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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.

-Max Lucado

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Not Everybody Can Create

Max Lucado

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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.

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It's Okay To Rest. Jesus Fights When You Cannot.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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."

It's One Thing To Be Discouraged. It's Another Thing To Have Despair. Despair Is When You Think There's Just No End To This [suffering]. There's No Solution For This. Despair Is When You Think That Your Suffering Has No Purpose, And Your Suffering Has No End.

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.

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.

I Choose Joy... I Will Invite My God To Be The God Of Circumstance. I Will Refuse The Temptation To Be Cynical... The Tool Of The Lazy Thinker. I Will Refuse To See People As Anything Less Than Human Beings, Created By God. I Will Refuse To See Any Problem As Anything Less Than An Opportunity To See God.

The Ultimate Solution To Poverty Is Found In The Compassion Of God's People.

God Uses Every Possible Means To Communicate With You.

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.

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

Is It Possible For An Unbaptized Believer To Be Saved? Yes, Definitely. Should Every Believer Be Baptized? Yes, Definitely.

Live In Such A Way That The World Will Be Glad You Did.

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.

One Of The Greatest Gifts We Can Give People Is The Hope That Their Death Is Nothing To Fear - You Know, Not That It Has No Fear In It, But The Promise Of Scripture Is That God Will Lead Us Through The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death.

Shadow Of Death

Fear Creates A Form Of Spiritual Amnesia

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.

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.

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

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

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

God Has No Cousins, Only Children.

God Is Using My Struggle. My Struggle Is The Answer To The Prayer.

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.

Be Gone, Sorrow, Sickness, Wheelchairs, And Cancer! Enough Of You, Screams Of Fear And Nights Of Horror! Death, You Die! Life, You Reign!

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

I'm First A Pastor And Then A Writer.

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

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

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

There's No Person God Cannot Reach.

God Meets Our Needs One Day At A Time.

The Greater Your Cares, The More Genuine Your Prayers

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

I Think You Can Tilt Too Far To The Side Of The Story Where The Message Is Just Simply Entertainment. So I Think Your Goal Has To Be To Craft In One Sentence What The Truth Is You Are Trying To Convey. And Then You Find Or Create A Story That You Wrap Around That Truth.

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

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

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

Gratitude Develops Faith. The Surest Path Out Of A Slump Is Marked By The Road Sign "thank You, God."

Jesus Will Empty The Tombs And Melt The Winter Of Death.

God Wants To Help You Find Your Way Home.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

When All Of Earth Turns Against You, All Of Heaven Turns Toward You.

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.

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

Personal Opinions

I 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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Your Goal Is Not To Know Every Detail Of The Future. Your Goal Is To Hold The Hand Of The One Who Does And Never, Ever Let Go.

I Would Not Have Said Anything About Mr. Trump, Never - I Would Never Have Said Anything If He Didn't Call Himself A Christian. It'd Be None Of My Business Whatsoever To Make Any Comments About His Language, His Vulgarities, His Slander Of People, But I Was Deeply Troubled ... That Here's A Man Who Holds Up A Bible One Day, And Calls A Lady "bimbo" The Next.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

God's Love Never Ceases. Never... God Doesn't Love Us Less If We Fail Or More If We Succeed. God's Love Never Ceases.

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

We Act Like God's Only Good When The Outcome Is Good. We Say, 'we've Got A Good God Because I've Got A Good Job.' But What If I Don't Have A Good Job? Does That Mean God's Not Good Anymore?

We're All Travelers, All Sojourners.

A Christian In His Surroundings Should Encourage Everyone To Be Better, Instead Of Being The One Who Stoops To Be Like Everyone Else.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

I've Never Really Prided Myself As Being Quick On My Feet. Maybe You've Had The Experience Where Somebody's Asked You A Question And You Give An Answer, Then Later In The Day You Think, "oh, I Wish I'd Said That!" I Tend To Journal These Things And Put The Answers In Sermons.

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

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.

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.

It Seems To Me That Election Season Is Just A Petri Dish For Anger And Cynicism.

Jesus Said, "my Father Is The Gardener...he Trims And Cleans Every Branch That Produces Fruit So That It Will Produce Even More Fruit".

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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.

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

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.

