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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.

-Max Lucado

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Maybe Your Life Resembles

Max Lucado

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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.

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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.

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.

Prayer Is The Window That God Has Placed In The Walls Of Our World. Leave It Shut And The World Is A Cold, Dark House. But Throw Back The Curtains And See His Light. Open The Window And Hear His Voice. Open The Window Of Prayer And Invoke The Presence Of God In Your World.

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.

There Are Some Facts That Will Never Change. One Fact Is That You Are Forgiven. If You Are In Christ, When He Sees You, Your Sins Are Covered-he Doesn't See Them. He Sees You Better Than You See Yourself.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Finding Strength

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 Rewards Those Who Seek Him. Not Those Who Seek Doctrine Of Religion Or Systems Or Creeds. Many Settle For These Lesser Passions, But The Reward Goes To Those Who Settle For Nothing Less Than Jesus Himself. And What Is The Reward? What Awaits Those Who Seek Jesus? Nothing Short Of The Heart Of Jesus.

Da Vinci Painted One Mona Lisa. Beethoven Composed One Fifth Symphony. And God Made One Version Of You.

I Don't Know How To Answer The Problem Of Deep Pain Without A Deep Hope In Eternity.

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

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

When God Looks At You, He Doesn’t See You; He Sees The One Who Surrounds You. That Means That Failure Is Not A Concern For You. Your Victory Is Secure.

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.

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

Do You Believe That God Is Near? He Wants You To. He Wants You To Know That He Is In The Midst Of Your World. Wherever You Are As You Read These Words, He Is Present.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

What If You Woke Up This Morning And Had Only The Things You Thanked God For Yesterday?

One Phrase Summarizes The Horror Of Hell. "god Isn't There."

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."

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

There's Something About Compassion That Causes Society To Say, 'we're Going To Take This Person Seriously.' Take Mother Teresa. She Was Confrontational On Abortion, But She Wasn't Rejected By Society.

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.

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

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.

Forgive And Give As If It Were Your Last Opportunity.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Find Joy In The Ordinary.

God Has High Plans For You And Me.

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.

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.

The Moment Mary Touched God's Face Is The Moment God Made His Case: There's No Place He Will Not Go.

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

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

Does God Understand You? Find The Answer In Bethlehem.

The State Of Your Heart Dictates Whether You Harbor A Grudge Or Give Grace, Seek Self-pity Or Seek Christ, Drink Human Misery Or Taste God's Mercy.

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

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.

The Claims Of Christ Are Always On Trial, And We Remain Under Oath! We Are His Witnesses For Truth.

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

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.

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.

I've Never Disclosed For Whom I'm Voting.

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

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

Meaning Of Life

God Loves People Just The Way They Are, But He Loves Them Too Much To Leave Them That Way!

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

A Nation Is Blessed When It Has Godly Leaders.

No Person Is Too Hardened.

Jesus Came To Save Us, Not Just From Politics, Enemies, Challenges, Or Difficulties.

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

God Wants To Help You Find Your Way Home.

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.

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

No One Can Do Everything, But Everyone Can Do Something

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.

God Has Work For You To Do.

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

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 Duty Of The Branch Is To Cling To The Vine.

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.

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

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

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, And Self-control. To These I Commit My Day. If I Succeed, I Will Give Thanks. If I Fail, I Will Seek His Grace. And Then, When This Day Is Done, I Will Place My Head On My Pillow And Rest.

Who Was Jesus? God Saves.

In Order To Find Jesus, Every One Of Us Needs Direction. God Gives It. The Story Of The Wise Men Shows Us How. The Star Sign Was Enough To Lead The Magi To Jerusalem. But It Took Scripture To Lead Them To Jesus.

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.

Heaven Knows The Difference Between Sunday Morning And Wednesday Afternoon. God Longs To Speak As Clearly In The Workplace As He Does In The Sanctuary. He Longs To Be Worshiped When We Sit At The Dinner Table And Not Just When We Come To His Communion Table. You May Go Days Without Thinking Of Him, But There's Never A Moment When He's Not Thinking Of You.

Thinking Of You

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

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.

History Is Not An Endless Succession Of Meaningless Circles But A Directed Movement Toward A Great Event.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

Those Who Successfully Go Through Tough Times Do So Because They Keep Insisting.

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.

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?

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

Were It Not For The Shepherds, There Would Have Been No Reception. And Were It Not For A Group Of Stargazers, There Would Have Been No Gifts.

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

Your Requests Change History Because Your Prayers Change God!

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.

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.

Christ Became One Of Us To Redeem All Of Us.

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

I Think To Trust In The Sovereignty Of God Does Not Excuse My Personal Responsibility. Just The Opposite - It Equips Me To Be Personally Responsible.

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 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.

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

You Can Endure Change By Pondering His Permanence.

The Greater Your Cares, The More Genuine Your Prayers

In A World Of Upward Mobility, Choose Downward Servility.

Upward Mobility

I Choose Goodness... I Will Go Without A Dollar Before I Take A Dishonest One. I Will Be Overlooked Before I Will Boast. I Will Confess Before I Will Accuse. I Choose Goodness.

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.

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

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.

