A Texas preacher, David Dykes, claims this is a true story, with the names changed to protect the innocent.
Little Tommy attended first grade Sunday School faithfully. He loved his teacher, Mrs. Smith. She told great Bible stories and would always end the story by saying, “And, boys and girls, the MORAL of the story is …” Little Tommy enjoyed learning about the morals of each Bible story. Continue reading
Filed under Parables of Jesus, Passage To Ponder
Ray Stedman, in his book Authentic Christianity, tells a story about a man who was an alcoholic but accepted Christ and became a believer,
A friend who heard of his conversion questioned him about how he could believe all that “nonsense” in the Bible about miracles. “You don’t believe that Jesus changed the water into wine, do you?” Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
Matthew 3 is an extraordinary chapter. Following 400 years of prophetic silence, God sent a man named John to stir the hearts of his people and point them to the promised Messiah.
Matthew’s narrative concerning the coming of Christ, the work of His forerunner, John the Baptist, and the state of the religious leaders, remind us how relevant the Word is to our culture and needs. Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
“What do you do when you’re not preaching?”
“It must be nice to work only one day a week.”
“I’d like to come and see you this afternoon. Since it’s not Sunday, I assume you’re free.”
“Do you have a job? Or just preach?”
“That was like a really good TED talk about Jesus!” Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder, Preaching
The 19th-century evangelist, R. A. Torrey, was well known for his emphatic preaching on the 2nd coming of Christ. Biographer, Roger Martin, relates an interesting and somewhat humorous story from one such sermon.
Torrey was speaking to a crowd of nearly 3,000 in Chicago on the 2nd coming. As he concluded his sermon, he spoke eloquently about Jesus’ glorious return. The sound of the trumpet. The shout of the archangel. Torrey then concluded with these climactic words. Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
“God hates” is not an expression we often hear.
We preach about the love of God. We sing about it. We write about it. We read scriptures like “God so loved the world…” (Jn 3:16).
But, “God hates”? Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
Have you heard the one about the preacher trying to “sell” a new idea to his elders. After his most impassioned plea, they voted down the proposal 6-1.
The elder leading the meeting said to the preacher, “Sorry, but it looks like you’re the only one voting for the proposal.”
“Well, that’s all we had on the agenda tonight,” the elder concluded. So he asked the preacher to lead a prayer to close the meeting. Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
“Half of the misery in the world comes from trying to look, instead of trying to be, what one is not,” once wrote the 19th century Scottish minister George MacDonald.
This practice can be summed up in one word. Hypocrisy. It’s wearing a mask. Pretending. Acting instead of being. In a twisted way, “Hypocrisy is an homage that vice pays to virtue,” suggested the French writer La Rochefoucauld. Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder, Uncategorized
When Abraham Lincoln was facing the crisis of a divided nation during the civil war, he was faced with many tough decisions. Often he was second guessed. Criticized. And even mocked.
It’s no wonder he admitted, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.”
During this current crisis, we may wonder where to go. Literally there’s no place to go. Everyone is told to stay home. At times, the advice of the experts seems contradictory and confusing. We ponder what the future holds. Will life ever be the same again? Continue reading
Filed under Parables of Jesus, Passage To Ponder
What is success? How do you define it? What are the essentials of success? And how do you know when you’ve achieved success?
Google “success” and you will incredibly get 5,440,000,000 hits in .48 seconds. Go to Amazon and you find there are over 90,000 books written about success. All of these sources are filled with formulas, fundamentals and principles for achieving success in a given area of life. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
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