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Every Time We Equip The Church With A Verse, Chapter Or A Story From The Bible, We're Really Placing Another Weapon In The Hands Of The Holy Spirit That He Uses To Challenge And Strengthen The Church. I Think That's Very Important.

-Max Lucado

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Every Time We Equip

Max Lucado

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Every Time We Equip The Church With A Verse, Chapter Or A Story From The Bible, We're Really Placing Another Weapon In The Hands Of The Holy Spirit That He Uses To Challenge And Strengthen The Church. I Think That's Very Important.

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How Grimy Did God Get When He Reached Down To Clean You Up? How Grimy Are You Willing To Get In Order To Be An 'imitator Of God'?

A Book Should Be A Garden That Fits In The Hands. Word-petals Of Color. Stems Of Strength. Roots Of Truth. Turn A Page And Turn The Seasons. Read The Sentence And Enjoy The Roses.

I Think The Hardest One Had To Do With Suffering. It Had To Do With All Of Our Church Members And Friends Passing Through Difficult Times. Sometimes It's The Global Climate: Tsunamis, Earthquakes, Radiation. I Think These Kinds Of Questions Are Absolutely The Most Difficult, Yet We Need To Be Ready To Respond To Them Because We Have To Be Able As Pastors To Walk People Through These Valleys, These Tough Times In Their Lives.

When A Christian Stops Growing, Help Is Needed. If You Are The Same Christian You Were A Few Months Ago, Be Careful.

Jesus Tends To His People Individually. He Personally Sees To Our Needs. We All Receive Jesus' Touch. We Experience His Care.

We Need To Remember That The First Disciples Were Ordinary Men Called To An Extraordinary Mission. Their Devotion To Jesus Outweighed- By Hair- Their Fears And Insecurities. As A Result God Change Them And Use Them To Accomplish Some Mind-boggling Things. Why Couldn't God - Why Wouldn't God Do The Same In Your Life?

You Will Never Forgive Anyone More Than God Has Already Forgiven You.

I Choose Faithfulness...today I Will Keep My Promises. My Debtors Will Not Regret Their Trust. My Associates Will Not Question My Word. My Wife Will Not Question My Love. And My Children Will Never Fear That They Father Will Not Come Home.

He Promises A Lamp Unto Our Feet, Not A Crystal Ball Into The Future.

If You Knew Jesus Was Coming Tomorrow, What Would You Do Today? Then Do It!

The Step Between Prudence And Paranoia Is Short And Steep. Prudence Wears A Seat Belt. Paranoia Avoids Cars. Prudence Washes With Soap. Paranoia Avoids Human Contact. Prudence Saves For Old Age. Paranoia Hoards Even Trash. Prudence Prepares And Plans, Paranoia Panics. Prudence Calculates The Risk And Takes The Plunge. Paranoia Never Enters The Water.

Which Would You Prefer? To Be King Of The Mountain For A Day? Or To Be A Child Of God For Eternity?

My Conversations With Trump Supporters Have Left Me With More Questions Than Answers.

The Maker Of The Stars Would Rather Die For You Than Live Without You. And That Is A Fact. So If You Need To Brag, Brag About That.

We’re Grateful When All Is Well, But Can We Say The Same On Disastrous Days?

You Don't Impress The Officials At Nasa With A Paper Airplane. You Don't Boast About Your Crayon Sketches In The Presence Of Picasso. You Don't Claim Equality With Einstein Because You Can Write 'h20.' And You Don't Boast About Your Goodness In The Presence Of The Perfect.

Want To Snatch A Day From The Manacles Of Boredom? Do Overgenerous Deeds, Acts Beyond Reimbursement. Kindness Without Compensation. Do A Deed For Which You Cannot Be Repaid.

Unhappiness On Earth Cultivates A Hunger For Heaven. By Gracing Us With A Deep Dissatisfaction, God Holds Our Attention.

Don't Worry About Having The Right Words; Worry More About Having The Right Heart. It's Not Eloquence He Seeks, Just Honesty.

I Was Praying About What I Needed To Teach. I Felt It Wasn't Time To Move Out Of The Theme Of Romans, Which Is Salvation By Grace Through Faith.

I Think That I Speak A Lot Like I Write.

You Will Be At Your Best Forever, Even Now You Have Good Moments. Occasional Glimpses Of Your Heavenly Self. When You Change Your Baby's Diaper, Forgive Your Boss's Temper, Tolerate Your Spouse's Moodiness, You Display Traces Of Saintliness.

