Church Life
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That Was God’s Gift to Us
While our youth group was on retreat this last weekend, they had a devotional outside under the stars. I was told that it was a beautiful night and the stars were shining brightly. Our youth and family minister told everyone to look up at the sky. When they did that, a falling star raced across the sky. One of our little girls made the statement that serves as the title for this post – “That was God’s gift to us tonight.” What a precious thought from a six year old! It caused me to take pause and think about all of the gifts just like this one that we take for granted.…
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Some Quick Thoughts on 1 Peter 5:7
I use 1 Peter 5:7 in sermons and lessons a lot, probably because I need the reminder as much as (if not more than) anyone else. In that famous verse, Peter reminds us to be “casting all your anxieties on Him; He cares for you.” That verse is often used in lessons on prayer, worry, faith, and many other subjects. But, just for a moment in this post, I want to ask you: have you ever considered what the word “anxieties” means in that verse? Obviously, Peter was not specifically addressing what we might call “clinical” anxiety. He wasn’t writing about taking some diagnosis to God. Instead, the original word…
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Saul’s Horse (And Other Things Not in the Bible)
Those who are somewhat familiar with the Bible have heard sermons and lessons about the encounter that a man who then was known as Saul had with Jesus. The events are recorded in the ninth chapter of Acts. As you may remember, Saul (later known as Paul) was on his way to Damascus when a very bright light appeared. Some preachers (I suppose in an attempt to add some drama to the Biblical account) have informed their listeners that the light was so bright that it knocked Saul off of his horse and onto the ground. While the text says that Saul did indeed fall to the ground, there is…
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Roller Coaster
I was blessed to sit in Adam’s Sunday morning Bible class this week where he began leading a study of Ruth. This great book is set during the time of the Judges. As part of our discussion, he mentioned the idea of a roller coaster with the ups and downs during the days (years) of the judges in Israel. I would like to expand that thought a bit and then make application to our lives. Any good roller coaster rider knows that in between the super highs and low lows, are times that are essential to make those occur. The good old-fashioned coasters are the best with the buildup of…
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The Stench of Sin
Sin stinks. We don’t like foul odors, and one reason that is true is because they often just seem to hang in the air. It’s like you can’t get rid of them fast enough. I had the idea for this article for some time and then, just recently, the US Open tennis tournament gave me the opening I was looking for to illustrate it. As that huge tournament got underway, one of the things that began to make news was that some of the players were complaining about a smell. It was lasting throughout entire matches and, some players said, it was distracting and even gross. It was marijuana. There…
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What’s Your Why?
I just recently became aware of the question that serves as the title of this post, but I discovered that it has been around for quite a while. Apparently, it is used in many circles to assist people in finding purpose in their lives, to provide motivation, and to do a host of other things. The question is even used in some circles to help people discover what they are really, truly passionate about. The idea seems to be that we all need to examine our purpose for doing what we are (or are not) doing. I suppose that this could be illustrated by two people working for the same…
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Count Your Blessings
There are times in life when it seems difficult to count your blessings. It seems as though everything that comes your way in life has a negative effect on your thoughts and emotions. It may even seem at times like God has left your side and is letting you flounder in life. By the way, nothing could be further from the truth! God doesn’t leave us; we turn our backs on Him. Satan is at the center of our behavior because we have forgotten to count our blessings. The more we focus on the negative things, the more he enjoys seeing us suffer. I’ve just come away from a week with…
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Eyes on the Goal
College football is back, which means one thing: we are closer to college basketball (the sport that doesn’t take 5 hours)! When watching a basketball game, you will often hear a commentator talk about how a shooter was able to make a tough shot. Maybe the commentator talks about how the shooter kept his shoulders “square” to the goal, or maybe there will be a comment about the balance that the shooter maintained. But ask any great shooter or coach and one of the things they will talk about is how, to consistently make shots–especially tough shots–, you have to keep your eyes on the rim. That is one reason…
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Nothing Good Happens When the Wagon Gets Too Full
There is a fairly common situation that can be expressed in a lot of ways. It could be that you have heard (or said) that, in many instances, ten percent of the people do ninety percent of the work or maybe twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work. Sometimes instead of using the ratios mentioned above, you may hear the following expression: “We have too many people in the wagon and too few people pulling the wagon.” Using that analogy, let me suggest that there is absolutely nothing good that will happen if or when a wagon gets too full. There are any number of bad things…
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Obvious but Overlooked
I was blessed to attend a ladies’ day this past weekend at a sister congregation here in Cookeville. Laura Jenkins was the speaker and was covering some of the much-needed and well-studied information from her book Thought Garden. A group of ladies from my congregation has been basing devotionals on this book for some time so it was good to hear the author add more insight to some of her thoughts. While there, she referenced some of my “special” verses – special to me because of a time in my life where they upheld me and gave me strength. They are so special that my sweet brother and sister (in-law)…
