Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jun 15, 2009
1938 God Moves In Mysterious Ways
At age 32, William Cowper passed through a great crisis in his life. He tried to end his life by taking laudanum. Then he hired a horse-drawn cabbie, ordering the driver to take him to the Thames, intending to throw himself from the bridge. It was one of London’s
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jun 28, 2009
SECURITY
Consider this story in relying upon God:
The 3-year-old felt secure in his father’s arms as Dad stood in the middle of the pool. But Dad, for fun, began walking slowly toward the deep end, gently chanting, “Deeper and deeper and deeper,” as the water rose higher and higher on the child.
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THE ARTIST AND THE GARDENER
Both the artist and the gardener begin with contemplation, paying close attention to what is already there.
The gardner looks carefully at the landscape; the existing plants, both flowers and weeds; the way the sun falls on the land, and so on. The artist regards their
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Baptist
WE HAVE THE KEY
Father William Bausch told a story of a boy who one morning had arrived very early at school and waited patiently at the door. Next to arrive was a lady who was surprised that this youngster had arrived so early. "It’s locked" the pupil said as the teacher tried the door. She began
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Methodist
Contributed by Matthew Rings on Oct 18, 2012
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STONING THE PASTOR
I bought some small rubber rocks from DC Works and put them on the chairs before people came into the room. As I opened the message, I asked them if I said anything that was blasphemous if they would stone me. I told them not to be shy and to let me have it. I then introduced
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Matthew Oliver on Oct 20, 2012
Christian man Carl Behr of Baldwin, Pennsylvania received a notice on Monday ordering him to remove the 24-foot high illuminated cross he has installed in his front yard and kept lit day and night. But Behr plans to fight the order at a municipal meeting. “It’s all about my faith, and some people
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Episcopal/Anglican
Contributed by Matthew Redder on May 17, 2018
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Some time ago I returned from a missions trip completely full of faith and ready to set the world on fire with the love of Christ. During my first church service back in the states I was asked to close our service in prayer. I joyfully obliged and went whole-heartedly into prayer full of faith and
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Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Contributed by Matthew Redder on May 21, 2018
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Have you ever shopped at Home Depot? Lowes? Or some other home repair-improvement type store?
If you have you've inevitably seen the piles of lumber tossed aside that are broken, cracked, warped, crooked, or just plain look bad. These piles of lumber go ignored as faithful builders go for the
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Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Contributed by Matthew Redder on Sep 21, 2018
I love this quote as I believe it is hard for the Christian artist to always understand their place in the church.
Truth be told, artists have an incredible gift and responsibility in the community to illuminate the realities of the Word and of this life we live. Wright puts it well:
"The
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Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Contributed by Matthew Redder on Sep 21, 2018
The story of Augustine's conversion is an inspiring and amazing one. In my opinion it is a miraculous account of God grabbing the attention of Augustine and speaking directly into his heart through the power of a perfectly timed scripture.
This could be a great illustration about the power of the
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Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jul 20, 2008
Since January 1, 2001, there have been about 800,000 induced abortions in Canada, which is a rate of about 1/3 of live births (http://www.webhart.net/vandee/abortstat.shtml).
There have been over 74 million induced abortions in the Western world
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jul 20, 2008
WOULD YOU CONSIDER ABORTION...
Would you consider abortion in the following situations?
(1) There’s a preacher and wife who are very, very, poor. They already have 14 kids. Now she finds out she’s pregnant with number 15. They’re living in tremendous poverty. Considering their poverty and the
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jul 27, 2008
"I can plod," said William Carey, the father of modern missions. "That is my only genius. I can persevere in any
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jul 27, 2008
John Knox, the Scottish reformer, wrote:
Quote: “By what means Satan first drew mankind from the obedience of God, the Scripture doth witness: To wit, by pouring into their hearts that poison, that God did not love them”.
(
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jul 27, 2008
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“Time is often represented by a straight line drawn on a page. We call this a time line. To get a grasp of what the eternality of God means, when you have drawn your time line you must picture God as the whole page on which the line is drawn”. (Green, M. P. (1989). Illustrations for Biblical
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Aug 9, 2008
The early Church Father John Chrysostom relates these two words to the special situation in which the Galatians found themselves: “For since they were in danger of falling from grace, he prays that they may recover it again, and since they had become at war with God, he
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Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Aug 9, 2008
Martin Luther said: "Grace releases sin, and peace makes the conscience quiet. The two fiends that torment us are sin and conscience. But Christ has vanquished these two monsters, and trodden them under foot, both in this world, and in the world to come."
(Source: Barton,
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