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God's Love Has A Width, Length, Height, And Depth, But We Will Never Reach The End Of It. Our Capacity To Experience God's Love Will Be Exhausted Long Before God's Capacity To Give It Is Strained. The Picture Of Having Christ Dwell Inside Us By Faith Presents Us With Compelling And Comforting Possibilities. What Christ Does In Us And Through Us Will Always Be 'exceedingly Abundantly Above All We Ask Or Think.'

-Max Lucado

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God's Love Has A

Max Lucado

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God's Love Has A Width, Length, Height, And Depth, But We Will Never Reach The End Of It. Our Capacity To Experience God's Love Will Be Exhausted Long Before God's Capacity To Give It Is Strained. The Picture Of Having Christ Dwell Inside Us By Faith Presents Us With Compelling And Comforting Possibilities. What Christ Does In Us And Through Us Will Always Be 'exceedingly Abundantly Above All We Ask Or Think.'

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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.

In The Manger God Loves You; Through The Cross God Saves You. But Has He Taken You To His Home? Not Yet.

Forgiveness Doesn't Diminish Justice; It Just Entrusts It To God. He Guarantees The Right Retribution.

The Only Mistake Is Not To Risk Making One.

Do You Purchase The First Tree You See? Of Course Not. You Search For The Right One. You Walk The Rows. You Lift Several Up And Set Them Down. You Examine Them From All Angles Until You Decide, This One Is Perfect. You Have A Place In Mind Where The Tree Will Sit. Not Just Any Tree Will Do. God Does The Same.

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.

When You Keep The Porch Light On For The Prodigal Child, You Do What God Does Every Single Moment.

Can You Imagine A Life With No Fear? What If Faith, Not Fear, Was Your Default Reaction To Threats?

Baptism Is The Initial Step Of A Faithful Heart.

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.

Be A Child Again. Flirt. Giggle. Dip Your Cookies In Your Milk. Take A Nap. Say You're Sorry If You Hurt Someone. Chase A Butterfly. Be A Child Again.

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.

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.

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

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.

Conflict Is Inevitable But Combat Is Optional.

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.

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

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

Live In Such A Way That You Would Not Have To Change Your Plans.

God Has High Plans For You And Me.

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

May You Live In Such A Way That Your Death Is Just The Beginning Of Your Life.

The Key Is This: Meet Today's Problems With Today's Strength. Don't Start Tackling Tomorrow's Problems Until Tomorrow. You Do Not Have Tomorrow's Strength Yet. You Simply Have Enough For Today.

God Offers Authentic Love. His Devotion Is The Real Deal. But He Won't Give You The Genuine Until You Surrender The Imitations.

We're Also A Multi-site Church, So We Have Other Pastors On Other Campuses Who Want To Read The Message Before The Video Plays On The Weekend Services. So It Just Works Better For Me.

I Was Raised In The Greatest Of Homes... Just A Really Great Dad, And I Miss Him So Much... He Was A Good Man, A Real Simple Man... Very Faithful, Always Loved My Mom, Always Provided For The Kids, And Just A Lot Of Fun.

I've Never Been One To Say I Know Exactly That We're In The Last Days, But There's Some Things Happening These Days, Both Good And Bad, That Make Me Wonder If We May Be Heading Into The Final Generation. One Of The Good Things That's Happening Is That Little By Little We're Taking The Gospel To The Whole World. But At The Same Time There Is This Resistance.

I Noticed People Would Read These Short Articles I Was Assigned To Write For Our Church Bulletin And They Would Say, Boy, Thats Good Stuff. I Got Letters From People Around The Country Saying, Thats Really Good. And I Thought, Is It Really?

