Someone (Hugh Black) has put it this way: “At the end of life we shall not be asked how much pleasure we had in it, but how much service we gave in it; not how full it was of success, but how full it was of sacrifice; not how happy we were; not how ambition was gratified,
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Denomination:
United Methodist
Contributed by Donnie Martin on Dec 4, 2010
ON MELKARTH
Melkarth was the kind of god that required the burning of innocent children as oblations upon his altar. One of the underlying reasons why Baal was worshiped was that he was believed to be lord of the land. To induce him to send rain upon the earth, fertility cult practices were
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Baptist
Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007
based on 3 ratings
| 5,730 views
The Chinese character for "righteousness" is most interesting. It is composed of two separate characters one standing for a lamb, the other for me. When "lamb" is placed directly above "me," a new character "righteousness" is formed. This is a helpful picture of the grace of God. Between me, the
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Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 29, 2004
based on 5 ratings
| 1,575 views
Unfortunately, my wife’s car broke down so she took it to the mechanic who leant her the garage's loan car. One rainy Saturday morning she was driving past a local supermarket when she saw an old woman. She was surrounded by shopping and indicating to my wife to pull over. When my wife stopped the
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based on 1 rating
| 557 views
In Bihar, India, there is a man named Augustine Jubakumar who leads a mission called Gospel Echoing Missionary Society (GEMS). Pastor Augustine and his wife have 4 biological children and 4 adopted children. The stories of their adopted children echo our adoption into God’s family.
One child was
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Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Contributed by John Gerald on Sep 20, 2004
based on 4 ratings
| 2,565 views
The original prophecy of Daniel was fulfilled by Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) who betrayed the Jews by taking over the temple and offering a pig upon its altar. He forbade Jews to sacrifice and to keep the Sabbath day and other Jewish traditions. He even forbid any Jews from having copies of their
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Methodist
Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Mar 3, 2008
All men commanded to appear 3 times a year there, but the Rabbis found a way to reinterpret this; at the time of Jesus, a man was considered especially devout if he went once a year, and some went once in a lifetime or every 4 or 5 years! (see "Pilgrimage at the Time of Jesus" by Shmuel Safrai,
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Denomination:
Independent/Bible
Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Mar 2, 2009
IDOLATRY IS ABOUT "GETTING"
William Barclay makes this important observation about ancient idolatry: "The essence of idolatry is the desire to get. A man sets up an idol and worships it because he desires to get something out of god. To put it bluntly, he believes that by his sacrifices and his
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Other
Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Dec 8, 2020
“Every creature in the universe is programmed to pursue pleasure. The wolf seeks meat, the bear seeks warmth. That is an indisputable fact, and that's the way God wants it.
“Human were created for pleasure, too. But unlike other creatures, humans have the ability to tap into their spiritual
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Independent/Bible
Contributed by Floyd Johnson on Mar 18, 2003
based on 33 ratings
| 2,272 views
Philip Yancey, in his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, suggests that each temptation parallels the expectation of 1st century culture for the coming Messiah:
A People’s Messiah could feed the multitudes
A man who would be King not just of Israel but of the whole world
A King who is rooted in the
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Methodist
Contributed by Gaither Bailey on Jun 15, 2005
based on 3 ratings
| 1,353 views
When I was in college, I typed term papers and saved money so I could give my mother an expensive rocking chair she had admired for Christmas –– There were many sleepless nights and tons of work to earn the money. But, on Christmas morning the rocking chair was next to the tree. Mom has always
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Stephen Wright on Oct 13, 2007
based on 2 ratings
| 2,902 views
A young Roman was condemned to death for treason. At the end of the trial an older brother stepped forward. He had lost both arms fighting for Rome. Holding out the stumps he pleaded for his brother’s life. He confessed his brother’s guilt and that he was worthy of death, but he pleaded for his
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Denomination:
Baptist
based on 2 ratings
| 2,493 views
Erwin McManus reminds us that Christianity is a dangerous faith. Listen to what he says:
"How could we ever think the Christian faith would be safe when its central metaphor is an instrument of death? It is not a coincidence that baptism is a water grave depicting death and resurrection"..."It is
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Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Contributed by Chris Surber on Mar 31, 2007
I have a close friend who tells the story of how used to live next door to a poor couple who had a little girl about five years old. He knew that she didn’t have many toys and she played by her self often in the back yard.
One day my friend went to the neighbor and explained that the church
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Denomination:
Christian Church
Contributed by Dennis Davidson on Jan 18, 2011
FREDERICK AND THE CONFESSION
Truth is we can't please God, that is, not on our terms. Nor does it do any good to try and hide our sin. Like Isaiah, we can only be used by God when we're willing to admit, "I am a person of unclean lips."
It reminds me of the story of KING FREDERICK II, an
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Baptist
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