I Think It's Noteworthy That The Almighty Didn't Act High And Mighty. The Holy One Wasn't Holier-than-thou. The One Who Knew It All Wasn't A Know-it-all. The One Who Made The Stars Didn't Keep His Head In Them. The One Who Owns All The Stuff Of Earth Never Strutted It.

I See That A Lot In My Own Life And In The Lives Of Others.does The Presence Of Pain Mean The Absence Of God?

My Main Concern Is With The Anxiety That Has Settled Upon America.

If You're Looking For A Place With No Change, Try A Soda Machine.

Your Serenity Matters To Heaven. God's Presence Encapsulates Your Life.

You Present A Challenge To Satan's Plan. You Carry Something Of God Within You, Something Noble And Holy, Something The World Needs - Wisdom, Kindness, Mercy, Skill. If Satan Can Neutralize You, He Can Mute Your Influence.

God's Greatest Blessings Often Come Costumed As Disasters. Any Doubters Need To Do Nothing More Than Ascend The Hill Of Calvary.

We Celebrate The First Advent To Whet Our Appetites For The Second. We Long For The Next Coming.

For Seven Years Ancient Israel Could Not Be Stopped In The Joshua Book. I Have Found This To Be A Great Imagery And Analogy For The Christian Life. As Christians, We Have The Same Images. We've Come Out Of Egypt (been Saved) We've Crossed Over, And Jesus Christ Is Our Moses And Our Joshua.

What I Try To Do Is Narrow The Sermon Series Down To One Big Question. In This Case The Question Is: What Happens When Grace Happens? I Knew I Wanted To Preach About Grace. I Just Felt As If It Was Time For Our Church To Be Refreshed And See The Beauty Of God's Grace - The Uniqueness Of The Christian Grace As Compared To The Teachings Of Other World Religions On Forgiveness.

World Religions

We Preachers, People Entrust Us With Their Time Week After Week. I'm Still Stunned That People Will Let Me Talk To Them For Thirty Minutes About Anything I Want To. It's A Wonderful Treasure That We Are To Steward.

While We Appreciate Our Ancestry As Americans Or Even Our Ethnic Ancestry And Our Color Of Skin, We Believe That Our Real Citizenship Is In Heaven.

I Don't Like Hassles. But I Love Christmas Because It Reminds Us How "god Causes Everything To Work Together For The Good Of Those Who Love God" (rom. 8:28 Nlt).

Working Together

Seek Beauty And Miss Love. But Seek Love And Find Both.

When We See Death, We See Disaster. When Jesus Sees Death, He Sees Deliverance!

You're Special-not Because Of What You Have. You're Special Because Of Who You Are.

If God Is Enough For You, Then You'll Always Have Enough, Because You'll Always Have God.

For Those Who Never Pray, Maybe Now You Will. For Those Of Us Who Attempt To Pray, Maybe We Can Pray More.

I Think What Happens Is That We're So Busy As Pastors That We Never Get Around To Trying To Turn That Material Into A Book. It's A Shame Because There Is So Much Good Material Out There That Needs To Be Published.

If You Are 8 Hours A Day In A Job You Hate, You're Not Going To Be A Very Good Spouse; It Can Contribute To Chemical Dependency, Financial Mismanagement.

Our Kids Were God's Kids First... We Tend To Forget This Fact, Regarding Our Children As "our" Children, As Though We Have The Final Say In Their Health And Welfare. We Don't. All People Are God's People, Including The Small People Who Sit At Our Tables.

Our Prayers May Be Awkward. Our Attempts May Be Feeble. But Since The Power Of Prayer Is In The One Who Hears It And Not In The One Who Says It, Our Prayers Do Make A Difference.

Creativity Has Got To Be The Warp And Woof, The Heart And Soul, Of Our Sermons.

As We Meditate On Christ's Life, We Find Strength For Our Own.

Finding Strength

Let's Be The People Who Look At The Hurting Until We Hurt With Them. No Hurrying Past, Turning Away, Or Shifting Of Eyes. No Pretending Or Glossing Over. Let's Look At The Face Until We See The Person.

In A World Of Upward Mobility, Choose Downward Servility.

Upward Mobility

Thoughts Have Consequences. Healing From Anxiety Requires Healthy Thinking. Your Challenge Is Not Your Challenge. Your Challenge Is The Way You Think About Your Challenge. Your Problem Is Not Your Problem; It's The Way You Look At It.

God Will Restore His Planet And His Children To Their Garden Of Eden Splendor. It'll Be Perfect. Perfect In Grandeur. Perfect In Righteousness. Perfect In Harmony.

All Of My Books Began As Sermons, So Really The Heart Of The Message Is Still The Same.

A Story Does That: It Will Reach Out And Hook Somebody And Hold Them For Just A Few Moments While You Unpack This Story In Their Presence.

