Contributed by Anne Benefield on Jun 9, 2009
A young man walked into a photography studio with a picture of his girlfriend. He wanted the picture duplicated. The owner of the store noticed the inscription on the back of the picture which said, “My Dearest Tom, I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more each day. I will love
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Jun 9, 2009
WITH GOD, THERE IS NO P.S.
Nothing can stop the love of God. In a cemetery in Hanover, Germany, is a grave on which was placed a huge slab of granite and then a slab of marble was cemented on top. The rocks were fastened with heavy steel clamps. It belonged to a woman who did not believe in the
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Jun 9, 2009
Author Ray Bradbury says: "If we listened to our intellect, we’d never have a love affair. We’d never have a friendship. We’d never go into business because we’d be cynical. Well, that’s nonsense. You’ve got
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Dec 3, 2007
On Thursday, Carolyn Chou came by to see me. You may remember her. She and her husband, Yuan, were married here and we baptized their children, Matthew and Sabrina, who is now 20 month old daughter. Carolyn brought Sabrina with her. Sabrina is in the throws of separation anxiety. As Sabrina
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Jan 24, 2008
From time to time we hear statistics about how people first came into church membership. These figures trace back to the Institute of American Church Growth, which asked 10,000 people about their pilgrimage. What led them in? The answers were: special need, 2%; walk-in, 3%; Pastor, 6%;
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Jan 24, 2008
It’s interesting how we share faith. We all have our own way based on our own abilities. I have always been impressed with those who can quote the appropriate scripture in times of crisis. My sister, Jean, can do that. My pastor in San Antonio, Texas, could do that. I just can’t do that. I’m
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Jan 24, 2008
One time I was leading a retreat for single, middle-age people, that is people in their 40s and 50s. When I looked on the roster, there was a man I knew was 75 if he were a day, but he had signed up so I didn’t question his age. He was a regular at the church and had gone on other retreats. I
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Feb 14, 2008
This past week I heard a man named Paul Peck speak. He talked about watching the riots in Los Angeles in April of 1992 following the acquittal of the four white officers who beat Rodney King. Paul watched in horror as African Americans burned down their own communities and businesses, but instead
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Feb 14, 2008
The idea of sacrifice seems to have been lost. We have been praying for my Uncle Bruce and Aunt Julie. They are the kind of people who know what it means to sacrifice. Daddy’s youngest sister,
Even though my Uncle Bruce was only 16 when his father died, he made a promise to get his sister
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Feb 19, 2008
“Fasting can be a form of body praying… [But] fasting has nearly ceased to be practiced among us as a religious duty. It has been replaced by other forms of self-denial. One of the most common of those among us is dieting, which is largely cosmetic and therapeutic. What is there to say about it?
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Feb 19, 2008
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One of my favorite books is called This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women. It is a compilation of eighty essays based on the National Public Radio series of the same name. The essays are from the famous and the unknown. One of the essays that I found most moving is
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Feb 19, 2008
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In the inspiring book, This I Believe: Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, Susan Cosio writes, “I believe in a daily walk just to listen.” A chaplain at a medical center, a writer, and a mother of three, Susan Cosio says:
I believe I have to remove myself from the voices that
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Feb 27, 2008
She has used up husbands the way each of us uses up unsatisfactory water. We keep trying all these ways to cure our souls. We try this self-help book. We try that therapist. We try this drug. We try that drink. We try this husband. We try that wife. But, ultimately, we have no husband.
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Mar 3, 2008
The man tells the story as simply as it happened. Notice that he speaks of Jesus as just a man. He must have heard others call Jesus by name. After sending the blind man to the Siloam pond, Jesus leaves. He isn’t waiting for the man to return to thank Him. Whenever we do anything good, don’t
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Mar 3, 2008
When I was in business school, I had a very wise and at the same time a very unsettling professor. One day he said, “You will hear the truth you are willing to hear.” What he meant was that as a manager, if you intimidated the people working with and for you, they would avoid telling you what you
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Apr 28, 2008
Did you ever notice that there are certain things the Lord doesn't want us to miss? That's the way I feel about Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture." It was simply impossible to miss. I think the first person to email the link to me was Jim Turk, our music director. He sent it with the words, "This
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Apr 28, 2008
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For me the most powerful way to experience the presence of the Spirit is in stories. When I was in seminary, I took a course on the Holy Spirit. The professor required that we write our final paper on one of three documents. I chose the 1978 position paper on the Holy Spirit of the Presbyterian
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on May 28, 2008
Reverend Marsh writes:
When I was a boy making the morning fires in the fireplace, sometimes, as I cleared away the ashes, I would find some glowing embers from the fire of the night before. I would lay some kindling wood on the coals and blow gently until it glowed bright red and then burst
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on May 28, 2008
Reverend Marsh tells the story of two men who worked together for years.
Joe went to church every Sunday, Harvey not at all. One Monday morning, Harvey said, "Joe, I went to church yesterday," whereupon Joe responded excitedly, "Harvey, I'm sure glad to hear that."
Harvey continued, "The
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