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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?

-Max Lucado

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There Are Certain Weights

Max Lucado

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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?

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

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

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

Baptism Is Bowing Before The Father And Letting Him Do His Work.

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

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

What You Do For A Tree, God Does For You.

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

God Has Enough Grace To Solve Every Dilemma You Face, Wipe Every Tear You Cry, And Answer Every Question You Ask.

The Presence Of Fear Does Not Mean You Have No Faith. Fear Visits Everyone. But Make Your Fear A Visitor And Not A Resident.

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

I Am Very Confident In Preaching.

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

Our Belief In God Is Not Blind Faith. Belief Is Having A Firm Conviction Something Is True, Not Hoping It's True.

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

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

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

When Words Are Most Empty, Tears Are Most Apt.

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

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

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

Revenge Is The Raging Fire That Consumes The Arsonist.

The Path Marked Pride Will Lead You Over A Cliff.

The Maker Of The Stars Would Rather Die For You Than Live Without You. And That Is A Fact. So If You Need To Brag, Brag About That.

Forgiveness Is Not Saying That The One Who Hurt You Was Right. Forgiveness Is Stating That God Is Faithful And He Will Do What Is Right.

We Might Question God's Actions, Decisions, Or Declarations. But We Can Never, Ever Question His Zany, Stunning, Unquenchable Affection.

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.

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.

Our Moods May Shift, But God's Doesn't. Our Minds May Change, But God's Doesn't. Our Devotion May Falter, But God's Never Does. Even If We Are Faithless, He Is Faithful, For He Cannot Betray Himself. He Is A Sure God.

After A Hard Day Scrambling To Find Your Way Around In The World, It's Assuring To Come Home To A Place You Know. God Can Be Equally Familiar To You. With Time You Can Learn Where To Go For Nourishment, Where To Hide For Protection , Where To Turn For Guidance. Just As Your Earthly House Is A Place Of Refuge, So God's House Is A Place Of Peace.

If God Is Enough For You, Then You'll Always Have Enough, Because You'll Always Have God.

Waiting Is A Sustained Effort To Stay Focused On God Through Prayer And Belief.

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."

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

God's Greatest Blessings Often Come Costumed As Disasters. Any Doubters Need To Do Nothing More Than Ascend The Hill Of Calvary.

Don't Quit. For If You Do, You May Miss The Answer To Your Prayers.

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

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

I 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

Let Your Failures Refine You, Not Define You.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

Though You See Nothing, He Is Acting.

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

God Forgets The Past... Imitate Him.

Forget The Past

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

It Deeply Concerns Me That Somebody Who Knows Little Or Nothing About The Christian Faith Would Hear Mr. Trump Call Himself A Christian And Then Make A Decision Based On The Christian Faith, Based On His Behavior.

Sow Seeds Of Hope And Enjoy Optimism. Sow Seeds Of Doubt And Expect Insecurity

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

No Distance Is Too Far.

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.

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.

The Next Time You Find Yourself Alone In A Dark Alley Facing The Undeniables Of Life, Don't Cover Them With A Blanket, Or Ignore Them With A Nervous Grin. Don't Turn Up The Tv And Pretend They Aren't There. Instead, Stand Still, Whisper His Name, And Listen. He Is Nearer Than You Think.

Conflict Is Inevitable But Combat Is Optional.

Yesterday You Can't Alter, But Your Reaction To Yesterday You Can. The Past You Cannot Change, But Your Response To Your Past You Can.

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

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

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.

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

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.

I Think "creative Preaching" Is Redundant.

The Book On My Nightstand Right Now Isnt Anything That Inspired Me, But It Entertained Me. I Read A Book On Labor Day, It Was A Holiday, And I Have Three Daughters, And We All Went To The Shopping Mall And I Sat On The Bench And Read A Book While They Shopped, It Was Called The Greatest Golfer There Ever Was, It Was A Great Book, Easy To Read And Entertaining.

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

The Only Mistake Is Not To Risk Making One.

While We Appreciate Our Ancestry As Americans Or Even Our Ethnic Ancestry And Our Color Of Skin, We Believe That Our Real Citizenship Is In Heaven.

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

Never Underestimate The Power That Comes When A Parent Pleads With God On Behalf Of A Child.

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

No Matter Who Wins, God Is Still Sovereign Regardless If My Preferred Candidate Wins Or Not.

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.

We Will Find Grace To Help Us When We Need It

I Think The Current Book [for Christian Apologetics] Is By Lee Strobel, Its Called A Case For Christ.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Greed Is Not Defined By What Something Costs; It Is Measured By What It Costs You. If Anything Costs You Your Faith Or Your Family, The Price Is Too High. Such Is The Point Jesus Makes In The Parable Of The Portfolio.

