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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?

-Max Lucado

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We Need To Remember

Max Lucado

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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?

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Tragically, Some People Believe They Are Going To Heaven When They Die Just Because A Few Drops Of Water Were Sprinkled Over Their Heads A Few Weeks After Their Birth. They Have No Personal Faith, Have Never Made A Personal Decision, And Are Banking On A Hollow Ceremony To Save Them. How Absurd.

God Offers Authentic Love. His Devotion Is The Real Deal. But He Won't Give You The Genuine Until You Surrender The Imitations.

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.

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

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

The Cross Is Where God Forgave His Children Without Lowering His Standards.

God Does Not Exist To Make A Big Deal Out Of Us. We Exist To Make A Big Deal Out Of Him. It's Not About You. It's Not About Me. It's All About Him.

Jesus Tends To His People Individually. He Personally Sees To Our Needs. We All Receive Jesus' Touch. We Experience His Care.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I Firmly Believe That The Purpose Of Life Is Not This Life. It Is To Equip Us, Whatever Our Role Is Going To Be In The Next Life. And Understanding God's Story Is Really Where I Find The Significance And Purpose In My Own Story.

Understanding God

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.

God Wants No One To Leave Our Presence Empty Handed.

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.

In This Post-modern Culture In Which We Live - Where People Question Absolute Truth - Stories Are Resistant To Platitudes; They're Resistant To Me Making Declarations Of Truth To Them. A Story Can Do That In Kind Of A Trojan-horse Fashion.

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.

My Conversations With Trump Supporters Have Left Me With More Questions Than Answers.

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.

Look At The Bethlehem Birth. A King Ordered A Census. Joseph Was Forced To Travel. Mary, As Round As A Ladybug, Bounced On A Donkey's Back. The Hotel Was Full. The Hour Was Late. The Event Was One Big Hassle. Yet, Out Of The Hassle, Hope Was Born. It Still Is.

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

I Don't Have A Lot Of Time In The Sermon Anyway. The Sermon Is Only 25 Minutes, Which To Me Is Frighteningly Short. So I Feel As If I Need To Get Into That Pretty Quickly And Make It As Practical And Accessible As Possible.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Though You See Nothing, He Is Acting.

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

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

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

If You Are 8 Hours A Day In A Job You Hate, You're Not Going To Be A Very Good Spouse; It Can Contribute To Chemical Dependency, Financial Mismanagement.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Forgiveness Is Choosing To See Your Offender With Different Eyes.

I Have Learned That My Assignment Is To Write Books For People Who Do Not Like To Read Books. I Really Try To Connect With People Who Are Not Given To Spending A Lot Of Time With An Open Book. Pay Day To Me Is When Somebody Comes Up To Me And Says, "i Never Read Books But I Read Yours." I Have A Heart For That Person.

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

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.

If You Get A Lot Of Good Feedback From People, Thats A Sign That You Have A Strength Or Gift In Writing, If Not ... Try Singing.

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

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.

Our Prayers May Be Awkward. Our Attempts May Be Feeble. But Since The Power Of Prayer Is In The One Who Hears It And Not In The One Who Says It, Our Prayers Do Make A Difference.

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 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.

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.

I've Never Been Surprised By God's Judgment, But I'm Still Stunned By His Grace.

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.

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.

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

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.

God Forgets The Past... Imitate Him.

Forget The Past

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?

If We Are To Be Just Like Jesus, We Must Have Regular Time Of Talking To God And Listening To His Word.

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.

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.

Jesus Gives Us Hope Because He Keeps Us Company, Has A Vision And Knows The Way We Should Go.

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 Really Enjoy Making People Laugh; I've Discovered That's A Great Technique. That's As Powerful As Stirring Their Sorrow, Stirring Their Compassion, Because That Befriends You To Them. It Engages You With Them And Then You Can Come In; They Will Remember That Point.

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

I Simply Think God Is Greater Than Our Weakness. In Fact, I Think It Is Our Weakness That Reveals How Great God Is.

[there Is] A Great Book From Ravi Zacharis, A Scholar From India, And Its Called Jesus Among Other Gods. I Havent Read That One, But I Know Ravi Really Well, And I Know Its A Good Book.

God Wants To Help You Find Your Way Home.

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

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

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

Find Joy In The Ordinary.

God Sends His Angels To Protect Us And His Word As A Star To Guide Us. Then He Surrounds Us With His Grace. We Become His Depot, The Distribution Point Of God's Gifts.

You Want To Make A Difference In Your World? Live A Holy Life: Be Faithful To Your Spouse. Be The One At The Office Who Refuses To Cheat. Be The Neighbor Who Acts Neighbors. Be The Employee Who Does The Work And Doesn't Complain. Pay Your Bills. Do Your Part And Enjoy Life. Don't Speak One Message And Live Another. People Are Watching The Way We Act More Than They Are Listening To What We Say.

