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

-Max Lucado

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Usually I'm Able To

Max Lucado

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

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Our Task Is To Stand Tall In God's Love, Secure In Our Place, Sparkling In Kindness, Surrounded By His Goodness, Freely Giving To All Who Come Our Way. You, Me, And The Christmas Tree. Picked, Purchased, And Pruned.

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

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.

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

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

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.

No One Can Do Everything, But Everyone Can Do Something

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 Could Easily Go Through All My Books And Mark The Ones That Were Original, Mark The Ones That Were Adapted Or Pre-published That I've Found. I'm Guessing Though That Probably 75% Of Them Are Personal Events. I Just Love A Personal Story.

Forgiveness Is Unlocking The Door To Set Someone Free And Realising You Were The Prisoner!

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

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.

We Will Find Grace To Help Us When We Need It

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.

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

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

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

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

We Are Jesus Christ's; We Belong To Him. But Even More, We Are Increasingly Him. He Moves In And Commandeers Our Hands And Feet, Requisitions Our Minds And Tongues. We Sense His Rearranging: Debris Into The Divine, Pig's Ear Into Silk Purse. He Repurposes Bad Decisions And Squalid Choices. Little By Little, A New Image Emerges.

I Love Everything About The Christmas Season.

Christmas Season

Worry Is To Joy What A Hoover Vacuum Cleaner Is To Dirt: Might As Well Attach Your Heart To A Happiness-sucker And Flip The Switch.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

For Years I Thought My Assignment Or The Church's Assignment Was To Articulate The Gospel And Nothing More. Now I Believe That If We Don't Support The Verbal Expression Of The Gospel With Physical Demonstration Of Compassion, We Are Not Imitating Jesus.

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.

Does God Know If I Am Ignored Or Rejected? Find The Answer In The Compassionate Eyes Of Christ As He Stands To Defend The Adulterous Woman.

My Main Concern Is With The Anxiety That Has Settled Upon America.

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

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.

God Does Uncommon Things Through Common People In Common Places.

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

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

God Is Faithful Even When His Children Are Not.

God Is Faithful

The Path Marked Pride Will Lead You Over A Cliff.

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

God Loves You Because He Has Chosen To Do So.

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

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

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.

Christ Became One Of Us To Redeem All Of Us.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

I'm First A Pastor And Then A Writer.

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

Meaning Of Life

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

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

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

[ Christianity], In And Of Itself, Sets Itself Apart Inherently, And So, For Somebody To Say, Well It Just Seems To Me Like You Can Pick Between All These Religions And Still Have The Same Thing. Its Kind Of Like Somebody Saying, You Could Pick Between 80 Bananas And One Apple And Say You Have A Banana. You Cant Call That Apple A Banana.

I Have A Lot Of Special Memories With My Parents But My Toughest One Is, I Had, As A Teenager, A Pretty Insatiable Appetite For Beer. The First Time I Got Drunk My Father Found Me Throwing Up In The Bathroom. I Was 15, Maybe 16, And The Disappointment In His Voice, I Can Hear It To This Day, And The Sorrow That That Brought To Him. He Just Felt Like A Failure As A Father, And Id Give Anything To Take That Day Back Because That Was So Hard On Him. In Time, My Life Got Better, And His Did Too, But That Was Really Memorable, One Of Those Memories Id Like To Forget.

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."

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

God Has A Timeline. And Because Of Bethlehem, We Have An Idea Where We Stand On It.

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

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

Has Worrying About Tomorrow Every Changed It?

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

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

The Step Between Prudence And Paranoia Is Short And Steep. Prudence Wears A Seat Belt. Paranoia Avoids Cars. Prudence Washes With Soap. Paranoia Avoids Human Contact. Prudence Saves For Old Age. Paranoia Hoards Even Trash. Prudence Prepares And Plans, Paranoia Panics. Prudence Calculates The Risk And Takes The Plunge. Paranoia Never Enters The Water.

I'm Protective Of The Reputation Of Christ And The Church.

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

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.

No Person Is Too Hardened.

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

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

When You Read That Our Heavenly Home Is Similar To A Bride, Tell Me, Doesn't It Make You Want To Go Home.

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.

God Has Work For You To Do.

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.

There Is A Time For Risky Love. There Is A Time For Extravagant Gestures. There Is A Time To Pour Out Your Affections On One You Love. And When The Time Comes - Seize It, Don't Miss It.

Two Types Of Voices Command Your Attention Today. Negative Ones Fill Your Mind With Doubt, Bitterness, And Fear. Positive Ones Purvey Hope And Strength. Which One Will You Choose To Heed?

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.

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

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

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

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

God Meets Our Needs One Day At A Time.

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

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

Conflict Is Inevitable But Combat Is Optional.

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.

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

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

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.

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

When We See Death, We See Disaster. When Jesus Sees Death, He Sees Deliverance!

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.

Compassion In Evangelical Churches Is Out Of Balance. When I Talk About It, I Get A Lot Of Glazed Expressions.

Be A Child Again. Flirt. Giggle. Dip Your Cookies In Your Milk. Take A Nap. Say You're Sorry If You Hurt Someone. Chase A Butterfly. Be A Child Again.

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

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

God Is Recruiting For Himself A People Who Will Populate Heaven.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

God Can't Fill You When You Are Already Full Of Yourself.

Full Of Yourself

Our Society Is Just Less Open To Platitudes, More Open To Stories.

Hiding Out With The Enemy Brings Only Temporary Relief.

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.

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.

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.

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

Christian Inspirational

You Are God's Child. His Creation. Destined For Heaven. You Are A Part Of His Family.

