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In A Sense We're All Children Of God - Jesus Is Called The One And Only Son. Monogeneo Is The Word, God's Only "genetic" Child. He Bears The Very Essence Of God. What We Say About God We Say About Jesus. So The Promise Rises And Falls On The Identity Of Jesus.

-Max Lucado

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In A Sense We're

Max Lucado

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In A Sense We're All Children Of God - Jesus Is Called The One And Only Son. Monogeneo Is The Word, God's Only "genetic" Child. He Bears The Very Essence Of God. What We Say About God We Say About Jesus. So The Promise Rises And Falls On The Identity Of Jesus.

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Usually I'm Able To Prepare A Message About Two To Three Weeks In Advance.i Know Some Preachers Don't Like That. They Want To Be Finishing It On Friday Before They Preach It On Sunday, But Our Worship Team Really Likes Me To Get It Done Way In Advance.

Since Our Greatest Need Was Forgiveness, God Sent Us A Savior. He Became Like Us, So We Could Become Like Him.

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.

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

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.

The Book, Max On Life, Is Really Kind Of A Second Chance To Answer These Questions.

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

How Can A Person Deal With Anxiety? You Might Try What One Fellow Did. He Worried So Much That He Decided To Hire Someone To Do His Worrying For Him. He Found A Man Who Agreed To Be His Hired Worrier For A Salary Of $200,000 Per Year. After The Man Accepted The Job, His First Question To His Boss Was, "where Are You Going To Get $200,000 Per Year?" To Which The Man Responded, "that's Your Worry.

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

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

God's Solution Is A Prayer Away!

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

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

Gratitude Lifts Our Eyes Off The Things We Lack So We Might See The Blessings We Possess.

Nature Is God's First Missionary. Where There Is No Bible There Are Sparkling Stars. Where There Are Not Preachers There Are Spring Times... If A Person Has Nothing But Nature, Then Nature Is Enough To Reveal Something About God.

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

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

The Manger Dares Us To Believe The Best Is Yet To Be. And It Could All Begin Today.

God Crowns Us. Most People Crown Their Christmas Trees With Either An Angel Or A Star. God Uses Both.

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

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

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.

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

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.

God Wants You To Know That He Gets You.

God Loves You Because He Has Chosen To Do So.

Be Kind To Yourself. God Thinks You're Worth His Kindness. And He's A Good Judge Of Character.

Does The Presence Of Pain Mean The Absence Of God? I Try To Help People See That God Uses Pain, That Pain Is One Of The Ways God Shapes Us Into The Kind Of Beings He Wants Us To Be For Eternity.

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

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.

No One Can Do Everything, But Everyone Can Do Something

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

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

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.

Pastoring The Flock With Words. I Love That. We Always Have A Prayer Time In The Middle Of Our Service. We Take About Eight Or Ten Minutes Before I Preach, After We've Sung, And Invite People To Come Forward For Prayer. That's A Tender Moment To Me. I Don't Preach Much In That, But I Like To Speak To The People.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

I Never Told Anybody I Wanted To Write, I Kind Of Fell Into It Backwards.

Sin Is Not An Unfortunate Slip Or A Regrettable Act; It Is A Posture Of Defiance Against A Holy God.

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

You Change Your Life By Changing Your Heart.

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

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.

All My Books Come Out Of Sermons, And I'm Really A Pastor Who Writes Rather Than A Writer Who Pastors.

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.

Though We May Not Be Able To See His Purpose Or His Plan, The Lord Of Heaven Is On His Throne And In Firm Control Of The Universe And Our Lives.

To Live As God's Child Is To Know That You Are Loved By Your Maker Not Because You Try To Please Him And Succeed, Or Fail To Please Him And Apologize, But Because He Wants To Be Your Father. Nothing More.

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

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

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

Where We Might Think Of Sin As Slip-ups Or Missteps, God Views Sin As A Godless Attitude That Leads To Godless Action.

Does God Care If I'm Sad? Look At The Tear-streaked Face Of Jesus As He Stands Near Lazarus's Tomb.

It's God's Job To Run The World. Sometimes We Accomplish More By Doing Less.

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

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.

What Causes Us To Think Of Prayer As The Last Option Rather Than The First? I Can Think Of Two Reasons: Feelings Of Independence And Feelings Of Insignificance.

Engage With The Bible. Meditate On It Day And Night. Think And Rethink About God's Word. Let It Be Your Guide. Make It Your Go-to Book For Questions. Let It Be The Ultimate Authority In Your Life.

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.

We're Important, But Not Essential; Valuable, But Not Indispensable. We Have A Part In The Play, But We Are Not The Main Act. A Song To Sing, But We Are Not The Featured Voice. God Is.

There Is No Religion Like Christianity, It Is Not One Religion Among Others, It Is Completely Different, Its Mixing Apples And Oranges.

How Does God Deal With Your Bitter Heart? He Reminds You That What You Have Is More Important Than What You Don't Have. You Still Have Your Relationship With God. No One Can Take That.

