Contributed by Paul Carlson on Feb 16, 2009
Some of you know Helen Schaaf. I shared with the church her current physical struggles a few weeks ago. She had debilitating back pain that was making walking excruciatingly painful; finally, her doctor diagnosed a treatment for her. She had an injection in her spine so that she could walk
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Baptist
St. John of the Cross was right: "it is quite impossible to reach the thicket of the riches and wisdom of God except by first entering the thicket of much suffering, in such a way that the soul finds there its consolation and desire. The soul that
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Catholic
Contributed by Clark Tanner on Mar 16, 2009
“Everyone dies…all flesh is grass…what did you expect? Did you really think that Christ would blunt the spear-points, deflect the lash, cause the chains to melt away when they touched your skin? Did you expect to walk in sunlight and not feel the heat, or to go without water and not grow thirsty?
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Orthodox
Contributed by Matthew Kratz on May 31, 2009
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Under Or Above Circumstances
There is a story of a lady who was severely depressed by a series of disheartening events. When asked how she was weathering the storm of adversity, she answered, “Quite well, under the circumstances.” “Sister,” he replied kindly yet firmly, “you’ll never make it that
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on May 31, 2009
No House Without Sorrow
Among the parables that Chinese teachers use is the story of a woman who lost an only son. She was grief-stricken out of all reason. She made her sorrow a wailing wall. Finally she went to a wise old philosopher. He said to her, “I will give you back your son if you will
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This week on the Today Show (November 2009) there was a young mother whose face had been disfigured in a plane crash and she was in the midst of many needed operations. Her little girl was asked how it all affected her and she said, “Mommy is nicer now.” This mother had received the blessing nobody
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Baptist
Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 27, 2009
"It interests me that God tests me by allowing me to go through difficult situations in order to prove the quality of my character, the genuineness of my worship and the motivations of my service. What is your Marah?
I can sing praises easily when things are working out well for me. Throughout my
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Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Contributed by Timothy Brown on Feb 7, 2010
Illustration: A man found a cocoon of the emperor moth and took it home to watch it emerge. One day a small opening appeared, and for several hours the moth struggled but couldn't seem to force its body past a certain point. Deciding something was wrong, the man took scissors and snipped the
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Baptist
Contributed by Chris Surber on Jun 17, 2010
Christina recently gave birth to our first daughter. After three sons I am very pleased to have a little girl. Recently I was speaking to the academic dean of the seminary where I am pursuing doctoral studies. The school had asked for individual and family photos of students like me who are
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Christian Church
Contributed by Gregg Bitter on Nov 24, 2010
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70 FUNERALS IN ONE DAY
During a forty-year ministry, I would guess that many pastors do seventy or more burials. But this wasn't over the full span of his ministry. In fact, it wasn't even a full year. In one day, Pastor Rinkart did burial rites for up to seventy people and did the same the next
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Lutheran
SHOOT THE MOON
The other day I needed to take my mind off things, so I opened my computer and played a game of hearts. Now, like all card games, no matter how diligent you play, there's time when the unexpected happens, and you're hand turns to disaster. One sneaky move from an opponent and it's
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Lutheran
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