Be Careful What You Think, Because Your Thoughts Run Your Life. Do You Want To Be Happy Tomorrow? Then Sow Seeds Of Happiness Today -count Blessings, Memorize Bible Verses, Pray, Sing Hymns, Spend Time With Encouraging People. Do You Want To Guarantee Tomorrow's Misery? Then Wallow In A Mental Mud Pit Of Self-pity Or Guilt Or Anxiety Today Assume The Worst, Beat Yourself Up, Rehearse Your Regrets, Complain To Complainers.

God Will Use Whatever He Wants To Display His Glory. Heavens And Stars. History And Nations. People And Problems.

Listen Carefully To The Feedback Your Readers Give You. Dont Write Unless People Want You To Write, A Lot Of People Write Just Because They Want To Write.

I Am Very Confident In Preaching.

The Worst Part Of All Is That, Without Forgiveness, Bitterness Is All That Is Left

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'?

God Loves You Simply Because He Has Chosen To Do So. He Loves You When You Don't Feel Lovely. He Loves You When No One Else Loves You. Others May Abandon You, Divorce You, And Ignore You, But God Will Love You Always. No Matter What!

The Wonders Of Nature Call To You. The Promises And Prophecies Of Scripture Speak To You. God Himself Reaches Out To You.

We Live In The Most Multicultural, Multiracial, Multiethnic America Ever, And I Get The Sense That Because Of That Reality So Many Of Us Are Turning Nativist.

In Our Grandparents' Generation News Of An Earthquake In Nepal Would Reach Around The World Some Days Later. In Our Parents' Day The Nightly News Communicated The Catastrophe. Now It's A Matter Of Minutes. We've Barely Processed One Crisis, And Then We Hear Of Another.

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Find Joy In The Ordinary.

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How We Handle Our Tough Times Stays With Us For A Long Time.

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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.

Gratitude. More Aware Of What You Have Than What You Don't. Recognizing The Treasure In The Simple - A Child's Hug, Fertile Soil, A Golden Sunset. Relishing In The Comfort Of The Common.

Whether Or Not Storms Come, We Can Not Choose. But Where We Stare During A Storm, That We Can.

It's Important To Preach Like There's A Broken Heart On Every Pew. That's Always Been A Phrase That Stuck With Me. Not Everybody Is Having A Tough Time, But You Can Bet Your Buck That There's A Good Tenth Of Your Church That's Going Through A Hard Season. There Really Is A Broken Heart On Every Pew.

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God Sends His Angels To Protect Us And His Word As A Star To Guide Us. Then He Surrounds Us With His Grace. We Become His Depot, The Distribution Point Of God's Gifts.

A Few Songs With Him Might Change The Way You Sing. Forever.

December Is The Most Difficult Month. Medications For Insomnia Or Depression Go Up During The Month Of December. A Lot Of People Who Experience Loss Feel That Loss Magnified In December. Everybody Seems Happy And You Feel All Alone. You're Not All Alone.

Jesus Isn't A God Who Stayed On The Mountaintop - He's A Savior Who Came Down And Lived And Worked With The People.

I'm First A Pastor And Then A Writer.

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Indeed, Baptism Is A Vow, A Sacred Vow Of The Believer To Follow Christ. Just As A Wedding Celebrates The Fusion Of Two Hearts, Baptism Celebrates The Union Of Sinner With Savior.

Jesus Took Your Punishment, And God Gave You Credit For Jesus' Perfection.

Were Studying In Philippians, And Im Trying To Figure Out This Passage, Paul Says I Want To Know Christ. What Does That Mean? See, Hes Fascinated By Jesus. I Think Thats A Desire Id Like To Have On My Heart, To Know More About Jesus.

When It Comes To Christ, You've Got To Do The Same. Call Him Crazy, Or Crown Him As King. Dismiss Him As A Fraud, Or Declare Him To Be God. Walk Away From Him, Or Bow Before Him, But Don't Play Games With Him.

If We Are To Be Just Like Jesus, We Must Have Regular Time Of Talking To God And Listening To His Word.