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

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.

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

Choose Satisfaction Over Salary. Better To Be Happy With Little Than Miserable With Much.

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.

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.

Worry Divides The Mind.

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.

Love The One Who Wears Your Ring. And Cherish The Children Who Share Your Name. Succeed At Home First.

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

God Saves. Specifically He Will Save His People From Their Sins.

Conflict Is Inevitable But Combat Is Optional.

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.

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.

When You Read The Bible, It's As Though It Reads You.

My Co-pastor Is Randy Frazee. Randy Is The Brightest Bulb In This Box. He Really Has A Feeling For What A Church Needs In Terms Of Maturity, So I Listen To Him.

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

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 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.

The Path Marked Pride Will Lead You Over A Cliff.

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

I Think That I Speak A Lot Like I Write.

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.

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

If I'm A Young Mom Or Young Dad, I Can Find A Great Source Of Strength. God Has Promised That He Will Help Me To Be The Mom Or Dad That He Wants Me To Be. He Has Promised To Be With Me Every Step Of The Way. He Has Promised That He Will Never Leave Me Or Forsake Me. These Are Wonderful Promises That I Can Learn To Trust And Build A Life On.

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.

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.

Gods Given Us All Strengths And Gifts.

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

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.

We Have A Place Where We Can Take People When They Come To Us With Questions So We're Not Just Speaking Out Of Our Own Opinion. We're Really Speaking To Them Out Of An Authoritative Place, Not Because Of What We Discovered, But Because Of What God Says.

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.

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

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

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

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

I Am Very Confident In Preaching.

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

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

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

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 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.

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

We Will Find Grace To Help Us When We Need It

Feed Your Fears And Your Faith Will Starve. Feed Your Faith, And Your Fears Will.

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

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.

Your Serenity Matters To Heaven. God's Presence Encapsulates Your Life.

A Nation Is Blessed When It Has Godly Leaders.

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.

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 Love Everything About The Christmas Season.

Christmas Season

Who Was Jesus? God Saves.

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.

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.

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

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

God Uses Every Possible Means To Communicate With You.

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

God Sees Us With The Eyes Of A Father. He Sees Our Defects, Errors And Blemishes. But He Also Sees Our Value.

It's One Thing For Me To Tell People Not To Worry. It's Another Thing Entirely To Quote Matthew 6, Where Jesus Says, "why Do You Worry? The Birds Of The Air, The Flowers Of The Field..." He Says, "i Tell You, Do Not Worry."

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

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

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

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

If The Purpose Of Life Is Just To Live This Life And Then Die, It's Hard To Answer The Purpose Of Pain Question; But If We Can Help People See From An Eternal Perspective - That All Of This Is Working Together To Prepare Us For Something Higher Than We've Ever Imagined, More Noble Than We've Ever Dreamed - Then We Discover Some Hope That We Can Hold On To.

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

Finding Strength

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Have You Been Called To Go Out On A Limb For God? You Can Bet It Won't Be Easy. Limb-climbing Has Never Been Easy. Ask Joseph. Or, Better Yet, Ask Jesus. He Knows Better Than Anyone The Cost Of Hanging On A Tree.

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

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

The Meaning Of Life. The Wasted Years Of Life. The Poor Choices Of Life. God Answers The Mess Of Life With One Word: 'grace.'

It's Nothing Mystical, Necessarily. It's Nothing Secretive. It's Just What We Do With Our Body We Do With Our Soul.

What You And I Might Rate As An Absolute Disaster, God May Rate As A Pimple-level Problem That Will Pass. He Views Your Life The Way You View A Movie After You've Read The Book. When Something Bad Happens, You Feel The Air Sucked Out Of The Theater. Everyone Else Gasps At The Crisis On The Screen. Not You. Why? You've Read The Book. You Know How The Good Guy Gets Out Of The Tight Spot. God Views Your Life With The Same Confidence. He's Not Only Read Your Story...he Wrote It.

The Purpose Of The Bible Is Simply To Proclaim God's Plan To Save His Children. It Asserts That Man Is Lost And Needs To Be Saved. And It Communicates The Message That Jesus Is The God In The Flesh Sent To Save His Children.

Were Studying In Philippians, And Im Trying To Figure Out This Passage, Paul Says I Want To Know Christ. What Does That Mean? See, Hes Fascinated By Jesus. I Think Thats A Desire Id Like To Have On My Heart, To Know More About Jesus.

Thats Usually What I Gravitate To, I Read The Perfect Storm, Then I Read Into Thin Air .

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

I See That A Lot In My Own Life And In The Lives Of Others.does The Presence Of Pain Mean The Absence Of God?

No Acts Are Random Or Wasted.

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

[ 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.

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]?

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

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

It's 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.

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

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Barbara Januszkiewicz

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