The pastor and Ronnie, one of the men of the church, went out visiting to invite people to church. Rev. Styles thought it would be a great learning experience for the young new Christian. He was hoping Ronnie would get his feet wet in witnessing, since he was so on fire for God. The only problem with that idea was the fact that Ronnie didn’t particularly have a good reputation in the community. Therefore, the two men were met with questionable glances. They weren’t even invited into one house! This had never happened to Rev. Styles before during visitation. He was somewhat bewildered. Finally, at the last house they visited,…
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The Life of a Caterperson
Caterpillars are sometimes colorful, but for the most part they are kinda fuzzy, icky, and somewhat ugly. We don’t typically “ooh” and “ahh” over them. Generally, we tend to imagine what they will become. We realize they are in a slow growing and morphing process (but not really because it’s only 2 to 5 weeks and then they are in the chrysalis for 8-12 days). By the time they become a beautiful butterfly, we have totally forgotten what they used to look like and how long it took them to get where they are! Now, for a moment, compare your life to that of a butterfly. When you look back…
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New Sight!
I’ll never forget when I first put on glasses as a teenager. I recall that I was riding back home with my mother in her green Chevrolet worrying about how much I looked like a dork. All of a sudden, I entered the land of the unknowns… the road signs weren’t blurry and could totally be of great assistance, I could actually see clear faces in other vehicles, and to my complete surprise, the world wasn’t so gray! My amazement didn’t stop there. When my mom drove into the parking lot, I strolled through my front yard. I was thrilled at how I could see every individual leaf on the trees,…
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Are You Superstitious?
On Mt. Carmel, the center of the idol worship of Baal, Elijah held a competition to prove that there is only one true God. The prophets of Baal prepared their sacrifice and cried out to their gods. They begged, danced, and cut themselves, hoping above all hope, that their god would answer by bringing a tremendous display of fire. Since the gods they prayed to were made out of stone, there was no answer. Then, Elijah called for his altar to God to be covered with water several times over. You know the story…God rained down fire from Heaven to prove his existence.! Even in the day in which we…
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Your Truth-My Truth
People today claim they have their own truth. I can totally agree with that when it comes to their favorite ice cream, favorite book, or favorite type of clothing. However, when it comes to life’s truths, ours is all the same. How do I know? I’m just brilliant like that… just kidding! Seriously, God is truth, He breathes truth, He speaks truth, He promises truth, and He expects His truth to be found in us. God’s word is above every other word in the world. Why? The Holy Bible is alive! It speaks truth to us in whatever God wants to reveal to us individually. However, that doesn’t mean…
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I Had It All Wrong!
I’ll be the first to admit that when I became a Christian at the age of twelve, I thought it was mainly about trying to please God by being good all the time. I really, really wanted to please God, so I spent all my waking hours trying to be perfect. I was even called a “goody two shoes.” Don’t most people have two good shoes? Anyway, it didn’t take too long for me to feel overwhelmed by my imperfection. Even though God had given me the ability to get daily forgiveness, I still tried to carry all of my failures and assumed that God was displeased with me most…
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Where Do You Sit In Church?
People say that history repeats itself! If we are wise, we can learn from the mistakes of others with similar situations. Therefore, it’s totally a valid question of this day and the times in which we live. Holding my breath, here goes….Where do you sit in church? Do you climb up in the tree with Zacchaeus, just hoping to get a glimpse of Jesus. You realize, because of your small stature, that the odds of seeing Jesus over the crowd are slim. So, you arrive before others and climb as high as you can to insure you actually see him. Indeed! There you are and Jesus sees you! He will…
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Easter is NOT Over!
Don’t be misled. Easter is NOT over! Yes, we celebrated the Passover this year. We remembered the agonizing path that Jesus took up to the top of Golgotha. We cringed as we recalled how Jesus was brutally nailed to the wooden cross. We mourned his death and thanked him for the price he paid for our sins that we might have life. On Sunday, we rejoiced that Jesus had indeed defeated death! However, according to historians, we have celebrated 1989 Easters, since Jesus arose from the dead. Why do we keep celebrating this even every year? The reason is simple; it isn’t over! Just as Simon of Cyrene carried the…
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It’s Good Friday!
My heart aches. It’s Good Friday, but Jesus has been killed. I envision his mother there on her knees crying uncontrollably. She remembers the visit from the angel proclaiming his arrival. Wasn’t her son sent to be Lord of all? The angel had said she was highly favored. She didn’t feel highly favored. She felt the weight of all the anger and anguish of this place on her shoulders. Peering up at her precious son, bitter tears stung Mary’s face and drenched her cloth. She felt as if her heart would surely crumble. Jesus was unrecognizable. His crimson blood flowed down the wooden cross and onto the ground. The smell…
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Losing Weight
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doeth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1 You know the drill…You’ve been dieting for several days and you want to weigh in to see how your struggle has paid off. You know if you haven’t lost at least a pound, you’re gonna go eat at least three chocolate covered doughnuts, a bag of barbecue chips, and raid last night’s steakhouse leftovers – not the salad part. Anyways, those deliciously evil things cried out…