Confession Is The Act Of Inviting God To Walk The Acreage Of Our Hearts. “there Is A Rock Of Greed Over Here, Father. I Can’t Budge It. And That Tree Of Guilt Near The Fence? Its Roots Are Long And Deep. And May I Show You Some Dry Soil, Too Crusty For Seed?” God’s Seed Grows Better If The Soil Of The Heart Is Cleared.

The Cross Is Where God Forgave His Children Without Lowering His Standards.

The Influence Of The Church Does Not Depend On The Church, It Depends On The Holy Spirit. And The Holy Spirit Will Never Lose Its Influence. He Is God And He Is Influencing Society.

I'm First A Pastor And Then A Writer.

Feed Your Fears And Your Faith Will Starve. Feed Your Faith, And Your Fears Will.

God's Love Supply Is Never Empty.

As A Pastor, You Get Asked Questions And Receive Emails. Many Of Them I Had Answered, But Just In Conversation. So We Kind Of Re-crafted The Question And Answered It. It Turned Out To Be An Interesting Exercise. I Hope It's Encouraging For People.

I Didn't Want To Just Write Stories That Were Entertaining. Nor Did I Want To Be So Scholarly That People Couldn't Digest It.

Our Moods May Shift, But God's Doesn't. Our Minds May Change, But God's Doesn't. Our Devotion May Falter, But God's Never Does. Even If We Are Faithless, He Is Faithful, For He Cannot Betray Himself. He Is A Sure God.

Maybe Your Life Resembles A Bethlehem Stable. Crude In Some Spots, Smelly In Others. Not Much Glamour. Not Always Neat. People In Your Circle Remind You Of Stable Animals: Grazing Like Sheep, Stubborn Like Donkeys, And That Cow In The Corner Looks A Lot Like The Fellow Next Door. You, Like Joseph, Knocked On The Innkeeper's Door. But You Were Too Late. Or Too Old, Sick, Dull, Damaged, Poor, Or Peculiar. You Know The Sound Of A Slamming Door.

If The Purpose Of Life Is Just To Live This Life And Then Die, It's Hard To Answer The Purpose Of Pain Question; But If We Can Help People See From An Eternal Perspective - That All Of This Is Working Together To Prepare Us For Something Higher Than We've Ever Imagined, More Noble Than We've Ever Dreamed - Then We Discover Some Hope That We Can Hold On To.

He Came, Not As A Flash Of Light Or As An Unapproachable Conqueror, But As One Whose First Cries Were Heard By A Peasant Girl And A Sleepy Carpenter. God Tapped Humanity On Its Collective Shoulder, "pardon Me," He Said, And Eternity Interrupted Time, Divinity Interrupted Carnality, And Heaven Interrupted The Earth In The Form Of A Baby. Christianity Was Born In One Big Heavenly Interruption.

There's A Great Place For Good Christian Children's Books. After The Upcoming Projects I'm Working On, I'd Like To Turn My Attention Back To Children's Books. Maybe With A Granddaughter I'll Have More Inspiration And New Ideas.

The Peace Of God, Which Surpasses All Understanding, Will Guard Your Hearts And Minds Through Christ Jesus . As We Do Our Part Rejoice In The Lord, Pursue A Gentle Spirit, Pray About Everything, And Cling To Gratitude, God Does His Part. He Bestows Upon Us The Peace Of God. Note, This Is Not A Peace From God. Our Father Gives Us The Very Peace Of God. He Downloads The Tranquility Of The Throne Room Into Our World, Resulting In An Inexplicable Calm. We Should Be Worried, But We Aren't. We Should Be Upset, But We're Comforted.

Jesus Will Press His Thumb Against The Cheek Of Humanity And Wipe Away All Tears.

I Think The Hardest Questions Had To Do With Suffering. It Had To Do With All Of Our Church Members And Friends Passing Through Difficult Times. Sometimes It's The Global Climate: Tsunamis, Earthquakes, Radiation. I Think These Kinds Of Questions Are Absolutely The Most Difficult, Yet We Need To Be Ready To Respond To Them Because We Have To Be Able As Pastors To Walk People Through These Valleys, These Tough Times In Their Lives.

I Try To Help People See They're Going To Have These Times In Which They Turn Away, In Which They Deny Christ And Their Faith Grows Cold, Their Convictions Weakened; But Jesus Is Waiting.

You Are Valuable Because You Exist. Not Because Of What You Do Or What You Have Done - But Simply Because You Are.

