Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 3, 2008
I was using pot and drinking. I gravitated toward rock and eventually into heavy metal and thrash, because this music fed my negative emotions. In fact, there were specific songs that I couldn’t hear for several years later without having a response that put me emotionally back in that place.
By
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Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 3, 2008
Rabbi Hillel supposed told his disciples, "Make sure that you repent on the day that you die and God will forgive you."
His disciples then asked, "How are we supposed to know
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Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 9, 2008
Lisa Beamer reflects on the loss of her dad in her book, "Let’s Roll." Slowly she began to understand that the plans God has for us don’t just include ‘good things’, but the whole array of human events. The ‘prospering’ he talks about in the book of Jeremiah is often the outcome of a ‘bad’ event.
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Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 9, 2008
Our cultural advertising motto is “sex sells.” Sex sells clothes, cars, food, beverages, even exercise equipment. “You can have the body that you have always wanted.” While they show two “perfectly” chiseled bodies using their equipment (always one male and one female), the message is that once you
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Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 9, 2008
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PASTOR AVOID THE APPEARANCE OF EVIL
Personally and professionally, my wife Kendra knows that there are some things that I need to be very careful of violating as her husband and as a pastor. For example, being alone with member of the opposite sex is something I am very careful about not doing.
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Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 26, 2008
GIVE YOURSELF RIGHT NOW
Those in recovery groups talk about seeing what he or she can “pack into the stream of life.” Many addicts and alcoholics initially think of themselves as pretty good people who just need to cut back drinking. If they have problems, they happen because of other people.
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Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 26, 2008
We went to the dollar theater while on vacation as we were getting our popcorn. The guy who was getting asked another young fellow who was just coming on to get some ice. This second guy didn’t seem to happy about it and didn’t really want to do it. The first guy said, “Hey if it wasn’t for me, you
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Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 26, 2008
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The early Church of God reformers called themselves The Gospel Trumpet family. As many as three hundred people lived, worked, played, worshipped and ate together. They came together to publish materials that would be used to spread the gospel and teach others what the Church of God believed. They
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Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 30, 2008
Let me share some examples. On my trip to Ireland, we visited Northern Ireland including a city called Londenderry. This was something because of the violence that tours would not have done ten years ago. The name of the town is significant because it became a symbol of people being marginalized.
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Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 30, 2008
Why do you do what you do? Why do you want something? Why do you want it so badly? Can you let it go? Do you want something simply for yourself? BTW, it is real easy to deceive yourself into believing that you something for others but in reality it is a selfish ambition. I told people before how as
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Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jul 15, 2008
So what does this imply as we follow Jesus? Am I expected to be perfect? Does God expect me to be perfect? Absolutely not!! When we expect this, do you know what happens? It is not holistic at all. If anything it is at best partial because people who live with those expectations hide their
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Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jul 15, 2008
a. Entirely sanctified
This idea was hugely important for the early Church of God reformers. They believed that this was one of the primary beliefs that made them as Church of God people distinctive. They believed and called people to be entirely sanctified meaning that God would sanctify his
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Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jul 15, 2008
The early Church of God reformers believed that at a second point in time after we begin believing in Jesus, God Himself sends His Spirit to guide and direct in order to surrender our entire lives into His care. They found many people believed in Jesus but then experienced God in such a profound
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Contributed by Mark Schaeufele on Mar 19, 2009
I WANT TO MATTER
I once asked a friend of mine what was his biggest fear? After listening to his response, I told him that my biggest fear in life is being insignificant. If I can’t make a difference in the lives of those around me, and impact their lives for the sake of the Kingdom, then my
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Methodist
Contributed by Mark Schaeufele on Mar 19, 2009
When I was in Amsterdam, working as a missionary with YWAM, a Christian music group came to the city to play at a place called "The Last Watering Hole." A number of us went to hear them play and support them in their mission. While we were there, a who was not a Christian light up a joint. Out of
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Methodist
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Mar 23, 2009
DELIVERING PAPERS IN THE RAIN
When I was ten, my mother and I somehow had gotten involved in a bible memory course. It was all through the mail, and we didn’t go to a church anywhere, even occasionally, but we would memorize ten verses a week. During the time, the materials gave some Scriptures
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Church Of God
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Mar 23, 2009
One man that I remember from several years ago talked about his drinking. He like to go to the bar after work and throw back a few brews at the end of the week. Sometimes he would get a little intoxicated but he wasn’t an alcoholic. At one point he felt the Lord telling him to give it up. He didn’t
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Contributed by Mark Schaeufele on Mar 26, 2009
Old Testament scholar Christopher Wright states in his book Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament,
"I find myself aware that in reading the Hebrew Scriptures, I am handling something that gives me a closer link with Jesus than any archaeological artifact could do...Above all, this is where he
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Methodist
Contributed by Mark Schaeufele on Mar 26, 2009
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Again, I want to refer to Christopher Wright’s book Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament. He asks the question, Why does Matthew start his gospel with the genealogy of Jesus? Why didn’t he go straight to the wonderful story of the Magi? It's "because, says Matthew, you won’t understand that
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Methodist
Contributed by Mark Eberly on Apr 6, 2009
I read a story of a pastor whose son began to drift away from God in high school. The son started to hang out with the wrong crowd changing his actions and attitude. The parents, of course, were broken-hearted. They were embarrassed. But they didn’t hide this. They cried out to God with God’s
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