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.

If We Think That This Life Is All There Is To Life, Then There Is No Interpretation Of Our Problems, Our Pain, Not Even Of Our Privileges. But Everything Changes When We Open Up To The Possibility That God's Story Is Really Our Story Too.

Fear Creates A Form Of Spiritual Amnesia

You Have A God Who Hears You, The Power Of Love Behind You, The Holy Spirit Within You, And All Of Heaven Ahead Of You. If You Have The Shepherd, You Have Grace For Every Sin, Direction For Every Turn, A Candle For Every Corner And An Anchor For Every Storm. You Have Everything You Need.

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

If Today Were Your Last, Would You Do What You're Doing? Or Would You Love More, Give More, Forgive More? Then Do So! Forgive And Give As If It Were Your Last Opportunity. Love Like There's No Tomorrow, And If Tomorrow Comes, Love Again.

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

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.

We (christians) Are Always In The Presence Of God. There Is Never A Non-sacred Moment! His Presence Never Diminishes. Our Awareness Of His Presence May Falter, But The Reality Of His Presence Never Changes.

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

God Created Marriage. No Government Subcommittee Envisioned It. No Social Organization Developed It. Marriage Was Conceived And Born In The Mind Of God.

I Try To Be Honest; I Really Do Try Not To Exaggerate The Story. I Try To Be Accurate.

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

You Can Do Something No One Else Can Do In A Fashion No One Else Can Do It.

Can Do Something

Of All The Things You Must Earn In Life, God's Unending Affection Is Not One Of Them. You Have It.

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.

The One Who Saved Your Soul Longs To Remake Your Heart. Let's Fix Our Eyes On Jesus. Perhaps In Seeing Him, We Will See What We Can Become!

Your Requests Change History Because Your Prayers Change God!

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

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.

So Immediately I'm Trying To Think: What Are Some Of These Times When We Feel We're Losing Our Hold On Christ, And What's The Fear We're Trying To Address? I Try To Get Into That Quickly.

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.

I'm First A Pastor And Then A Writer.

If You Knew That Only A Few Would Care That You Came, Would You Still Come? If You Knew That Those You Loved Would Laugh In Your Face, Would You Still Care? If You Knew That The Tongues You Made Would Mock You, The Mouths You Made Would Spit At You, The Hands You Made Would Crucify You, Would You Still Make Them? Christ Did.

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

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

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

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.

No Psychological Grid Works, Because If You Try To Place Every Personality In One Particular Grid Then You'd Need About 4 Billion Grids Because We Are All So Unique.

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.

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.

How My Relationship With My Parents Influenced My Writing, Really Not At All. My Dad Was A Mechanic, My Mom A Nurse.

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.

It's Always Better To Step Down From The Pedestal Than To Be Pulled Off Of It.

If We Can Understand That Death Is Not The End But Is Really A Transition Into The Next Life, The Great Part Of Life, That Frees Us Up Into Receiving God's Courage And His Help.

Jesus Spoke To Those Who Had Turned Their Backs On History. He Spoke To Those Who Had Blatantly Ignored Sign After Sign, Servant After Servant.

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

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

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

Hiding Out With The Enemy Brings Only Temporary Relief.

A Little Rain Can Straighten A Flower Stem. A Little Love Can Change A Life.

God Has Proven Himself As A Faithful Father. Now It Falls To Us To Be Trusting Children.

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.

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.

God Has Work For You To Do.

Has Worrying About Tomorrow Every Changed It?

In March 2011 I'm Trying To Decide On A Sermon Series That I Will Preach In January 2012. So, I'm About Six Months Out.

I Certainly Don't Mean To Leave The Impression That Anxiety Can Be Waved Away With A Simple Pep Talk. In Fact, For Some, God's Healing Will Include The Help Of Therapy And/or Medication. If That's The Case, Do Not For A Moment Think That You're A Second-class Citizen Of Heaven. Ask God To Lead You To A Qualified Counselor Or Physician Who'll Provide The Treatment You Need. This Much Is Sure: It's Not God's Will That You Lead A Life Of Perpetual Anxiety. It's Not His Will That You Face Every Day With Dread And Trepidation.

When I Was A Young Kid, My Dad, A Man Of Few Words, Told My Brother And Me, "boys, Christmas Is About Jesus." I Thought About What He Said, And I Began Asking The Christmas Questions. I've Been Asking Them Ever Since. I Love The Answers I've Found.

When You Teach On A Familiar Text, You're Capitalizing On Common Knowledge. When You Teach On An Unfamiliar Text, You're Having To Build A Bridge Of Understanding, And We Need To Do That As Well.

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

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

Don't Measure The Size Of The Mountain; Talk To The One Who Can Move It.

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

He Loves Each One Of Us Like There Is Only One Of Us To Love (when God Whisper Your Name)

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

[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.

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

God Meets Our Needs One Day At A Time.

Be Quick To Pray. Stop Talking To Yourself. Talk To Christ.