I Really Enjoy Making People Laugh; I've Discovered That's A Great Technique. That's As Powerful As Stirring Their Sorrow, Stirring Their Compassion, Because That Befriends You To Them. It Engages You With Them And Then You Can Come In; They Will Remember That Point.

Each One Of Us Should Lead A Life Stirring Enough To Start A Movement.

What To Change Your Life? Begin By Saying, "the Lord Is My Shepherd."

Changing Your Life

Every Time We Equip The Church With A Verse, Chapter Or A Story From The Bible, We're Really Placing Another Weapon In The Hands Of The Holy Spirit That He Uses To Challenge And Strengthen The Church. I Think That's Very Important.

If Today Were Your Last, Would You Do What You're Doing? Or Would You Love More, Give More, Forgive More?

I Think There Is Something About A Story That Is Enduring. Stories Take On A Life Of Their Own.

There Is Not A Hint Of One Person Who Was Afraid To Draw Near Him [jesus]. There Were Those Who Mocked Him. There Were Those Who Were Envious Of Him. There Were Those Who Misunderstood Him. There Were Those Who Revered Him. But There Was Not One Person Who Considered Him Too Holy, Too Divine, Or Too Celestial To Touch. There Was Not One Person Who Was Reluctant To Approach Him For Fear Of Being Rejected.

I'm Right Now Wrapping Up The Sermon Series On Grace. I'd Like To Figure Out What This Next Series Will Be In January. To Do That, I'm Going To Come Up With Four Or Five Really Good Ideas - At Least That I Think Are Really Good Ideas - And If I Don't Sense God Really Highlighting One Of Those, I Will Go To The Elders Of Our Church And My Co-pastors.

I Think There Is, Not In The Sense That I Enjoy It, But That It's An Important Question. It's The Question, "does The Presence Of Pain Mean God Doesn't Care? Does God Not Love Me Anymore?" I Think That's A Very Common Connection We Tend To Make.

God Wants You To Know That He Gets You.

Matthew Loved The Magi. He Gave Their Story More Square Inches Of Text Than He Gave The Narrative Of The Birth Of Jesus. He Never Mentions The Shepherds Or The Manger, But He Didn't Want Us To Miss The Star And The Seekers. It's Easy To See Why. Their Story Is Our Story.

Fear May Fill Our World, But It Doesn’t Have To Fill Our Hearts.

God Is Kind, But He Is Not Soft. He Takes Us Firmly By The Hand And Leads Us Into A Radical Life Change.

Your Home Is Your Giant-size Privilege, Your Towering Priority.

If I'm A Young Mom Or Young Dad, I Can Find A Great Source Of Strength. God Has Promised That He Will Help Me To Be The Mom Or Dad That He Wants Me To Be. He Has Promised To Be With Me Every Step Of The Way. He Has Promised That He Will Never Leave Me Or Forsake Me. These Are Wonderful Promises That I Can Learn To Trust And Build A Life On.

I Have A Great Staff At The Church; They Protect Me And Allow Me To Focus On More Of What I Do Best.

Praise Is The Highest Occupation Of Any Being

That's What I'm Hoping We Can All Do, Is Come Together In A Spirit Of Prayer.

Our Task Is To Stand Tall In God's Love, Secure In Our Place, Sparkling In Kindness, Surrounded By His Goodness, Freely Giving To All Who Come Our Way. You, Me, And The Christmas Tree. Picked, Purchased, And Pruned.

God Is God. He Knows What He Is Doing. When You Can’t Trace His Hand, Trust His Heart.

God Grants Us An Uncommon Life To The Degree We Surrender Our Common One.

To Call Yourself A Child Of God Is One Thing. To Be Called A Child Of God By Those Who Watch Your Life Is Another Thing Altogether.

No Place Is Too Common.

You Change Your Life By Changing Your Heart.

I Don't Feel Like I Have A Lot To Offer In Terms Of An Authoritative Voice On A Lot Of Political Issue. I Don't Know How To Fix The Economy, Or How To Increase The Number Of Jobs. That Is Not Where I Spent My Life And Thought And Meditation. I Guess I Would Like To Think That The Topics That I Am Discussing - The Gospel, The Forgiveness Of Sins And The Defeat Of Death - Goes Up River To All Problem.

There's An Antidote To Our Fears- Trust. If We Trust God More,we Can Fear Less.

My Book Centers In On The New Testament, The Goal Being To Help A Person Who Wants To Understand The Bible To See How What God Did As Revealed In The New Testament Will Reveal To Them Their Own Personal Story.

I Don't Have A Lot Of Time In The Sermon Anyway. The Sermon Is Only 25 Minutes, Which To Me Is Frighteningly Short. So I Feel As If I Need To Get Into That Pretty Quickly And Make It As Practical And Accessible As Possible.

