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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.

-Max Lucado

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I Do Think There

Max Lucado

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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.

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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.

Conflict Is Inevitable But Combat Is Optional.

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.

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.

The Most Powerful Life Is The Most Simple Life. The Most Powerful Life Is The Life That Knows Where It's Going, That Knows Where The Source Of Strength Is; It Is The Life That Stays Free Of Clutter And Happenstance And Hurriedness.

I Co-pastor Now, So I Preach Six Months, Then Another Guy Preaches Six Months. So That's Really Why I'm Preparing For January, Because I'll Finish In June; Then I'll Be Writing And Doing Other Projects For The Rest Of The Year.

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

Be Less About Protecting Any Type Of Identity Affiliated To A Country Or Even Ethnic Background. Be More About The Fact That We're Here For A Short Time And Heaven Is Going To Be A Rainbow Of People, Multiculture, Every Generation.

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

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

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.

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

God Has High Plans For You And Me.

Some People Find The Gift Of Salvation. For Others The Gifts Are Smaller: A Kind Word, A Good Deed. But All The Gifts Are From God.

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.

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.

Meet Your Fears With Faith.

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

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.

The Difference Between Mercy And Grace? Mercy Gave The Prodigal Son A Second Chance. Grace Gave Him A Feast.

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

Rather Than Seeking Total Control, Relinquish It. You Can't Run The World, But You Can Entrust It To God. This Is The Message Behind Paul's Admonition To "rejoice In The Lord." Peace Is Within Reach, Not For Lack Of Problems, But Because Of The Presence Of A Sovereign Lord. Rather Than Rehearse The Chaos Of The World, Rejoice In The Lord's Sovereignty, As Paul Did. Sovereignty Gives The Saint The Inside Track To Peace. Others See The Problems Of The World And Wring Their Hands. We See The Problems Of The World And Bend Our Knees.

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

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.

You May Be Transferred, Enlisted, Commissioned, Reassigned, Or Hospitalized - But Brand This On Your Heart - You Can Never Go Where God Is Not.

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.

Off To One Side Sits A Group Of Shepherds. They Sit Silently On The Floor, Perhaps Perplexed, Perhaps In Awe, No Doubt In Amazement. Their Night Watch Had Been Interrupted By An Explosion Of Light From Heaven And A Symphony Of Angels. God Goes To Those Who Have Time To Hear Him-and So On This Cloudless Night He Went To Simple Shepherds.

There Is A Canyon Of Difference Between Doing Your Best To Glorify God And Doing Whatever It Takes To Glorify Yourself. The Quest For Excellence Is A Mark Of Maturity. The Quest For Power Is Childish.

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.

God, The Master Weaver. He Stretches The Yarn And Intertwines The Colors, The Ragged Twine With The Velvet Strings, The Pains With The Pleasures. Nothing Escapes His Reach.

Faithful Servants Have A Way Of Knowing Answered Prayer When They See It, And A Way Of Not Giving Up When They Don't.

Faith Is Not The Belief That God Will Do What You Want. It Is The Belief That God Will Do What Is Right.

Christmas Begins What Easter Celebrates. The Child In The Cradle Became The King On The Cross. And Because He Did, There Are No Marks On My Record. Just Grace. His Offer Has No Fine Print. He Didn't Tell Me, "clean Up Before You Come In." He Offered, "come In, And I'll Clean You Up." It's Not My Grip On Him That Matters But His Grip On Me. And His Grip Is Sure. So Is His Presence In My Life.

Has Worrying About Tomorrow Every Changed It?

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 That The Holy Spirit Works Through The Pastors Of The Church. It Helps Me Avoid The Trap Of Writing To The Reading Market. It Helps Me Stay A Pastor First, Because They Have No Agenda; They Are Not Thinking: "this Would This Be A Good Book Someday." They're Thinking: "how This Will Help Bob And Suzy Who Are Going Through A Tough Marriage? What Series Can Encourage Them?" And So I Really Bow To Their Preference.

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

About Four Days A Week, I Do Pretty Good At Having A Morning Prayer Time. But Even At That, It's A Rambling Sort Of Thing. What I Have Learned To Do Better Is To Try To Keep My Mind Turned Toward God And Ear Inclined Toward God Throughout The Day, And I Think I'm Doing Better At That ,but I've Got A Long Way To Go.