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

We Are Such A Sound-bite Culture; People Are So Accustomed To Flipping Through Their Television So Quickly That We Only Have Just A Few Seconds To Grab Someone's Attention.

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.

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

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

Democracy Is The Right Choice And Is The Greatest Form Of Government Ever Created.

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

Meet Your Fears With Faith.

God Has High Plans For You And Me.

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

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

There Is Nothing On Earth That Can Satisfy Our Deepest Longing. We Long To See God. The Leaves Of Life Are Rustling With The Rumor That We Will - And We Won't Be Satisfied Until We Do.

Most People Have Settled For A Wimpy Grace. It's Something That Doesn't Change Their Lives. 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

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 There Is A Time, If I Can Say This; There Is A Time In A Message Where You Might Just Tell A Story To Give Your Audience A Break.

Here's What I Really Love: I Love A Funny Story That I Can Tag A Serious Line On The End Of.

God Loves Us Too Much To Indulge Our Every Whim.

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.

One Of The Things I Discover A Lot In Marriage Counseling Is The Husband Or Wife Trying To Get Their Spiritual Thirst Quenched By Their Partner; I Think That's A Real Common Mistake That We Make.

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.

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

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

I 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.

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.

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

The Influence Of The Church Does Not Depend On The Church, It Depends On The Holy Spirit. And The Holy Spirit Will Never Lose Its Influence. He Is God And He Is Influencing Society.

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

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

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.

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.

God's Love Supply Is Never Empty.

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

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

Fear Results In Fight Or Flight. Anxiety Creates Doom And Gloom. Fear Is The Pulse That Pounds When You See A Coiled Rattlesnake In Your Front Yard. Anxiety Is The Voice That Tells You, Never, Ever, For The Rest Of Your Life, Walk Barefooted Through The Grass. There Might Be A Snake...somewhere.

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.

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.

The People Who Make A Difference Are Not The Ones With The Credentials But The Ones With The Concern.

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

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

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

I Just Love Preaching.

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

You Can Endure Change By Pondering His Permanence.

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

Actions In Heaven Begin When Someone Prays On Earth. What An Amazing Thought!

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

We've Got To Realize There's Something Bigger Than Who Is In The White House. And That Is The Spirit Of Camaraderie And Peace That Keeps Our Nation Together.

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

No One Can Teach Your Child Like You Can. No Nanny, Bible School Teacher, Aunt, Or Uncle Has Your Authority. What A Phenomenal Privilege Is Yours.

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

You Change Your Life By Changing Your Heart.

I've Never Been One To Say I Know Exactly That We're In The Last Days, But There's Some Things Happening These Days, Both Good And Bad, That Make Me Wonder If We May Be Heading Into The Final Generation. One Of The Good Things That's Happening Is That Little By Little We're Taking The Gospel To The Whole World. But At The Same Time There Is This Resistance.

God's Goal Is Not To Get What You Want; It Is To Get You What You Need.

First, God Does Not Send People To Hell. He Simply Honors Their Choice. Hell Is The Ultimate Expression Of God's High Regard For The Dignity Of Man. He Has Never Forced Us To Choose Him, Even When That Means We Would Choose Hell.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

I've Found Great Virtue In Two-thirds Of The Way Into The Message; Right Before I'm Really Want To Nail Home A Point, Pausing To Tell A Joke Or To Tell A Light-hearted Story, Because I Know My Audience Has Been Working With Me Now For 20 Or 25 Minutes. And If I Can Get Them To Laugh, Get Oxygen Into Their System, It Wakes Up Those Who Might Be Sleeping, So There's Something About Using A Story To Draw People Back In Right Before You Drive Home Your Final Point. In That Case I Think It's Real Legitimate Just To Use A Story For Story's Sake.

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.

The Prodigal Son Story Is, I Think, The Greatest Short-story Ever Written. It Has Such Drama In It, Such Great Characters, It's So Clear And Concise, And It's Entertaining In The Sense That Everyone Can Relate To It. But You Have No Doubt What Our Lord Was Trying To Communicate In The Heart Of That Story. So The Truth Was Not Sacrificed On The Altar Of Entertainment In That Case. And It Can Be.

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

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.

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

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.

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

When We're In The Middle Of A Difficult Time, We Have To Speak Against That Lie That Says, "god Is Not Here." We Have To Draw Near To God.

Difficult Times

It Seems To Me That The Prayers Of The Bible Can Be Distilled Into One. The Result Is A Simple, Easy-to-remember, Pocket-sized Prayer: Father, You Are Good. I Need Help. They Need Help. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen. Let This Prayer Punctuate Your Day.

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.

People Assume When They Come Into A Church And See A Person Up There Speaking, 'that Person Must Be A Good Person.' My Challenge Through The Years Has Been Believing That: 'i Guess I Must Be A Really Good Person.' I Struggle With It. It Just Helps Me To Keep That Confessional Posture.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

No One Can Pray And Worry At The Same Time.

Worry Is Anti-trust. If You're Worried, You Don't Trust Something: Your Kids, Their Friends, Strangers, The Church, Even God. Can He Take Care Of Your Children? Certainly. Jesus Says, 'i Tell You, Stop Being Anxious And Worried About Your Life.' Pretty Blunt. Stop It! Easier Said Than Done, Huh? Worry Tests Your Trust, So Hand Your Children To God And Let Him Babysit Your Babies When You're Not Around. He's Pretty Good At It!

God Forgets The Past... Imitate Him.

Forget The Past

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Eugene H. Peterson

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