...if you want to bring all talk to a halt in shocked embarrassment, every eye riveted on you, try mentioning angels, or demons or the devil. You ...read more
Tags: Supernatural
The Battle is Over Theologians tell a story to illustrate how Christ’s triumph presently benefits our lives: Imagine a city under siege. The enemy that surrounds the city will not let anyone or anything leave. Supplies are running low, and the citizens are fearful. But in the dark of the night, a ...read more
Man from Slums of N.Y. Converted and Ordained by Jim Cymbala Jim Cymbala preaches at a church in the slums of New York. He tells the following story: It was Easter Sunday and I was so tired at the end of the day that I just went to the edge of the platform, pulled down my tie and sat down and ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 9:10-13
Brother of John Wilkes Booth, Edwin Booth, Saves Abraham Lincoln’s Son The story is told of two brothers. One of them would carry a letter to the grave that could have set the record straight, but I will tell you about that later. There was a man whose name was Edwin Thomas, a master of the stage ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 12:11-12
Tags: Heroism
I'D RATHER HAVE YOU A father and his young daughter were great friends and much in each other's company. Then the father noted a change in his daughter. If he went for a walk, she excused herself from going. He grieved about it, but could not understand. When his birthday came, she presented him ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30
Tags: Family
Persecution in Uganda, Story of Kefa Sempangi Kefa Sempangi (whose story is told in the book A Distant Grief, Regal Books) was a national pastor in Africa and barely escaped with his family from brutal oppression and terror in his home country of Uganda. They made their way to Philadelphia, where ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 10:16-24
Tags: Persecution
Time Magazine on the Benefits of Religion Some time ago, Time Magazine ran an article that reported on the benefits of religion and the church, and some of the observations included: 1. Heart-surgery patients who draw comfort from their religious faith have a significantly higher survival rate than ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 9:1-8
Tags: Religion
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