Write Today's Worries In Sand. Chisel Yesterday's Victories In Stone.

Nature Is God's Workshop. The Sky Is His Resume. The Universe Is His Calling Card. You Want To Know Who God Is? See What He Has Done.

I Have Learned That My Assignment Is To Write Books For People Who Do Not Like To Read Books. I Really Try To Connect With People Who Are Not Given To Spending A Lot Of Time With An Open Book. Pay Day To Me Is When Somebody Comes Up To Me And Says, "i Never Read Books But I Read Yours." I Have A Heart For That Person.

Are You On The Eve Of Change? Embrace It. Accept It. Don't Resist It. Change Is Not Only A Part Of Life, Change Is A Necessary Part Of God's Strategy. To Use Us To Change The World, He Alters Our Assignments.

I Love Everything About The Christmas Season.

Christmas Season

There's No Person God Cannot Reach.

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

God Has Work For You To Do.

The Church Is Never A Place To Show Off. Do Your Good Deeds Quietly. Serve; Don't Seek To Be Seen

You Are Saved, Not Because Of What You Do, But Because Of What Christ Did. And You Are Special, Not Because Of What You Do, But Because Of Whose You Are. And You Are His. And Because We Are His, Let's Forget The Shortcuts And Stay On The Main Road. He Knows The Way. He Drew The Map. He Knows The Way Home.

God Cast You In His Play, Wrote You Into His Story. He Has A Definite Direction For Your Life. Fulfill It And Enjoy Fulfillment. Play The Part God Prepared For You And Get Ready For Some Great Days.

I Struggle With Trying To Be A Good Pastor Of A Large Church.

I Work In Theology And Christian Books All Day Long, When Im Studying, So Its Just Kind Of Nice To Pick Up Something Different. The Books That Have Influenced Me, Theres Not Just One Book That Was A Watershed, Although Mere Christianity Was As Much As Any.

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.

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

I Don't Think I Have Ever Created An Entire Fiction Piece Or Followed A Historical Piece And Made That Into A Sermon.

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

Someday I Want To Go Back And Maybe Write Another Book On Those Seven Sayings. I Just Think They Are Kind Of Like A Table Of Contents To The Christian Hope. They Invite Us To Go Into All The Aspects Of The Heart Of Jesus. Everything About Them From The Drama, The Setting, The Passion Around Them - I Think The Seven Sayings Of The Cross Are Powerful.

The Meaning Of Life. The Wasted Years Of Life. The Poor Choices Of Life. God Answers The Mess Of Life With One Word: 'grace.'

I Wanted To Talk About How Grace In And Of Itself Changes Us. It Changes The Way We Treat Other People, The Way We View Our Lives, The Way We Treat Our Purpose And Our Eternal Identity.

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.

The English Name Jesus Traces Its Origin To The Hebrew Word Yeshua. Yeshua Is A Shortening Of Yehoshuah, Which Means "yahweh Saves."

Changing Directions In Life Is Not Tragic. Losing Passion In Life Is.

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.

Who Was Jesus? God Saves.

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

If We Could Solve The Problem Of Who We Are And Where We Are Going, That It Would Have A Huge Impact On The Culture And Waterfall In On Some Of The More Practical And Social Issues.

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.

Anger Is The Noise Of The Soul; The Unseen Irritant Of The Heart; The Relentless Invader Of Silence.

No Person Is Too Hardened.

I Guess Grace Doesn't Have To [be] Logical. If It Did, It Wouldn't Be Grace.

We Have A Place Where We Can Take People When They Come To Us With Questions So We're Not Just Speaking Out Of Our Own Opinion. We're Really Speaking To Them Out Of An Authoritative Place, Not Because Of What We Discovered, But Because Of What God Says.

I Don't Have Any Desire To Retire In The Sense Of Not Doing Anything. As Long As The Lord Gives Me Strength I Want To Keep Writing And Keep Preaching.

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.

What Makes A Christian A Christian Is Not Perfection But Forgiveness.

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

If God Was Willing To Wrap Himself In Rags And Drink From A Mother's Breast, Then All Questions About His Love For Us Are Off The Table.

God Loves You Because He Has Chosen To Do So.

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

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

To The Loved, A Word Of Affection Is A Morsel; But To The Love-starved, A Word Of Affection Can Be A Feast.

