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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
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
Tags: Christian Witness
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
Hypocrites Do Things for the Show During my childhood - as I was growing up - anything "modern" was considered good! Whatever the current fad was, it was something that I wanted to have - and, I was convinced, like everyone else, that the new item was better - even when it came to "modern food;" if ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:1-5
Tags: Hypocrisy
Purpose In Life, Nate Saint and Joan of Arc Nate Saint said, “People who do not know the Lord ask why we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget they too are expending their lives, and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 10:39
Tags: Missions
Salt Enhances the Flavor of African Food Two thousand years ago salt was used primarily for two reasons, to preserve and to season. And while preservation was the most critical in a practical sense the flavouring benefits of NaCl or sodium chloride can never be underestimated. A number years ago ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16
The Witness of Orel Hershiser on the Tonight Show About 15 years ago, Orel Hershiser was pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers. They had just won the World Series. And Orel had been named the Most Valuable Player. One of the TV shows about the series showed him in the dugout just before the 9th ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16
Chuck Swindoll Judges a Man Unfairly at a Pastor’s Conference It is so easy to get into the trap of judging others unfairly! Chuck Swindoll told of his being at a pastor’s conference where he would be speaking. The first day there a man approached him and said how greatly he had looked forward to ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 7:1-5
Tags: Pastors, Faults
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