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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
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
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
Italian Poet Dante Alighieri Criticized by Enemies During Church Service Deeply immersed in meditation during a church service, Italian poet Dante Alighieri failed to kneel at the appropriate moment. His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege. Dante ...read more
Tags: Faults
General Oglethorpe Admits Unforgiveness to John Wesley (Mat 6:15 NIV) But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. B. General Oglethorpe once said to John Wesley, "I never forgive and I never forget." To which Wesley responded, ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:12-15
Tags: Unforgiveness, Forgiveness For Others
The Spite House Once there was a millionaire who owned a lot in an exclusive residential area of a large city. This lot presented an unusual problem. It was only 2 yards wide but nearly 100 feet long. There was nothing that he could do but sell it to one of the neighbors on either side. He went to ...read more
Tags: Bitterness
"Mr. and Mrs. Thing" John MacArthur, in his book titled Overcoming Materialism, offers this analysis: Mr. and Mrs. Thing are a very pleasant and successful couple. At least, that’s the verdict of most people, who tend to measure success with a “thingometer.” And when the “thingometer” is put to ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:19-21
Tags: Materialism
Rare Italian Automobile Good Only for Show I heard this week about a very, very special automobile. It was built in the 1920’s by the Italian manufacturer Bugatti, and it was designed to be sold to the outrageously wealthy. This car was equipped with 450 horses under the hood; it was some 22 feet ...read more
Chuck Swindoll stated in Laugh Again, "Worry about nothing…pray about everything, and rest" (page 203). He says that the three ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:31-34
Tags: Worry
Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Chrysostom on Prayer--Without the Spirit Our Prayer Bouquets are Like Weeds Chrysostom, a 4th century preacher, used this analogy for prayer. A young boy wanted to give a gift to his father who had been away a long time. His mother sent him to the garden to pick a bouquet of flowers. The boy ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:5-13
Tags: Prayer In The Spirit
Why Doesn’t Anybody Wear Shoes in this City? In Hugh Price Hughes’ story, the "City of Everywhere," a man arrived in a city one cold morning. as he got off the train, the station was like any other station with the crowds and redcaps, except that everybody was barefooted. they wore no shoes. He ...read more
Tags: Prayer General
S.D. Gordon on Who The Great People Are Let me share the words of S.D. Gordon. "The great people of the earth today are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer; nor those who say they believe in prayer; nor yet those who can explain about prayer; but I ...read more
How Not To Get Out of Problems When the preacher’s car broke down on a country road, he walked to a nearby roadhouse to use the phone. After calling for a tow truck, he spotted his old friend, Frank, drunk and shabbily dressed at the bar. "What happened to you, Frank?" asked the good reverend. "You ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:24
Tags: Money
World War II POW Becomes Missionary to Japan Mitsuo Fuchida was the pilot in charge of one of the most successful aerial attacks in recorded history. Under his command was a squadron of 360 specially selected pilots, & on Dec. 7, 1941, Fuchida’s squadron bombed Pearl Harbor. He quickly became one ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48
Tags: Forgiveness For Others
Bill Hybels on Prayer as an Unnatural Activity Bill Hybels begins his book Too Busy Not to Pray with these words: “Prayer is an unnatural activity. From birth we have been learning the rules of self reliance and self sufficiency. Prayer flies in the face of such deep seated values…. It is an ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:9-15
Rearranging Ashes The story is told of an eastern ascetic holy man who covered himself with ashes as a sign of humility and regularly sat on a prominent street corner of his city. When tourists asked permission to take his picture, the mystic would rearrange his ashes to give the best image of ...read more
Scripture: 2 Kings 2:1-14, Matthew 6:1-18
Sin and Hypocrites Some mistakenly think that they are free to sin, just so long as they aren't hypocrites about it, that the worst form of sin is hypocrisy. Often one hears it said, "I know I'm not perfect, but at least I'm not hypocritical about it." A few years ago in Texas there were two men ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:1-18
To Whom Are You Giving? An experience in the life of English preacher and theologian Andrew Fuller illustrates this truth. James Duff, in Flashes of Truth, told of a time when Fuller went back to his hometown to collect money for foreign missions. One of his contacts was an old friend. When ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:2-4
Tags: Giving General
William Cowper’s "On Opening a Place for Social Prayer" In considering the audience of prayer, properly put, it is God, yet, it is the company of others that deserves prayer. William Cowper wrote this entitled: "On Opening a Place for Social Prayer" Jesus! where’er Thy people meet, There they ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:5-15
Tags: Prayer, Prayer General
THE HOPE IN THE TRANSFIGURATION In the Winter of 1966, a voters registration card arrived in the mail at the home of Vernon Dahmer. On the surface, something like this is no big deal; it happens every day. But this was different, for a number of reasons. It was different because Vernon Dahmer was ...read more
Phillip Yancey on Expectations and Disappointment Phillip Yancey had this to say about people’s expectations: Daniel Boorstin, former librarian of Congress and director of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, offers this assessment of contemporary culture: When we pick up our ...read more
Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34
Tags: Disappointment