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

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

Fear Creates A Form Of Spiritual Amnesia

Don't Equate The Presence Of God With A Good Mood Or A Pleasant Temperament. God Is Near Whether You Are Happy Or Not.

Presence Of God

Christ Lived The Life We Could Not Live And Took The Punishment We Could Not Take To Offer The Hope We Cannot Resist.

At Our Church I Do Not Endorse Politicians Publicly. Because I Am Afraid That If I Endorse One Candidate, It Would Keep Somebody From Coming To Our Church. So I Made One Exception One Time To Put One Bumper Sticker On My Car, But I Don't Ever Do It Anymore.

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.

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.

When We Submit To God's Plans, We Can Trust Our Desires. Our Assignment Is Found At The Intersection Of God's Plan And Our Pleasures.

God's Delight Is Received Upon Surrender, Not Awarded Upon Conquest.

You Can Endure Change By Pondering His Permanence.

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

Nails Didn't Hold God To A Cross. Love Did.

Refusing To Forgive Is Like Ingesting A Lethal Dose Of Poison And Hoping It Kills My Enemy.

The Promised Land, For Many People, Though, Is Something That's Far Off In The Future. People Are Saved, But They Don't Feel Victory. They Feel Like They're In A Wilderness And They're Wandering. And So This Book Of Joshua Gives Us A Picture Of How We Can Come Out Of The Wilderness In Our Own Spiritual Lives And Enter Into A Season Of Victory.

You May Not Be Down To Your Final Heartbeat, But You May Be Down To Your Last Paycheck, Solution, Or Thimble Of Faith. Each Sunrise Seems To Bring Fresh Reasons For Fear.

My First Encounters With Faith Came About The Time I Was A Boy Scout, At About 14 Or 15. I Made The Logical Deduction That They Operate The Same Way; I Treated My Faith Like Earning A Merit Badge, And Everything About Christianity Was About Earning Merit Badges.

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.

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.

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

What Is This Love That Endures Decades, Passes On Sleep, And Resists Death To Give One Kiss? Call It Agape Love, A Love That Bears A Semblance Of God's.

I Choose Gentleness... Nothing Is Won By Force. I Choose To Be Gentle. If I Raise My Voice May It Be Only In Praise. If I Clench My Fist, May It Be Only In Prayer. If I Make A Demand, May It Be Only Of Myself.

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

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.

God Understands How You Feel And Has Faced What You Face.

God Did Everything Necessary To Get Herod's Attention. He Sent Messengers From The East And A Message From The Torah. He Sent Wonders From The Sky And Words From Scripture. He Sent The Testimony Of The Heavens And The Teaching Of The Prophets. But Herod Refused To Listen. He Chose His Puny Dynasty Over Christ. He Died A Miserable Old Man.

God Is Able To Accomplish, Provide, Help, Save, Keep, Subdue... He Is Able To Do What You Can't. He Already Has A Plan. God's Not Bewildered. Go To Him.

You Know People Just Assume, 'well, All My Life I'll Be A Worrier.' That Doesn't Have To Be True. There's A Way To Drink From God's Presence So Much That Worry Begins To Dissipate.

Let God Have You, And Let God Love You - And Don’t Be Surprised If Your Heart Begins To Hear Music You’ve Never Heard And Your Feet Learn To Dance As Never Before.

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.

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.

Does God Notice When I'm Afraid? Note The Resolve In The Eyes Of Jesus As He Marches Through The Storm To Rescue His Friends.

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

Forgiveness Is Choosing To See Your Offender With Different Eyes.

I Would Guess That About 75% Of My Stories Are Like That - Personal Experiences That I Probably Over-milk.

Personal Experiences

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

Even Though You May Not Understand How God Works, You Know He Does.

It Was A Matter Of Going Back Through A Lot Of Sermons And Remembering The Questions And Conversations, Where These Ideas Came From. So The Book [max On Life] Is Really Kind Of A Second Chance To Answer These Questions.

My Co-pastor Is Randy Frazee. Randy Is The Brightest Bulb In This Box. He Really Has A Feeling For What A Church Needs In Terms Of Maturity, So I Listen To Him.

I Really Believe The Purpose Of Scripture Is To Give Us This Authoritative Handbook.

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.

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.