A Woman's Heart Should Be So Hidden In God That A Man Has To Seek Him Just To Find Her.

God Meets Our Needs One Day At A Time.

I Think There Is, Not In The Sense That I Enjoy It, But That It's An Important Question. It's The Question, "does The Presence Of Pain Mean God Doesn't Care? Does God Not Love Me Anymore?" I Think That's A Very Common Connection We Tend To Make. I See That A Lot In My Own Life And In The Lives Of Others.

Forgive And Give As If It Were Your Last Opportunity.

I Don't Get Asked A Lot Of Questions About Who Is The Best Political Candidate Or What My Position Is On What The Senate Is About To Do.

For Years I Thought My Assignment Or The Church's Assignment Was To Articulate The Gospel And Nothing More. Now I Believe That If We Don't Support The Verbal Expression Of The Gospel With Physical Demonstration Of Compassion, We Are Not Imitating Jesus.

No One Can Teach Your Child Like You Can. No Nanny, Bible School Teacher, Aunt, Or Uncle Has Your Authority. What A Phenomenal Privilege Is Yours.

Bethlehem Was Just The Beginning. I Call Jesus Christ's Next Appearance, Bethlehem, Act 2. No Silent Night This Time, However. The Skies Will Open, Trumpets Will Blast, And A New Kingdom Will Begin.

I Firmly Believe That The Purpose Of Life Is Not This Life. It Is To Equip Us, Whatever Our Role Is Going To Be In The Next Life. And Understanding God's Story Is Really Where I Find The Significance And Purpose In My Own Story.

Understanding God

Resentment Is When You Allow What’s Eating You To Eat You Up. Revenge Is The Raging Fire That Consumes The Arsonist. Bitterness Is The Trap That Snares The Hunter. And Mercy Is The Choice That Can Set Them All Free.

God Wants No One To Leave Our Presence Empty Handed.

Worry Is Anti-trust. If You're Worried, You Don't Trust Something: Your Kids, Their Friends, Strangers, The Church, Even God. Can He Take Care Of Your Children? Certainly. Jesus Says, 'i Tell You, Stop Being Anxious And Worried About Your Life.' Pretty Blunt. Stop It! Easier Said Than Done, Huh? Worry Tests Your Trust, So Hand Your Children To God And Let Him Babysit Your Babies When You're Not Around. He's Pretty Good At It!

Trust God's Love. His Perfect Love. Don't Fear He Will Discover Your Past. He Already Has. Don't Fear Disappointing Him In The Future. He Can Show You The Chapter In Which You Will. With Perfect Knowledge Of The Past And Perfect Vision Of The Future, He Loves You Perfectly In Spite Of Both.

Visions Of The Future

Every Faith Has Its Story; Every Faith Has Its Roots.

God's Blessings Are Dispensed According To The Riches Of His Grace, Not According To The Depth Of Our Faith.

Fear Will Always Knock On Your Door. Just Don't Invite It In For Dinner. And For Heaven's Sake, Don't Offer It A Bed For The Night.

Parents, What Are Your Children Learning From Your Worship? Do They See The Same Excitement As When You Go To A Basketball Game? Do They See You Prepare For Worship As You Do For A Vacation? Do They See You Hungry To Arrive, Seeking The Face Of The Father? Or Do They See You Content To Leave The Way You Came?.....they Are Watching. Believe Me. They Are Watching.

I've Caught Myself A Time Or Two Adding Or Embellishing. I Don't Think That Pleases The Lord. I Don't Think He Needs My Dishonesty To Convey His Gospel.

Never Let The Church Become A Place Where It's Just A Las Vegas Display Place For You To Show Off.

We Are Jesus Christ's; We Belong To Him. But Even More, We Are Increasingly Him. He Moves In And Commandeers Our Hands And Feet, Requisitions Our Minds And Tongues. We Sense His Rearranging: Debris Into The Divine, Pig's Ear Into Silk Purse. He Repurposes Bad Decisions And Squalid Choices. Little By Little, A New Image Emerges.

Initially, When I First Became A Christian And Got Into Ministry, My Thought Was That God Existed To Make My Life Better And To Take Me To Heaven. Now I Realize That It Is Not About Me At All. It Is All About God And That He Did This To Display His Plan To Restore The Earth To The Garden Of Eden State.

No Person [should] Walk Out Into The World To Begin The Day Until He Or She Has Stood Beneath The Cross To Receive God’s Love.

Baptism Is The Initial Step Of A Faithful Heart.