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

Well, I Think The Main Message Is There Is More To Your Story. There Is More Than What Happens Between The Crib And The Grave, And That Is What I Am Really Trying To Speak To, This Idea That All Of Life Is This Life And That There Is Nothing More Than What We See And Experience Right Here On This Earth.

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

Full Of Yourself

I Think You Could Say Every Pastor Is Writing This Book [ Max On Life]; For Many It Just Never Gets Published.

When Grace Happens, Generosity Happens. Unsquashable, Eyepopping Bigheartedness Happens.

I've Never Really Prided Myself As Being Quick On My Feet. 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.

Our God Is Abundant In Love And Steadfast In Mercy. He Saves Us, Not Because We Trust In A Symbol, But Because We Trust In A Savior.

Are You Weary? Catch Your Breath. Are You Strong? Reserve Passing Judgment On The Tired.

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.

I Don't Get The Impression That Most Sources Of Media - Like Television And Movies - Are Trying To Get Out A Positive Message, Necessarily. My Impression Is They're Trying To Get A Message Out That Promotes Their Personal Opinion, Position Or Belief And They're Trying To Do Something That Makes Money. They Want To Turn A Buck.

Personal Opinions

I Love Everything About The Christmas Season.

Christmas Season

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.

Love The One Who Wears Your Ring. And Cherish The Children Who Share Your Name. Succeed At Home First.

I Simply Think God Is Greater Than Our Weakness. In Fact, I Think It Is Our Weakness That Reveals How Great God Is.

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

Our Tendency Is To Be Converted To Church And Not To Christ.

When You Read The Bible, It's As Though It Reads You.

Filter Your Pain Through The Brevity Of This Life And The Unending Beauty Of The Next.

One Person Told Me That Christians Believe In A King. We Believe In A King Jesus Who Oversees The Affairs Of Mankind. Maybe We're Reaching For An Earthly King.

You Cover 50 Yards On The Playing Field Of Faith With A Story That Downplays Your Success. You Cover 3 Yards, Or You May Even End Up Backward, With Anything That Up-plays Or Promotes You.

Every Movie Really Does Have A Message. Somebody Somewhere Is Trying To Make A Point Or Advance A Cause Or Promote Their Agenda. There's Nothing Wrong With That. They Try To Do So In An Entertaining Fashion.

God Does Uncommon Things Through Common People In Common Places.

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

For All Its Peculiarities And Unevenness, The Bible Has A Simple Story. God Made Man. Man Rejected God. God Won't Give Up Until He Wins Him Back. God Will Whisper. He Will Shout. He Will Touch And Tug. He Will Take Away Our Burdens; He'll Even Take Away Our Blessings. If There Are A Thousand Steps Between Us And Him, He Will Take All But One. But He Will Leave The Final One For Us. The Choice Is Ours. Please Understand. His Goal Is Not To Make You Happy. His Goal Is To Make You His. His Goal Is Not To Get You What You Want; It Is To Get You What You Need.

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

The Path Marked Pride Will Lead You Over A Cliff.

It's Against God's Nature To Remember Forgiven Sins

Forgiveness Is Unlocking The Door To Set Someone Free And Realising You Were The Prisoner!

A Couple Of Things Have Helped. One Is That I Dont Travel Any, That Takes A Lot Of Time From Peoples Schedules, If They Travel, So I Dont Travel.

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.

Prayer Lets God Do What He Does Best. Take A Pebble & Kill A Goliath. Take The Common, Make It Spectacular! Pray & See What He Can Do.

I Think There Is A Time, If I Can Say This; There Is A Time In A Message Where You Might Just Tell A Story To Give Your Audience A Break.

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

I Think We Pray, We Make A Clear-headed Decision, And Then We Quit Being So Mean To Each Other. We've Got To Stop That.

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What Did Jesus Come To Do? God Saves.

See Your Enemies, Not As God's Failures, But As God's Projects.

Grace Is The Voice That Calls Us To Change And Then Gives Us The Power To Pull It Off.