You Are Who God Says You Are. Spiritually Alive. Heavenly Positioned. Connected To The Father. A Billboard Of Mercy. An Honored Child.

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.

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.

Forgive And Give As If It Were Your Last Opportunity.

The Idea Of A Spiritual Heart Transplant Is A Vivid Image To Me; Once You Have The Heart Of Somebody Else Inside You, Then That Heart Is There. Jesus' Heart Is Inside Me, And My Heart Is Gone. So If God Were To Place A Stethoscope Against My Chest, He Would Hear The Heart Of Jesus Christ Beating.

I Believe You Select A President Who Best Represents What You Think Are The Values That God Wants Us To Have.

I've Never Been Surprised By God's Judgment, But I'm Still Stunned By His Grace.

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

Ggrace Is God's Best Idea - It's His Decision To Ravage People By Love, To Rescue Passionately, And To Restore Justly.

God Knows Just The Place Where You'll Be Placed. He Has A Barren Living Room In Desperate Need Of Warmth And Joy. A Corner Of The World Needs Some Color. He Selected You With That Place In Mind.

His Is A Joy Which Consequences Cannot Quench. His Is A Peace Which Circumstances Cannot Steal.

I Just Love Those [saying Of Christ ]: "father Forgive Them, They Know Not What They Do. I Thirst. It Is Finished. Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit. Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise." That Was Really The Heart Of The Second Book I Wrote Called No Wonder They Call Him Savior.

Though The Bible Was Written Over Sixteen Centuries By At Least Forty Authors, It Has One Central Theme-salvation Through Faith In Christ.

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.

Not Everybody Can Create A Foundation That's Worth A Billion Dollars, But All Of Us Can Figure Out Those Things We Do. I Really Think God Loves Us Too Much To Give Us An Assignment We Don't Enjoy Doing.

Just When The Truth About Life Sinks In, His Truth Starts To Surface. He Takes Us By The Hand And Dares Us Not To Sweep The Facts Under The Rug But To Confront Them With Him At Our Side.

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.

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

God Is Not Troubled By One Who Is Conservative Or Liberal, And He Certainly Never Inclines His Ear Toward A Donkey Or An Elephant.

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.

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.

Sometimes I Wonder If We Don't See Christ's Love As Much In The People He Tolerated As In The Pain He Endured.

I Know What I'll Be Preaching In The Spring, What I'll Be Preaching In The Summer, And What I'll Be Preaching Next Fall.

What Did Jesus Come To Do? God Saves.

Vengeance Fixes Your Attention On Life's Ugliest Moments. Is This Where You Want To Look? Remember: God Dispenses Perfect Justice.

You Weren't An Accident. You Weren't Mass Produced. You Aren't An Assembly-line Product. You Were Deliberately Planned, Specifically Gifted, And Lovingly Positioned On The Earth By The Master Craftsman.

The Temptation Is For Us To Share Our Own Opinions, Our Own Thoughts And To Speak From The Whole Realm Of Possibility. We Can't Do That As Pastors. We Need To Have A Strong Voice Of Conviction, And The Way We Can Do That Is Through Scripture.

God Will Use Your Mess For Good. We See A Perfect Mess; God Sees A Perfect Chance To Train, Test , And Teach.

Focus On Giants - You Stumble. Focus On God - Giants Tumble.

Theres A Verse Thats Meant A Lot To Me Ever Since I Was In My Early 20s. 2 Timothy 2:8, Paul Told Timothy To Remember Jesus Christ, Descended From David And Raised From The Dead. Thats A Good Principle, That If My Theology, My Whole Life Can Be Focused On Remembering Jesus. Just Trying To Remember Who He Is, What He Did, Being Strong In What He Did And What He Accomplished.

The Presence Of Anxiety Is Unavoidable, But The Prison Of Anxiety Is Optional. Anxiety Is Not A Sin; It's An Emotion. So Don't Be Anxious About Feeling Anxious. Anxiety Can, However, Lead To Sinful Behavior. When We Numb Our Fears With Six-packs Or Food Binges, When We Spew Anger Like Krakatau, When We Peddle Our Fears To Anyone Who Will Buy Them, We're Sinning.

If There Are A Thousand Steps Between Us And God, He Will Take All But One. He Will Leave The Final One For Us. The Choice Is Ours.

Worry Divides The Mind.