Most People Have Settled For A Wimpy Grace. It's Something That Doesn't Change Their Lives. There Is A Difference Between Grace And Mercy. Mercy Is The Decision Of God Not To Punish Us. But Grace Is The Decision Of God To Save And Bless Us.

Grace And Mercy

You Wonder If God Has A Place For A Person Like You. Find Your Answer In The Bethlehem Stable.

I Think We Live In Slavery To Fear. Most People Don't Have An Answer To The Death Question And Really Don't Even Have A Philosophy. That Is A Puzzle To Me. I Think Even If I Was Not A Christian, I Would Want To At Least Have A Personal Solution To The Death Question. Otherwise, Death Is Just A Frightening Thing.

God Loves You Just The Way You Are, But He Refuses To Leave You That Way.

Worry Is To Joy What A Hoover Vacuum Cleaner Is To Dirt: Might As Well Attach Your Heart To A Happiness-sucker And Flip The Switch.

What You And I Might Rate As An Absolute Disaster, God May Rate As A Pimple-level Problem That Will Pass. He Views Your Life The Way You View A Movie After You've Read The Book. When Something Bad Happens, You Feel The Air Sucked Out Of The Theater. Everyone Else Gasps At The Crisis On The Screen. Not You. Why? You've Read The Book. You Know How The Good Guy Gets Out Of The Tight Spot. God Views Your Life With The Same Confidence. He's Not Only Read Your Story...he Wrote It.

Theres Some Inherently Unique Characteristics Of Christianity, The Chief Of Which Is That Christianity Teaches That We Are Saved By What Christ Has Done For Us, Instead Of We Are Saved By What We Do For God.

I'd Like To Think I'm Going Upriver In Talking About World-view Topics Rather Than Particular Political Or Controversial Topics.

Controversial Topics

If God Had A Refrigerator, Your Picture Would Be On It. If He Had A Wallet, Your Photo Would Be In It. He Sends You Flowers Every Spring And A Sunrise Every Morning... Face It, Friend. He Is Crazy About You!

Apple Trees Bear Apples, Wheat Stalks Produce Wheat, And Forgiven People Forgive People.

When Jesus Died On The Cross, So Did Your Sin; When He Rose From The Dead, So Did Your Hope.

No One Can Do Everything, But Everyone Can Do Something

All Preaching Should Be As Creative As We Can Make It. We've Been Entrusted With Such A Treasure. To Have Anywhere From 50 To 5000 People Who Give Us 30 Minutes Of Their Time To Hear Whatever We Want To Say - I Think They Deserve All The Creativity That We Can Give.

Answer The Big Question Of Eternity, And The Little Questions Of Life Fall Into Perspective.

God Would Rather Give Up His Son..than Give Up On Us

Michael Jordan Once Said That The Most Peaceful Moments Of His Life Were On A Basketball Court, Because That's The Only Place He Knew Exactly What To Do. And To Me The Most Peaceful Moments In My Ministry Are In The Pulpit Because That's When I Really Know What I'm Going To Do.

We Enjoy The Fruit Of The First Coming But Anticipate The Glory Of The Second.

Don't You Need A Fountain Of Love That Won't Run Dry? You'll Find One On A Stone-cropped Hill Outside Jerusalem's Walls Where Jesus Hangs, Cross-nailed And Thorn-crowned. When You Feel Unloved, Ascend This Mount. Meditate Long And Hard On Heaven's Love For You.

Kind Of The Bottom Line For Me, I Don't Think People Come To The Church Where I Preach To Hear My View On Politics.

God Can't Fill You When You Are Already Full Of Yourself.

Full Of Yourself

To Me That's Always A Little Satisfying - To Find An Underdeveloped Topic And Start Developing It.

People Of Each Generation In The Twentieth Century "were Three Times More Likely To Experience Depression" Than People Of The Preceding Generation.

I Want A Real Take-home Quality To The Sermon, So I Built The Whole Sermon Series Around The Word Grace, Those Five Letters.

There Are Certain Weights In Life You Simply Cannot Carry. Your Lord Is Asking You To Set Them Down And Trust Him. What Do You Say We Take God Up On His Offer?

When Grace Happens, We Receive Not A Nice Compliment From God But A New Heart. Give Your Heart To Christ, And He Returns The Favor.

We Have The Freedom To Pray And The Freedom To Love The God Of Our Heart. And We Have Been Forgiven By The Only One Who Could Condemn Us. We Are Truly Free.

Don't See Yourself As A Product Of Your Parents Dna, But Rather As A Brand New Idea From Heaven.

You'll Get Through This. It Won't Be Painless. It Won't Be Quick. But God Will Use This Mess For Good. In The Meantime Don't Be Foolish Or Naïve. But Don't Despair Either. With God's Help You Will Get Through This.