The Only Mistake Is Not To Risk Making One.

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.

Reading The Bible Can Be Like Meeting Someone You Don't Know Who, Oddly, Somehow Seems To Know You Deeply. It's Uncanny.

Meeting Someone

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

I Believe Ingratitude Is The Original Sin. I Believe If Adam And Eve Had Been Grateful For The Garden Of Eden They Had, They Would Not Have Been So Focused On The One Tree They Didn't Have.

All I Know Is That The Stable Is Empty, And The Horse Is Gone. The Rest I Don't Know. Whether [in The Future] It Be A Curse Or A Blessing, I Can't Say. All We Can See Is A Fragment. Who Can Say What Will Come Next [and What Is Good Or Bad In The Long Run]?

Unmet Expectations Are Tough When It's Your Wife Or Your Husband, But It's Really Tough When It's God. And Yet, It Can Be A Time Of Growth And A Time Of Faith, A Time Of Understanding Who God Is.

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.

Real Courage Embraces The Twin Realities Of Current Difficulty And Ultimate Triumph.

God Comes On His Own Terms. He Comes When Commands Are Revered, Hearts Are Clean, And Confession Is Made.

Meet Your Fears With Faith.

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

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

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

I Think That I Speak A Lot Like I Write.

Find Joy In The Ordinary.

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?

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

Sometimes When You Read The Bible, You Find Yourself Asking, "how Does This Book Know That About Me? How Does It Know That About Our World - Especially When It Was Written So Long Ago?"

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

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.

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.

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.

In A World Of Upward Mobility, Choose Downward Servility.

Upward Mobility

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

Stay Strong! Your Test Will Become Your Test-imony, Your Mess Will Become Your Mess-age.

God Knows What It's Like To Be A Human. When I Talk To Him About Deadlines Or Long Lines Or Tough Times, He Understands. He's Been There. He's Been Here.

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

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.

Can Is 100 Times More Important Than Iq

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

Has Worrying About Tomorrow Every Changed It?

I Don't Get Asked A Lot Of Questions About Science And The Bible, For Example. Probably People Just Know I'm Not Very Smart And I Don't Have An Answer To Those Anyway.

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

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

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

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

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.

Compassion Gives Us A Common Ground To Stand On Regardless Of Your Faith Background. It Gives Us A Chance To Stand Shoulder-to-shoulder Rather Than Go Fist-to-fist With Somebody.

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

If God Had A Refrigerator, Your Picture Would Be On It.

God Loves You Because He Has Chosen To Do So.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

A Nation Is Blessed When It Has Godly Leaders.

With God, Every Day Matters, Every Person Counts. And That Includes You.

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

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

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

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

You Don't Have Wisdom For Tomorrow's Problems. But You Will Tomorrow. You Don't Have Resources For Tomorrow's Needs. But You Will Tomorrow. You Don't Have Courage For Tomorrow's Challenges. But You Will When Tomorrow Comes.

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

1 Out Of 3 Americans Says, "i Hate My Job." 80-plus Percent Say, "i'm Ill-equipped And Unenthused About My Work."

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

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.

God Is Not A Miser With His Grace. Your Cup May Be Low In Cash Or Clout, But It Is Overflowing With Mercy.

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

The Bible Is Full Of Stories Of Men And Women Who've Found Themselves In Frightening Situations But Who Chose To Look Up Rather Than Look Down - Look Up In Faith - And God Got Them Through It.

No Place Is Too Common.

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

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

You Can Climb Too High For Your Own Good. Linger Too Long At High Altitudes And Your Hearing Dulls And Your Eyesight Dims.

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.

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.

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

Forgive And Give As If It Were Your Last Opportunity.

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

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.

Discover This Mystery: As You Help Others Face Their Days, You Put Life Into Your Own. And Life Is Exactly What Many People Need.

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

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

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

Visions Of The Future

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

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.

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

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.

Humility Has Such Power. Apologies Can Disarm Arguments. Contrition Can Defuse Rage. Olive Branches Do More Good Than Battle Axes Ever Will.

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

I Love Everything About The Christmas Season.

Christmas Season

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

If You Have A Pulse, You're Going To Have Pain.

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

The Secret Of Loving Is Living Loved.

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