You Can Endure Change By Pondering His Permanence.

When God Gives An Assignment, He Also Gives The Skill. Study Your Skills, Then, To Reveal Your Assignment.

We Serve A Good God Who Oversees The Affairs Of Mankind.

I Do Not Know When Christ Is Coming Back. No One Knows. But I Do Think The Environment Is Getting More And More To The Point Where We Can Look For His Return.

No One Can Pray And Worry At The Same Time.

I Believe The Bible Tells A Story We Recognize As True. I Don't Just Mean It Tells An Accurate Story - Though It's Telling That The Bible Stands Tall Even After More Than 2,000 Years Of Secular Criticism.

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.

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.

There Is A Rawness And A Wonder To Life. Pursue It. Hunt For It. Sell Out To Get It. Don't Listen To The Whines Of Those Who Have Settled For A Second-rate Life And Want You To Do The Same So They Won't Feel Guilty. Your Goal Is Not To Live Long; It's To Live.

God's Solution Is A Prayer Away!

People Assume When They Come Into A Church And See A Person Up There Speaking, 'that Person Must Be A Good Person.' My Challenge Through The Years Has Been Believing That: 'i Guess I Must Be A Really Good Person.' I Struggle With It. It Just Helps Me To Keep That Confessional Posture.

Jesus Gives Us Hope Because He Keeps Us Company, Has A Vision And Knows The Way We Should Go.

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

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

Relationships Don't Thrive Because The Guilty Are Punished But Because The Innocent Are Merciful.

If Anybody Understands God's Order For His Children, It's Someone Who Has Rescued An Orphan From Despair, For That Is What God Has Done For Us. God Has Adopted You. God Sought You, Found You, Signed The Papers And Took You Home.

It's Up To Me To Promote My Faith And Somebody Else To Promote Theirs. Let The Government Just Protect Our Right To Do So.

God Has The Final Word On Your Life And His Word Is Grace.

Giants. We Must Face Them. Yet We Need Not Face Them Alone.

Our Aim - Our Only Aim - Is To Be At Home In Christ. He's Not A Roadside Park Or Hotel Room. He's Our Permanent Mailing Address. Christ Is Our Home. He's Our Place Of Refuge And Security. We're Comfortable In His Presence, Free To Be Our Authentic Selves. We Know Our Way Around In Him. We Know His Heart And His Ways. We Rest In Him, Find Our Nourishment In Him. His Roof Of Grace Protects Us From Storms Of Guilt. His Walls Of Providence Secure Us From Destructive Winds. His Fireplace Warms Us During The Lonely Winters Of Life. We Linger In The Abode Of Christ And Never Leave.

Your Pain Has A Purpose. Your Problems, Struggles, Heartaches, And Hassles Cooperate Toward One End-the Glory Of God.

I Think We Have Such A Crown Jewel In The Forgiveness Of God, And It Changes People's Lives.

The Life Of Jesus Christ Is A Message Of Hope, A Message Of Mercy, A Message Of Life In A Dark World.

[there Is] A Great Book From Ravi Zacharis, A Scholar From India, And Its Called Jesus Among Other Gods. I Havent Read That One, But I Know Ravi Really Well, And I Know Its A Good Book.

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!

I Don't Know If I'll Always Be A Pastor.

The Duty Of The Branch Is To Cling To The Vine.

All I Did Was Collect A Few Of The Questions I've Been Asked Through The Years, Write Up A Brief Response And Put Them In This Publication. 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'm Convinced That The Christian Claim Is Really True, That This Is Just A Warm Up To The Big Event. That This Is Just The Appetizer To The Feast, And If We Can Plug Into That And Understand That This Part Of Our Story Is Just The Introduction, It Is Not Even The First Line Of The First Paragraph, It's Just The First Letter Or First Word. We Are Just Getting Started.

Philosophers Can Debate The Meaning Of Life, But You Need A Lord Who Can Declare The Meaning Of Life.

