Joseph Valachi was a gangster who worked for various crime bosses in the Mafia during the mid-20th Century. He handled mostly low-level criminal activity such as numbers rackets and gambling.
Valachi was eventually arrested for dealing heroin, along with his crime boss at the time, Vito Genovese.
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Denomination:
Episcopal/Anglican
Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Jun 16, 2009
On the weekend of June 7 my Honey and I went to Cookeville, TN, to observe the move in 1809 of one of her ancestors over the mountains from Virginia to the White Plains area of Tennessee. He was William Pennington Quarles, a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War. His daughter married a Burton, so my
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Pentecostal
Contributed by Rickey Bennett on Aug 17, 2009
What would it mean to obey this command? Jerry Bridges helps us think through what that looks like in his book, The Gospel for Real Life. Here are just a few points he lists.
To love the Lord your God with all your heart … soul and… mind means…
• Your love for God transcends all other desires
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*other
Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008
based on 15 ratings
| 8,816 views
Caterpillar Ugly, Butterfly Beautiful
It is a well-known fact that a caterpillar changes into a butterfly. The butterfly can truthfully say as he looks at the caterpillar, "Such was I, but now I am changed."
Every Christian has once been a sinner, living for self and the momentary pleasures
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Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Introduction: widows, especially those with young children, have faced hardships for many, many years. This young wife was now widowed, and even worse, she had a creditor demanding either payment of a bill—or she would have to give up her two sons. The LORD, however, had another plan to help this
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Baptist
Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 6, 2002
based on 21 ratings
| 4,044 views
THE MUSH GOD
The Mush God has been known to appear to millionaires on golf courses. He appears to politicians at ribbon-cutting ceremonies and to clergymen speaking the invocation on national TV at either Democratic or Republican conventions.
The Mush God has no theology to speak of, being a
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Contributed by Sermon Central on May 16, 2002
based on 30 ratings
| 1,647 views
TILL DEATH DO US PART
In his address to the 1997 graduation class at East Stroudsburg University, U.S. Senator Rick Santorum told a story seemingly unrelated to the usual commencement speeches about success and happiness. This is the story:
A Baptist preacher in South Carolina wanted nothing
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Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 5, 2002
based on 8 ratings
| 2,602 views
Where have the skunks gone?
If you’ve seen a skunk--or smelled one--in the last five years, Florida wants to know.
"I haven’t seen a dead skunk on the road for a while," said Henry Cabbage, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Neither have the agency’s biologists.
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Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 11, 2002
based on 5 ratings
| 1,663 views
There is an appropriate historical example of this folly of ruling out something ahead of time because it does not fit with one’s view of the world. When explorers first came to Australia, they encountered an animal the defied all known laws of taxonomy. They discovered a semiaquatic, egg-laying
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based on 12 ratings
| 8,269 views
just the other day a mild mannered young man came into my office ready for a divorce. He complained that his bride was so bossy that she was driving him off the wall. He wanted things to change, immediately.
I told him that he needed to build his self-esteem and that this would take time. Then I
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Denomination:
Methodist
Contributed by Larry Wilson on Aug 9, 2011
THELMA AND LOUISE: RETHINKING THE TRIP
Thelma, married to Darryl (which the film portrays as a controlling husband) and Louise (a single waitress with a troubled past) decide to take a weekend road trip in Louise’s teal 1966 Thunderbird convertible. They stop at a bar where Thelma flirts with a
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Baptist
Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 29, 2012
FROM BAD TO WORSE
1. Two animal rights protesters were outside a meat packing plant in Bonn, Germany protesting the cruelty of slaughtering pigs. There protests were ignored and their attempts to stop the slaughter of these animals was unheeded. However, things went from bad to worse when the
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Denomination:
Christian/Church Of Christ
Contributed by Brian Harvison on Apr 12, 2008
“I am the greatest” I like boxing. Not the biggest fan, but I enjoy it. I just read this past week that Jermain Taylor is going back to his original trainer, the one he became champion under. We should be proud of him as Arkansans, from what I hear he is an outstanding young man, not your
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Denomination:
Baptist
Contributed by Brian Harvison on May 29, 2008
But we must focus on the good
Reminds me of a story about a newlywed farmer and his wife
Mother-in-law visit demanding an inspection
Genuinely tried to be friendly
Hoping for non-antagonistic relationship
To no avail, nagged at every opportunity
Demanding changes, offering unwanted advice and
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Denomination:
Baptist
Contributed by Johnny Wilson on Jun 27, 2009
HEAR O ISRAEL: LISTEN UP!
I served in a volunteer capacity as an unofficial chaplain to the Redondo Beach (California) police force. About seven or eight of us who were ministers would rotate so that we rode entire shifts with some of the officers.
Police work is a contrast between tedium and
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*other
Contributed by Thomas Cash on Jul 7, 2009
based on 3 ratings
| 4,233 views
TRADITIONS
When the Shema prayer (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) was recited during a service at an old synagogue in Eastern Europe, half the congregation stood up and half remained sitting. The half that was seated started yelling at those standing to sit down, and the ones standing yelled at the ones
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Christian/Church Of Christ
DISCIPLINE, BROKENNESS, AND STRENGTH
Discipline is a virtue that is in short supply nowadays. We see men and women demonstrating a dangerous lack of self restraint and discipline. People do things just because they feel like it, ignoring the consequences. What there is no restraint, no discipline
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Denomination:
Independent/Bible