At home I have an 18th century commentary on the Gospels. I turned to the place which mentions the story of the lost sheep and it says “A sheep, once it has strayed away, is a creature remarkably stupid and heedless; it goes wandering on without any power or inclination to return back, though each
...read more
Denomination:
Episcopal/Anglican
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,
...read more
Denomination:
United Methodist
Contributed by Bobby Mcdaniel on Oct 19, 2003
based on 9 ratings
| 3,104 views
Paul Brand wrote in the March 4, 1983 issue of "Christianity Today:"
Blood spatters the pages of mythology and of history. Drinking it gives strength and new life: to the ghosts of the dead in The Odyssey, to the Roman epileptics who dashed onto the floor of the Coliseum to quaff the blood of
...read more
Tags:
Contributed by Owen Bourgaize on Nov 4, 2006
based on 3 ratings
| 1,937 views
What is so special about a poppy on Remembrance Day? Why not use a pansy? Scarlet poppies grow naturally in conditions of disturbed earth throughout Western Europe. The destruction brought by the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th Century, transformed bare land into fields of blood red poppies,
...read more
Denomination:
Baptist
Contributed by Dale Pilgrim on Nov 3, 2007
The deepest demonstration of love is to willingly sacrifice oneself for the benefit of another. In our last church one of our members was Pat Thorne. He was a sniper who, atop a tree, saw a platoon of Canadian soldiers walking on a road in the direction of a German contingent. Wanting to warn them
...read more
Denomination:
Salvation Army
Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 29, 2004
based on 5 ratings
| 1,624 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
...read more
Tags:
Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007
based on 3 ratings
| 5,890 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
...read more
Tags:
Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007
based on 3 ratings
| 2,044 views
A.W. Tozer said something quite insightful in terms of overall service:
Before the judgment seat of Christ my service will not be judged by how much I have done but by how much of me there is in it. No man gives at all until he has given all. No man gives anything
...read more
Tags:
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
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Baptist
Contributed by John Gerald on Sep 20, 2004
based on 4 ratings
| 2,680 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
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Methodist
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
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
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
...read more
Scripture:
Tags:
Denomination:
Independent/Bible
Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Apr 3, 2011
Many clearly Biblical, crucial beliefs are under assault these days. One of those beliefs is our conviction that Christ died as our substitute, that he took our sins upon himself when he died on the cross, and that he paid the penalty for our sins and offered himself as a sacrifice to the Father,
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Independent/Bible
Contributed by Floyd Johnson on Mar 18, 2003
based on 33 ratings
| 2,343 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
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Methodist