We Get A Lot Of Unsolicited Manuscripts Here. Im Not Even A Publisher, But We Get Several A Week. I Dont Read Them, But I Do Glance Through Some Of Them, And Some People Dont Need To Be Writing, They Have Something Else.

God's Solution Is A Prayer Away!

No One Can Pray And Worry At The Same Time.

The Strength Of A Story Is That It Stays With People And It Gives An Opportunity For That Story To Connect With People Where The Holy Spirit Intends For It To Do So.

It's My Hope That As You Dip Your Toe Into The Bible's Story And Viewpoint, You'll Find Yourself Feeling That The Good Book Knows More About The World - And About You - Than Any Normal Book Does.

Finding Yourself

I Remember Enjoying Writing Those, Theres Two Clues Of A Gift: You Enjoy Doing It And People Enjoy You Doing It.

Aren't You Glad That God Doesn't Give You Only That Which You Remember To Thank Him For?

Greed Is Not Defined By What Something Costs; It Is Measured By What It Costs You. If Anything Costs You Your Faith Or Your Family, The Price Is Too High. Such Is The Point Jesus Makes In The Parable Of The Portfolio.

Demanding Respect Is Like Chasing A Butterfly. Chase It, And You'll Never Catch It. Sit Still, And It May Light On Your Shoulder.

Baptism Separates The Tire Kickers From The Car Buyers.

The Book On My Nightstand Right Now Isnt Anything That Inspired Me, But It Entertained Me. I Read A Book On Labor Day, It Was A Holiday, And I Have Three Daughters, And We All Went To The Shopping Mall And I Sat On The Bench And Read A Book While They Shopped, It Was Called The Greatest Golfer There Ever Was, It Was A Great Book, Easy To Read And Entertaining.

Grace Is Not Blind. It Sees The Hurt Full Well. But Chooses To See God's Forgiveness Even More.

What Christ Does In Us And Through Us Will Always Be 'exceedingly Abundantly Above All We Ask Or Think.'

We Might Question God's Actions, Decisions, Or Declarations. But We Can Never, Ever Question His Zany, Stunning, Unquenchable Affection.

There Is Something About Keeping Him Divine That Keeps Him Distant, Packaged, Predictable. But Don't Do It. For Heaven's Sake, Don't. Let Him Be As Human As He Intended To Be. Let Him Into The Mire And Muck Of Our World. For Only If We Let Him In Can He Pull Us Out.

If Jesus Heals Instantly, Praise Him. If Jesus Heals Gradually, Trust Him. When Jesus Heals Ultimately, You Will Understand.

I Think Theres Just This Mystique Of Writing A Book That Appeals To People. A Person Has To Really Check Their Motives And Say, Am I Really Being Called By God To Do This? Or Is This Just Something That Would Look Neat In My Funeral? I Dont Mean To Be Harsh But I Think A Person Really Needs To, So They Wont Be Disappointed.

Look At The Bethlehem Birth. A King Ordered A Census. Joseph Was Forced To Travel. Mary, As Round As A Ladybug, Bounced On A Donkey's Back. The Hotel Was Full. The Hour Was Late. The Event Was One Big Hassle. Yet, Out Of The Hassle, Hope Was Born. It Still Is.

If You Knew Jesus Was Returning Tomorrow, How Would You Feel Today? Anxious, Afraid, Unprepared? If So, You Can Take Care Of Your Fears By Placing Your Trust In Christ. If Your Answer Includes Words Like Happy, Relieved, And Excited, Hold Tightly To Your Joy.

There Are Some People That Say I Need To Be More Academic In My Teaching, I Need To Be More Disciple Developing Focus, Probably True. But Where My Heart Is, Is With People Who Are Just Passing Through Difficult Time. I Want To Put Literature In A Form That Is Accessible For People Who Don't Particularly Read Books.

If You Get A Lot Of Good Feedback From People, Thats A Sign That You Have A Strength Or Gift In Writing, If Not ... Try Singing.

God Wants Us To Know We Are Saved, For Saved People Are Dangerous People, Willing To Face Off With The World, Unafraid Of The Consequences Since They Know That, Whatever Happens, They Will Have Eternal Life.

Have You Been Called To Go Out On A Limb For God? You Can Bet It Won't Be Easy. Limb-climbing Has Never Been Easy. Ask Joseph. Or, Better Yet, Ask Jesus. He Knows Better Than Anyone The Cost Of Hanging On A Tree.