Meaning Of Life

When We're In The Middle Of A Difficult Time, We Have To Speak Against That Lie That Says, "god Is Not Here." We Have To Draw Near To God.

Difficult Times

God Wants No One To Leave Our Presence Empty Handed.

There Is A Time For Risky Love. There Is A Time For Extravagant Gestures. There Is A Time To Pour Out Your Affections On One You Love. And When The Time Comes - Seize It, Don't Miss It.

In The Pulpit, I Really Feel Like I'm In My Sweet Spot, I'm In My Stride.

God Saves, Not God Empathizes, Cares, Listens, Helps, Assists, Or Applauds.

Prayer Is The Hand Of Faith On The Door Knob Of Your Heart, Inviting Jesus To Enter.

Remember, You Are Special Because I Made You. And I Don't Make Mistakes.

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?

I Choose Kindness... I Will Be Kind To The Poor, For They Are Alone. Kind To The Rich, For They Are Afraid. And Kind To The Unkind, For Such Is How God Has Treated Me

The Bible Is The Story Of Two Gardens: Eden And Gethsemane. In The First, Adam Took A Fall. In The Second, Jesus Took A Stand. In The First, God Sought Adam. In The Second, Jesus Sought God. In Eden, Adam Hid From God. In Gethsemane, Jesus Emerged From The Tomb. In Eden, Satan Led Adam To A Tree That Led To His Death. From Gethsemane, Jesus Went To A Tree That Led To Our Life.

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.

It's No Wonder, That God's Anxiety Therapy Includes A Large, Delightful Dollop Of Gratitude. The Anxious Heart Says, "lord, If Only I Had This, That, Or The Other, I'd Be Okay." The Grateful Heart Says, "oh, Look! You've Already Given Me This, That, And The Other. Thank You, God."

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.

There Was A Time I Wanted To Go Into Politics. And So All Of A Sudden, Here I Am, I Guess. I'm In The Thick Of It.

Biblically Defined Marriage Is A Man And A Woman For Life, And So Anything Different Than That Is Not God's Ideal Whether It Be Polygamy, Whether It Be Divorce, Whether It Be A Marriage Between A Man And A Man Or A Woman And A Woman. The Ideal Would Be A Man And A Woman Under A Covenant Of God's Blessing.

Hope Is Not A Granted Wish Or A Favor Performed; No It Is Far Greater Than That. It Is A Zany, Unpredictable Dependence On A God Who Loves To Surprise Us Out Of Our Socks.

Two Types Of Voices Command Your Attention Today. Negative Ones Fill Your Mind With Doubt, Bitterness, And Fear. Positive Ones Purvey Hope And Strength. Which One Will You Choose To Heed?

What I May Intend For A Story To Communicate And What A Story Ends Up Communicating Could Be Two Different Things. And It Could Be An Even More Positive Thing.

The Secret Of Loving Is Living Loved.

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

I Think A Story Is An Attention Grabber. I Think It's A Truth Conveyor. Those Are Two Great Features Of A Good Story.

Scot Mcknight Stirs The Treasures Of Our Lord's Life In An Engaging Fashion. He Did So With The Jesus Creed, And Does So Again With 40 Days Living The Jesus Creed. Make Sure This New Guide For Living Is On Your Shelf.

I Think That I Speak A Lot Like I Write.

The Apostle Paul Never Seemed To Exhaust The Topic Of Grace - What Makes Us Think We Can? He Just Kept Coming At It And Coming At It From Another Angle. That's The Thing About Grace. It's Like Springtime. You Can't Put It In A Single Sentence Definition, And You Can't Exhaust It.

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.

We Will Never Be Cleansed Until We Confess We Are Dirty. And We Will Never Be Able To Wash The Feet Of Those Who Have Hurt Us Until We Allow Jesus, The One We Have Hurt, To Wash Ours.

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Ricardo Montalban

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