WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?
Not long after I got out of seminary, I decided I needed more training. So, I applied for a pastoral residency position at one of the largest churches in our denomination. It was a church in Prairie Village, Kansas, just outside of Kansas City, Missouri. As it turns out, the
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Presbyterian/Reformed
THE IN-LAWS: "ARE YOU A PRAYING MAN?"
Sheldon Kornpett was a quiet, reserved man with a successful dental practice in Manhattan, that is, until he met his future in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Vince Ricardo. Sheldon’s daughter was soon to be married to their son, so Sheldon’s wife hosted a dinner party at
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Contributed by D Marion Clark on Nov 15, 2010
"I THINK YOU'VE SEEN JESUS."
The real putting off and putting on is not so much about our determination to make improvements but about giving ourselves over to our Lord to do the real work in our lives.
In the children's book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, there is a particularly bad boy named
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Nov 9, 2010
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NO ROADS REQUIRED
David Livingstone charted great paths for mission in Africa. One time a missionary society wrote him a letter saying, "We have some people who would like to join you. Do you have some easy access roads to get where you are?"
Dr. Livingstone wrote back, "If you have men who will
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Nov 5, 2010
HOW MOST FAIRY TALES BEGIN
There's the story of a four-year-old who tugged on her dad who had been watching political ads and begged him to stop and read her a fairy tale. Weary of watching the ads, he agreed and began reading the fairy tale. No sooner had he begun, however, than she interrupted
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BIBLE: LIFE SUPPORT
I didn’t always go to church; in fact, I didn’t start attending anywhere regularly until I was in the ninth grade. But I wasn’t exactly a stranger to church. Occasionally, this friend or that one would invite me to go to Sunday School.
I remember one time -- I must have been
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Presbyterian/Reformed
IMITATING EVERYTHING
The most influential person in my life was a man by the name of Charles. He was the pastor of the church where I went as a teenager. You may have heard me talk about Charles before, and, if you have, you may remember that he taught me how to drive, he helped me learn a trade
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Oct 18, 2010
When the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco was being built, there was a great fear of workers falling. Bridge builders have a superstition that one man will die for every million dollars spent on the project. This bridge was budgeted for $35 million, so the fear was pervasive. The chief engineer,
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Presbyterian/Reformed
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GIVING BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO
One Saturday I was working in the yard, and I came walking around the corner of my house. And there was a boy there, on a bicycle. He was wearing Scout uniform, and I’m guessing he must have been about ten or eleven years old. It didn’t take me long to figure out what he
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Gaither Bailey on Oct 16, 2010
Jack was an impressionable 15 year-old. He attended the local Presbyterian Church with his family since he was a baby. He studied for confirmation and was confirmed taking his place in the congregation. He attended youth group meetings and sat in church every Sunday. His 16th birthday was fast
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Oct 13, 2010
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In 1999 the church I was serving designated a particular Sunday morning service for celebrating the lives of our shut-ins. Every effort was made to get them to the church that day. We highly encouraged their family to make arrangements but had volunteers step up where that didn’t work. After the
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Presbyterian/Reformed
I remember years ago, when I was the pastor in another city, we had a man in our church that worked in a local processing plant. His name was Doug. One day, a new guy – a fellow by the name of Mike – showed up to work there, and Doug got acquainted with him and invited him to come to our
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Presbyterian/Reformed
A GIFT OF THE WORD
When I was a teenager, my pastor gave me a little pocket New Testament, bound in red leather. And inside, on the flyleaf, he had written a note. And with the note was a Scripture citation: Romans 12:1-2. I couldn’t wait to turn to that passage and read what it said. If you know
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Presbyterian/Reformed
THINK STEPS, NOT PROGRAMS
In his book, Seven Practices of Effective Ministry, Andy Stanley writes: "Think Steps, Not Programs" (p. 88). The idea is this: Instead of having a strategic vision that focuses on programs, you have a strategic vision of a people-process, a pathway that takes people from
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Contributed by Gaither Bailey on Oct 2, 2010
Funambulist - Jean Francois Gravelot (The Great Blondin)
On June 30, 1859, at 5 pm, Blondin made his first journey across the Falls. Blondin utilized a 1,300 foot long, 3 inch diameter manila rope stretched from what is now Prospect Park in Niagara Falls, New York to what is now Oakes Garden in
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Sep 28, 2010
Alex Haley, in his book, Roots, shared the story of an old slave who one day drove his master to a great ball at an adjoining plantation. As the slave sat quietly in the buggy waiting for his master to return, he became aware not only of the sounds coming from the big house, but of strange music
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Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Sep 22, 2010
Alexander Fraser Tyler, in his 1770 book Cycle of Democracy, wrote, "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse (generous gifts) from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Sep 15, 2010
Patrick Henry, in May of 1765, stated, "It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that his nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples
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Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Sep 15, 2010
WEAKEN MY CONSCIENCE
A man was talking to his psychiatrist. He said, "I've been misbehaving and my conscience is bothering me."
The doctor responded, "And you want something that will strengthen your will power?"
The man replied, "Actually I was thinking of something that would weaken my
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Presbyterian/Reformed
TRAINING IN GODLINESS
Our daughter-in-law has participated at times in triathlon competitions. The triathlon is an endurance event in which you swim a certain distance, ride your bike a certain distance, and finally, and without resting, run a certain distance. It is a very demanding test of your
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