Christianity Teaches Salvation By Grace Through Faith, Every Other Religion Teaches Salvation Through Works And Merit.

My Thinking Is That Miracles Exist To Reveal God, But Miracles Don't Exist For God To Do Me Any Favors.

I Have Some Friends Whose Sermons Are Extremely Practical - So Practical That I Can Put Them Right To Use. I'm Trying To Learn How To Do That Better; But I Don't Think My Approach Or Style Really Has Changed In These 30 Years. Whether That's Good Or Bad I Don't Know, But I Don't Think It Has.

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

My Concern Is That Somebody Would Make A Decision Against Christianity Because Of Mr. Trump's Behavior.

Your Challenge Is Not Your Challenge. Your Challenge Is The Way You Think About Your Challenge. Your Problem Is Not Your Problem; It Is The Way You Look At It.

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

God Leads Us. God Will Do The Right Thing At The Right Time. And What A Difference That Makes.

Christian Inspirational

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

The Only Mistake Is Not To Risk Making One.

Religion Is Intended To Facilitate Hope And Faith. Much Like A Path Is Intended To Facilitate A Journey.

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.

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

I Think The One Thing That I Cannot Do Without Each Day Is Hope. If You Put Me In A Position Where You Took All My Hope Away, I'm Not Sure I Could Make It Through The Day.

I Was About 21 When I Read That [mere Christianity], And My Faith Was Really Being Shaken During Those Days. Its A Great, Classic Book.

When Words Are Most Empty, Tears Are Most Apt.

I Do Believe That Leaders Have To Be Held To A Higher Standard, Especially Christian Leaders. I Put Myself In That Camp.

The Wonder Of A Free-market Society Is That We Can All Do Our Best To Package Our Message In An Entertaining Fashion And Present It - And Then Everybody Votes With Their Footsteps.

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.

Let's Try To Present The Same Gospel But In A Fresh Fashion, Always Looking For A Better Way To Connect With The Audience.

God Has Forgiven You; You'd Be Wise To Do The Same

Revenge Is The Raging Fire That Consumes The Arsonist.

Immerse Yourself In The Curriculum Of Grace.

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

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.

You See, It's One Thing To Accept Him As Lord, Another To Recognize Him As Savior - But It's Another Matter Entirely To Accept Him As Father.

Very, Very Rarely Will I Leave San Antonio To Speak Somewhere Else. I Used To Do That, And It Just About Wore Me Out, So I Quit Traveling.

Sentences Are Like Just Caught Fish. Spunky Today, Stinky Tomorrow.

It's Such A Unique Story. Book Of Joshua In The Bible Wasn't Always My Favorite Book, By The Way. Only Some Ago Did I Realize That This Book Covers A Seven-year Period In The History Of Ancient Israel In Which They Literally Went Undefeated.they Did Have One Setback, But Outside Of That, They Defeated Over 30 Kings. They Recaptured The Promised Land. They Did What Their Ancestors Said They Could Not.

The Wizard [of Oz] Says Look Inside Yourself And Find Self. God Says Look Inside Yourself And Find [the Holy Spirit]. The First Will Get You To Kansas. The Latter Will Get You To Heaven. Take Your Pick.

It Works Well For Me To Go Ahead And Prepare The Sermon With A Chapter In Mind. What That Does Is To Force Me To Be Very Thrifty In My Language, Tighten Up My Words And Not Ramble So Much. It Puts Some Fiber In The Sermon.

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

Every Other Religion Is A Salvation By Self, Christianity Is A Salvation By Christ.

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 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.

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.

My Parents, They Were Good, Godly People, But They Never Said, You Need To Write.

When You Are In The Final Days Of Your Life, What Will You Want? Will You Hug That College Degree In The Walnut Frame? Will You Ask To Be Carried To The Garage So You Can Sit In Your Car? Will You Find Comfort In Rereading Your Financial Statement? Of Course Not. What Will Matter Then Will Be People. If Relationships Will Matter Most Then, Shouldn't They Matter Most Now?

We May Not See The Connection Between The Name Jesus And The Phrase "save His People From Their Sins," But Joseph Would Have. He Was Familiar With The Hebrew Language.

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.

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.

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.

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

We Refuse To Believe That This Present World Is The Sum Total Of Human Existence.

Hiding Out With The Enemy Brings Only Temporary Relief.

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