Peace Happens When People Pray. "cast All Your Anxiety On Him Because He Cares For You" Casting Is An Intentional Act To Relocate An Object. Let This "throwing" Be Your First Response To Bad News. As You Sense Anxiety Welling Up Inside You, Cast It In The Direction Of Christ. Do So Specifically And Immediately. Find A Promise Of God That Fits Your Problem, And Build Your Prayer Around It. These Prayers Of Faith Touch The Heart Of God And Activate The Angels Of Heaven. Miracles Are Set Into Motion. Your Answer May Not Come Overnight, But It Will Come. And You Will Overcome.

The Great Promise Of Scripture Is That Every Day Is A Day That's Worth Rejoicing In.

Does God Know If I Am Ignored Or Rejected? Find The Answer In The Compassionate Eyes Of Christ As He Stands To Defend The Adulterous Woman.

You'll Never Know Jesus Is All You Need Until Jesus Is All You Have. Are You In The Wilderness? Find Refuge In God's Presence. Find Comfort In His People.

Who Are They To Give Stars Or Dots? They're Wemmicks Just Like You." Eli To Punchinello (p. 25)

Maybe You've Had The Experience Where Somebody's Asked You A Question And You Give An Answer, Then Later In The Day You Think, "oh, I Wish I'd Said That!" I Tend To Journal These Things And Put The Answers In Sermons.

If God Were Only Mighty, We Would Salute Him. But Since He Is Merciful And Mighty, We Can Approach Him.

You Are Heaven's Halley's Comet; We Have One Shot At Seeing You Shine.

If You Concern Yourself With Your Neighbor’s Talents, You’ll Neglect Your Own. But If You Concern Yourself With Yours, You Could Inspire Both!

Love Like There's No Tomorrow, And If Tomorrow Comes, Love Again.

It's One Thing For Me To Tell People Not To Worry. It's Another Thing Entirely To Quote Matthew 6, Where Jesus Says, "why Do You Worry? The Birds Of The Air, The Flowers Of The Field..." He Says, "i Tell You, Do Not Worry."

Heaven Is God's Answer To Any Suffering You May Face.

We Are Presumptuous Not When We Marvel At His Grace, But When We Reject It.

I'm A Preacher First And A Writer Second, Although My Role Is Changing A Bit At The Church. I'm Going To Bring On A Co-teacher, But I'll Still Be A Pastor And A Writer.

I'm Protective Of The Reputation Of Christ And The Church.

Mark It Down. You Will Never Go Where God Is Not.

We've Got To Realize There's Something Bigger Than Who Is In The White House. And That Is The Spirit Of Camaraderie And Peace That Keeps Our Nation Together.

If I Succeed, I Will Give Thanks. If I Fail, I Will Seek His Grace.

I Think That A Church Should Be Setting The Pace For Social Justice.

First, God Does Not Send People To Hell. He Simply Honors Their Choice. Hell Is The Ultimate Expression Of God's High Regard For The Dignity Of Man. He Has Never Forced Us To Choose Him, Even When That Means We Would Choose Hell.

Be Careful What You Think, Because Your Thoughts Run Your Life.

The Same Hand That Stilled The Seas Stills Your Guilt. The Same Hand That Cleansed The Temple Cleanses Your Heart. The Hand Is The Hand Of God. The Nail Is The Nail Of God. And As The Hands Of Jesus Opened For The Nail, The Doors Of Heaven Opened For You.

To See Sin Without Grace Is Despair. To See Grace Without Sin Is Arrogance. To See Them In Tandem Is Conversion.

You Long For One True Friend? You Have One. And Because You Do, You Have A Choice. You Can... Ponder The Malice Of Your Monster Or The Kindness Of Your Christ.

Patience Is More Than A Virtue For Long Lines And Slow Waiters. Patience Is The Red Carpet Upon Which God's Grace Approaches Us.

Through The Years, I Have Always Enjoyed Anything Chuck Swindoll Has Written. When I First Got Into Writing Chuck's Books Really Modeled A Style Of Writing That I Thought Was Accessible To People And Yet Still Biblical. I Wanted To Do That.

I Do Think There Is Great Strength, Though, In Starting A Sermon With A Story, Then Returning To That Story At The End. That Puts Book Ends To A Sermon. It Is A Real Simple Technique That Communicates To The Audience That There Is A Sense Of Closure, That They Have A Package Here, Or We Began And We Closed With This. I Think That's Just A Nice Technique.

If You're Feeling Pain, Express That To The Lord. If You're Feeling Worried, Express Those Worries. One Passage That Gives Me Comfort Is In Psalms, Chapter 11, Verse 3, It Reads, "when All That Is Good Falls Apart, What Can Good People Do?" That's Really The Question Of The Day.

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