When Troubles Come Our Way, We Can Be Stressed And Upset, Or We Can Trust God. Caleb Could Have Cursed God. He Didn't Deserve The Wilderness. He Had To Put His Dreams On Hold For Four Decades. Still He Didn't Complain Or Grow Sour.

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

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

We Forget That Impossible Is One Of God's Favorite Words

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.

A Split Second Is Nothing Compared To Twenty-four Hours. On God's Clock You're In The Middle Of Your Millisecond. Compared To Eternity, What Is Seventy, Eighty, Ninety Years?

The Path Marked Pride Will Lead You Over A Cliff.

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

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.

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

The Land Of Promise Is For Those Who Simply Remain To The End.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

I Would Love To Have A More Earnest Prayer Life! In My Life, Prayer Is The Single Most Difficult Discipline. I Love God And There's Something In Me That Would Rather Do Things For God Than Talk To God. I'm Not By Nature A Mystical, Devotional Person. I Like To Do Things. And So It's A Challenge For Me To Have A Faithful Prayer Life, But I Know God Loves Me And He's Not Mad At Me. He Just Wishes I Would Slow Down And Turn Things Over To Him. And That's What I Think You Achieve Through Prayer.

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

Changing Your Life

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

Lower Your Expectations Of Earth. This Isn't Heaven, So Don't Expect It To Be.

The Purpose Of The Bible? Salvation. God's Highest Passion Is To Get His Children Home. His Book, The Bible, Describes His Plan Of Salvation. The Purpose Of The Bible Is To Proclaim God's Plan And Passion To Save His Children.

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

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

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

What Did Jesus Come To Do? God Saves.

Grace Is God As Heart Surgeon, Cracking Open Your Chest, Removing Your Heart - Poisoned As It Is With Pride And Pain - And Replacing It With His Own.

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

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.

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

What I'm Urging People To Do Is Trust In The Sovereignty Of God.

Sovereignty 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.

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

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 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.

No One Wants Your Worries...not Even You. Anxiety Comes At A High Cost. Let Jesus Lead You Beside Still Waters.

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

Bitterness Is The Trap That Snares The Hunter

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

All Of My Sermons Become Books. I've Been Accused Of Having No Unpublished Thought. I Encourage Pastors To Do That. I Think There Are So Many Great Sermons That Never Really Get Circulation.

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!

I Believe A Personal Relationship With God Is Healthy, But Organized Religion Has Potential For Danger, In Whatever Faith.

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

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.

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.

Sovereignty Is The Term The Bible Uses To Describe God's Perfect Control And Management Of The Universe. He Preserves And Governs Every Element. He's Continually Involved With All Created Things, Directing Them To Act In A Way That Fulfills His Divine Purpose. That's Why The Most Stressed-out People Are Control Freaks. They Fail At The Quest They Most Pursue. The More They Try To Control The World, The More They Realize They Cannot. Life Becomes A Cycle Of Anxiety, Failure; Anxiety, Failure; Anxiety, Failure. We Can't Take Control, Because Control Is Not Ours To Take.

Aging Is God's Idea. It's One Of The Ways He Keeps Us Headed Homeward.

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

I Don't Think God Is A Gender. He Presents Himself As A Father But He Comes To Us With The Tenderness Of A Mother. In Some Of The Parables, He Is The Housewife Who Cleans The House Looking For The Lost Coin. So I Think We Can Miss The Point If We Get Too Concerned About The Gender Of God.

To Accept Grace Is To Admit Failure, A Step We Are Hesitant To Take. We Opt To Impress God With How Good We Are Rather Than Confessing How Great He Is.

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.

The Only Mistake Is Not To Risk Making One.

Revenge Is The Raging Fire That Consumes The Arsonist.

What We Realize Is Number One, People Want To Know What The Bible Says. In Their Heart, They Want To Know The Bible But It Is Just Hard To Understand The Big Picture Of It. And Number Two, They Want To Know Where They Plug In.

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?

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

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

Give A Man Religion Without Reminding Him Of His Filth, And The Result Will Be Arrogance In A Three- Piece Suit.

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

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

Just As Your Earthly House Is A Place Of Refuge, So God's House Is A Place Of Peace.

I Picked Up This Book Called Blue Mountain, Supposed To Be A Really Good Book On The Civil War.

God Is Always Near Us. Always For Us. Always In Us.

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.

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

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

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.

We May Speak About A Place Where There Are No Tears, No Death, No Fear, No Night; But Those Are Just The Benefits Of Heaven. The Beauty Of Heaven Is Seeing God.

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.

There Is No Way Our Little Minds Can Comprehend The Love Of God. But That Didn't Keep Him From Coming.

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.

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.

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.

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

Prayer Pushes Us Through Life's Slumps, Propels Us Over The Humps And Pulls Us Out Of The Dumps. Prayer Is The Oomph We Need To Get The Answers We Seek.

Be Patient. God Is Using Today's Difficulties To Strengthen You For Tomorrow. He Is Equipping You. The God Who Makes Things Grow Will Help You Bear Fruit.

The Bible Urges Us To Be Respectful To All People, Especially People With Whom We Have Disagreements, To Never Libel People, To Never Label People.

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