One Of The Secrets In Life Is That We Really Lead A Better Life When We're Living For Others Than We Do When We're Living For Ourselves, And I Think That's The Way For Our Creator Intended For It To Be, Is That If We Can Live For Other People, We Really Leave This World In A Different Way.

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

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.

I'm Thinking, "what Difference Will This Sermon Make In Their Lives Tomorrow? What Am I Trying To Give Them That Will Make A Difference?" For Example, Had To Do With The Theme That Jesus Will Not Let Go Of You. He's Holding Onto You. I Talked To Them About The Disciples And Peter On The Night Before The Crucifixion Of Christ - How Jesus Said That All Of You Are Going To Turn Away, But He Would Be Waiting For Them In Galilee.

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.

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.

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

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

I Think That I Speak A Lot Like I Write.

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.

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

I Really Enjoyed Reading The Writings Of Fredrick Buechner, I Havent Read Anything By Him In Probably A Decade But About 20 Years Ago I Read Four Or Five Books Of His And It Helped Me.

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

When You're Full Of Yourself, God Can't Fill You. But When You Empty Yourself, God Has A Useful Vessel.

Full Of Yourself

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

Others Have Promised And Failed. But God Has Promised And Succeeded. He Loves You With An Unfailing Love.

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

Those In The Circle Of Christ Had No Doubt Of His Love; Those In Our Circles Should Have No Doubt About Ours.

God Would Prefer We Have An Occasional Limp Than A Perpetual Strut.

I Spent The Better Part Of A Week Trying To Figure Out How To Organize These Stacks Of 30 Years Of Conversations And Dialogues. I Finally Began Clustering Them In These Different Categories, And I Ended Up With The Ones You Listed.it's Interesting To Me The Kinds Of Questions I Haven't Been Called To Wrestle With. For Example, I Don't Know What This Says, But I'm Not Asked A Lot Of Political Questions.

I Think I Could Do Better In My Approach To Application. I Think I Could Do Better In Preaching Practical Sermons.

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

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.

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.

We Will Find Grace To Help Us When We Need It

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.

What The New Mate, Sports Car, Or Unexpected Check Could Never Do, Christ Says, "i Can." You'll Love How He Achieves It. He Reconnects Your Soul With God.

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.

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

Nothing Fosters Courage Like A Clear Grasp Of Grace... & Nothing Fosters Fear Like An Ignorance Of Mercy

What Did Jesus Come To Do? God Saves.

No Person Is Too Hardened.

I Get One Hour, Really 25 Minutes In A Sermon On A Weekend, To Combat All The Hours Of The Week That People Are Told You Are What You Have Through Billboards, Commercials, And Sitcoms, And So Forth.

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

Yes, Your Family History Has Some Sad Chapters. But Your History Doesn't Have To Be Your Future. The Generational Garbage Can Stop Here And Now.

It's Not About Winning Or Losing, But Love And Respect.

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.

God Wants The World To See What God Can Do With His Purchased Possessions. So He Prunes You.

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.

Fredrick Buechner Kind Of Loosened Up My Clerical Collar, You Might Say.

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

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

The Next Time You Are Called To Suffer, Pay Attention. It May Be The Closest You'll Ever Get To God.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Examine The Platforms Of Both Parties. Examine The Character Of Both Parties. Get Down On Your Knees. Say, Lord, Help Me Make This Decision. And Then Go Vote.

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.

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.

He Saw You In Your Own Gethsemane And He Didn't Want You To Be Alone..he Would Rather Go To Hell For You Than To Haven Without You.

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

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.

Truth Can Arrive Within The Story And Ride Latent - A Bit Incognito - Within A Story, And People Are More Prone To Receive It.

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

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?

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.

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.

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

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

We See A Hearse; We Think Sorrow. We See A Grave; We Think Despair. We Hear Of A Death; We Think Of A Loss. Not So In Heaven. When Heaven Sees A Breathless Body, It Sees The Vacated Cocoon & The Liberated Butterfly.

You Don't Have To Be Dishonest To Communicate The Gospel.

Most Of My Sermons Are Inspirational, And I Believe People Need That Encouragement.

When No One Is Watching, Live As If Someone Is.

When God Is All You Have, Then All You Have, Is All You Need.

I Was Never Really Lead By [my Parents] And Didnt Sense Any Leading From The Lord To Go Into Writing.

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.

No One Can Pray And Worry At The Same Time. When We Worry, We Aren't Praying. When We Pray, We Aren't Worrying.

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.

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.

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

Somewhere, Sometime, Somehow You Got Tangled Up In Garbage, And You've Been Avoiding God. You've Allowed A Veil Of Guilt To Come Between You And Your Father. You Wonder If You Could Ever Feel Close To God Again. The Message Of The Torn Flesh Is You Can. God Welcomes You. God Is Not Avoiding You. God Is Not Resisting You. The Curtain Is Down, The Door Is Open, And God Invites You In

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.

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