But By Faith You Look In The Mirror And See A Robed Prodigal Bearing The Ring Of Grace On Your Finger And The Kiss Of Your Father On Your Face.

How Grimy Did God Get When He Reached Down To Clean You Up? How Grimy Are You Willing To Get In Order To Be An 'imitator Of God'?

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

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

In The Great Orchestra We Call Life, You Have An Instrument And A Song, And You Owe It To God To Play Them Both Sublimely.

If God Is Willing To Be Born In A Barnyard, Then Expect Him To Be At Work Anywhere - Bars, Bedrooms, Boardrooms, And Brothels.

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.

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

God Loves You Just The Way You Are, But He Refuses To Leave You That Way.

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

There Is Not A Hint Of One Person Who Was Afraid To Draw Near Him [jesus]. There Were Those Who Mocked Him. There Were Those Who Were Envious Of Him. There Were Those Who Misunderstood Him. There Were Those Who Revered Him. But There Was Not One Person Who Considered Him Too Holy, Too Divine, Or Too Celestial To Touch. There Was Not One Person Who Was Reluctant To Approach Him For Fear Of Being Rejected.

God's Love Supply Is Never Empty.

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

As A Pastor, You Get Asked Questions And Receive Emails. Many Of Them I Had Answered, But Just In Conversation. So We Kind Of Re-crafted The Question And Answered It. It Turned Out To Be An Interesting Exercise. I Hope It's Encouraging For People.

I 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.

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

You'll Always Face Problems. When You Experience Hard Times, Immerse Your Mind In God Thoughts. Turn A Deaf Ear To Doubters. Set Your Mind On A Holy Cause. Once You Find Your Mountain, No Giant Will Stop You, No Age Will Disqualify You, And No Problem Will Defeat You.

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.

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.

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?

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

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

I'm First A Pastor And Then A Writer.

If Hurts Were Hairs, We'd All Look Like Grizzlies.

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

Through The Years, I Have Always Enjoyed Anything Chuck Swindoll Has Written. When I First Got Into Writing Chuck's Books Really Modeled A Style Of Writing That I Thought Was Accessible To People And Yet Still Biblical. I Wanted To Do That.

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.

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.

God Gives Us People To Love And Things To Use, Not Things To Love And People To Use.

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

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

There's No Person God Cannot Reach.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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 Want A Real Take-home Quality To The Sermon, So I Built The Whole Sermon Series Around The Word Grace, Those Five Letters.

If You Knew Jesus Was Returning Tomorrow, How Would You Feel Today? Anxious, Afraid, Unprepared? If So, You Can Take Care Of Your Fears By Placing Your Trust In Christ. If Your Answer Includes Words Like Happy, Relieved, And Excited, Hold Tightly To Your Joy.

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

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

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

Meaning Of Life

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

Fear Will Always Knock On Your Door. Just Don't Invite It In For Dinner. And For Heaven's Sake, Don't Offer It A Bed For The Night.

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.

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.

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

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.

The Secret Of Loving Is Living Loved.

Worship Is The Thank You That Can't Be Silenced

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.

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.

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

I Think 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.

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.

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.

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.

Deflating Inflated Egos Is So Important To God That He Offers To Help.

When Grace Moves In... Guilt Moves Out

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

Being Religious Without Knowing The Cross Is Like Owning A Mercedes With No Motor. Pretty Package, But Where Is Your Power?

Want To Learn To Forgive? Then Consider How You've Been Forgiven.

I Think We Live In Slavery To Fear. Most People Don't Have An Answer To The Death Question And Really Don't Even Have A Philosophy. That Is A Puzzle To Me. I Think Even If I Was Not A Christian, I Would Want To At Least Have A Personal Solution To The Death Question. Otherwise, Death Is Just A Frightening Thing.

Here's What You Need To Keep In Mind. You No Longer Have Yesterday. You Do Not Yet Have Tomorrow. You Have Only Today. This Is The Day The Lord Has Made. Live In It.

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

The Bible Teaches Us That God Does Not Cause Pain, But That He Uses Pain And Evil To Advance His Cause And Shape His Servants.

Does God Understand You? Find The Answer In Bethlehem.

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

Can Do Something

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

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

Sovereignty Of God

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

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

God Meets Daily Needs Daily. Not Weekly Or Annually. He Will Give You What You Need When It Is Needed.

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

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.

I Think Theres Just This Mystique Of Writing A Book That Appeals To People. A Person Has To Really Check Their Motives And Say, Am I Really Being Called By God To Do This? Or Is This Just Something That Would Look Neat In My Funeral? I Dont Mean To Be Harsh But I Think A Person Really Needs To, So They Wont Be Disappointed.

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

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

Fear Creates A Form Of Spiritual Amnesia

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.

No One Can Pray And Worry At The Same Time.

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

God Has Work For You To Do.

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