Independence Day:God's Closeness in Uncertain Times
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Faithful to the Finish
Peter's final call to a young and growing church
Grace and Glory
A short series through the highlights of 1 Peter
Entrusted
Gifts, risk, and the return of the King
Dietrich Bonhoeffer worded it this way: "It is Jesus himself who comes between the disciples and the law, not the law which comes between Jesus and the disciples." Source: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship 123 (R.H. Fuller trans., New York: Touchstone, 1995). ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 5:17-20
Tags: Law
Love Your Enemies: Forgiveness in Rwanda Bishop John Rucyahana, a Tutsi Rwandan, found Christ while growing up as an exile from his native Rwanda. I like the way he describes His conversion: "I did not accept Jesus. Jesus graciously met me and accepted me." This is a man who understands how we ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 5:38-48
Tags: Forgiveness For Others
TREASURE IN CHRIST, BUT "OUT OF GAS" Several years ago, on New Year’s Day, a beautiful float in the Tournament of Roses parade suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The amusing thing was this float represented the ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:19-20
Tags: God's Provision
GO BACK AND TELL THEM AGAIN Jesus said "Follow me and I will make you Fishers of Men." In a book entitled "Jungle Harvest," written by a missionary named Ruby Scott, she describes some of her experiences in reaching a people group known as the Tila Indians who lived in a remote village in the ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 4:19
Tags: Evangelism The Lost
YOU DO NOT PULL THE SHORE TO YOU Prayer is surrender--surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:9-10
Tags: Prayer, Prayer Supplication
Sir Walter Scott had difficulty with the idea of “turning the other cheek.” But Jesus’ words took on special meaning one day when Scott threw a rock at a stray dog to chase it away. His aim was like a baseball pitchers and he hit the animal and broke its leg. Instead of running off, the dog ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 5:39
Tags: Sermon On The Mount
Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ
From Aaron Saufley- My new book "The Jumbo Shrimp Gospel" was inspired by a conversation I had with my 7 year old. I read her the part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount where Jesus talked about turning the other cheek and getting undressed when someone takes your shirt (yeah, that’s what he said). ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 5:39-40
Richard Weaver earned his living in the mines. He was a Christian and wanted to lead his fellow workers to Christ. One co- worker began to hate Mr. Weaver. This man said, “I’m sick of your constant preaching. I’ve a good mind to smack you in the face!” “Go ahead if it will make you feel ...read more
Works-Oriented Salvation verses Saving Faith Muhammad Ali was once asked what his faith meant to him. Ali replied: "[it] means [a] ticket to heaven. One day we’re all going to die, and god is going to judge us, [our] good and bad deeds. [if the] bad outweighs the good, you go to hell; if the good ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 7:21-23
Tags: Faith Vs. Works
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
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
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
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