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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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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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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Contributed by Mark Eberly on Apr 6, 2009
There was a man traveling through a certain area out west and he ran out of gas. As the economy was bad, he was really struggling. He didn’t have any money and was trying to get home to his wife and kids after interviewing for a job. So he looked in the phone book and called a sister church. The
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Contributed by Mark Eberly on Apr 6, 2009
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THE CHURCH: WE NEED ONE ANOTHER
A pastor received a call from a chronic alcoholic. He just couldn't seem to stay sober. He had tried several other churches, but they didn't seem to have anything to help him. Finally he called this pastor whose church had a reputation for not giving up on people.
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Contributed by Mark Eberly on Apr 6, 2009
I want to share one more time from our trip. On the ship, we had an inside cabin. There were two long hallways running the length of the ship that had access to cabins on either side. The cabins along one side all were on the outside and therefore had windows. The cabins on the other side were
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Contributed by Mark Eberly on Apr 6, 2009
UN-CHRISTLIKE CHRISTIANS
A couple of months ago, there was a story on CNN of a Christian school basketball team that beat another team (another Christian school, I think) by the score of 100 to 0. It was a slaughter. The coach of the winning team, even though it was clear that the other team was
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Contributed by Mark Eberly on Apr 6, 2009
Grapevine Faith’s football team was scheduled to play the Gainesville State School. Gainesville was 0-8 and only scored two touchdowns all year. Gainesville was a state school. Many of the kids had been convicted on drugs and assault and robbery. The families of many of them had disowned them. They
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Contributed by Mark Eberly on Apr 13, 2009
Down at the Upper Room, sometimes there are guys down there that are simply repulsive. Most aren’t that bad. But there are a few. I remember Danny. He has passed on. But Danny was quite a case. He stank. He peed himself and the urine odor was enough to make you wretch. This is not an exaggeration.
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Contributed by Mark Eberly on Apr 13, 2009
OBJECT LESSON: NEW SOCKS
One of the things that our church does is that we give out new socks to some of the homeless men and women. You walk around and sleep here and there, and even if you take care of yourself and shower, your socks get dirty. When you’ve been wearing probably the same clothes
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Contributed by Mark Eberly on Apr 13, 2009
OBJECT LESSON: THE MOP HEAD
I have here a mop head that I recently replaced at the Upper Room. This has been used to mop urine. I know, because I mopped up when this guy urinated all over himself, the couch he was sitting on, and the floor while he was asleep. It has mopped up the filth that was
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Contributed by Mark Eberly on Apr 21, 2009
Speaking of abuse… have you seen those energy drinks that are out there. This may not always hold true but it seems to me that these often are marketed to promote the potential abuse of caffeine. Caffeine isn’t that bad, you may say. It isn’t like a narcotic. But I wonder if we abuse something less
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Contributed by Mark Eberly on Apr 21, 2009
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So often, it seems like people and even churches want grace without responsibility. With forgiveness comes a responsibility to be forgiving. Our response comes through the ability to confess our love to Jesus and confess our shortcomings, our flaws, and our sins. It is the response to grace that
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