A wonderful statement, but in our day to day, ordinary boring lives, is it possible. He was beaten, proded, forced, and pulled up that hill. He was in pain and exhausted. All of that added to the fact that he did it willingly made it the greatest thing to have ever happened. The Devil learned from that to use less force. He does not beat us, prode us, force us or pull us. That would get us to react. He show us some thing interesting to go with our daily bordom. He points out every one else’s success and happiness. If he is not attacking you, you must be doing something wrong. You will follow him, down that hill.
November 14th, 2006
Mary Winkler, 32, was arrested on a first-degree murder charge Friday in Alabama, where she fled in the family’s minivan with the couple’s three daughters, authorities said.
The killing has baffled friends and church members who knew the Winklers as a happy, loving couple. Matthew Winkler had preached at the Fourth Street Church for a little more than a year. His wife was a quiet, unassuming woman who was substitute teacher at an elementary school, church members said.
Most of us agree that we believe we are entering into the END TIMES. I pray that there will be a rapture, but I believe we are being duped by Satin with rapture theology. The END TIME will be a time of war and suffering, and if he can confuse us into not being prepared for the war and suffering, he is that much further ahead. 120 years ago, John Lessley Harrdon (a gun fighter) said, “I have never shoot a man who did not need it.” I am afraid, that if we are not raptured, we will need the discernment to make those desicions. Pray.
November 14th, 2006
A new pastor moved into town and went out one Saturday to visit his community.
All went well until he came to one house. It was obvious that someone was home,
but no one came to the door even after he knocked several times. Finally, he
took out his card, wrote on the back “Revelation 3:20″ and stuck it in the door.
The next day, as he was counting the offering he found his card in the
collection plate. Below his message was a notation “Genesis 3:10.” Upon opening
his Bible to the passage he let out a roar of laughter.
Revelation 3:20 reads: (Pastors note) “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come into him, and will
dine with him, and he with me.”
Genesis 3:10 reads: “And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was
afraid, because I was naked.”
How many of us know the Word well enough to think of a joke like this, much less to have a conversation using quotes.
March 19th, 2006
I would like to think that we (our society) has all the needy supported with minimums. But how much is enough? My sister and her husband were important in their church, an associate minister. He worked incharge of the 700 Clubs Hawaiian hot lines, prayer lines etc. When he died they still had 3 children in hight school. The church paid my sister morgage every month untill they graduated. This was wonderful but when I asked if they did this with every widow, the subject was changed. James chapter 2 talks about a rich man and a poor man coming to the church for the first time. You can see the difference, if you are aware of it, you will follow James’s advice and show no preference. What about the people we have known for years already in the church. My Sister and Brother-in-law put a lot into their church and job and when they needed help they got a lot back. But is Garbage in Garbage out the accounting system we should be using.
March 19th, 2006
The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not.
C. S. Lewis
I have often wondered why when I am exhaused in the deep end, I notice all the people who never seem to need help. Would it be proper to scream “HELP!” instead of seeming, like every one else, that I do not need it. Would this cry let others, who are in the deep end, know that they are not alone or would this act spread panic? I can not speak for women but I do not think most men have the courage of David and cry, “HELP”! It is not manly.
BoB
March 19th, 2006
by: Dallas Jenkins
I’m not a huge Oprah Winfrey fan. I think she’s a genuine and sincere person who has done some wonderful things for many disadvantaged people, and her success is remarkable and to be admired. But in general, I don’t find her all that exciting or compelling, and I don’t think she says or preaches anything radical. There’s not anything necessarily wrong with that; it just doesn’t draw my attention five hours a week.
But last week, she did a show that was radical and incredibly compelling, and she said things that you’d normally expect from a C.S. Lewis or Os Guinness-type. Of course, what she said was quite a damaging blow to her own worldview, but hey, it’s progress.
As you may know, there’s a book titled A Million Little Pieces, a memoir about the recovery from drug addiction by James Frey. It became a publishing phenomenon, especially after Oprah added it to her book club. Millions of people testified that they were inspired or changed by his raw, unflinching look at the horrors of drug addiction. Several stories were so graphic and shocking that some readers had to turn away from the page, but the stories still moved them, especially considering that he survived them and recovered.
Problem is, many of the stories were embellished or never happened. I won’t get into all of them here, but the point is that the guy lied in the book, lied about his past in subsequent interviews and lied on Oprah’s show. After this was uncovered, he went on Larry King to discuss it, and Oprah chimed in with her two cents. She said that because so many people were affected by the book and because the core themes were relevant, she didn’t feel the book should be invalidated.
Fast-forward to her remarkable show last week. She got on the air and apologized, offering no excuses or conditions. Pretty rare. She said that her comments on Larry King implied that “the truth doesn’t matter.” She added, “But the truth does matter, and I’m sorry for suggesting otherwise.” She had Frey on the show, and she laid into him, rebuking his lies and expressing her humiliation and anger. “I’ve been duped,” she said, on the verge of tears.
As a Christian, I was thrilled to hear her say this. I’ve always been confused by which situations the pop culture elite deems as “fact-important.” Bill Clinton’s lies about sex with an intern? Not really important. Mel Gibson’s supposed historical inaccuracies in The Passion? Dangerous. Scorsese’s inaccuracies in The Last Temptation of Christ? Artistic _expression. James Frey’s lies to Oprah Winfrey? Embarrassing.
But most importantly, the key issue where truth doesn’t seem to be vital is religion. “What’s true for you may not be true for me, and that’s OK” is a popular phrase. Many are hesitant to define Islamic culture as “wrong” because it they’re simply coming from a different perspective. I’ve even heard non-Christians say that it’s not important that the Bible is inaccurate as long as it’s helped people. Jesus said He was the only way to heaven, which many, of course, believe is a lie, yet He was a “good man.” I remember during the Ellen DeGeneres furor, Oprah responded to a girl’s charges that homosexual behavior is sin by saying, “But that’s just your perspective.”
But now, when faced with the embarrassment of being “duped” on national television, Oprah declares that the truth “does matter.” Even though millions of people were helped by Frey’s book, it was under false pretenses, and that suddenly made a difference. Nationally respected commentators and journalists were brought on the show to examine how tragic this was, and what steps must be taken to ensure “that something like this never happens again.”
A question I would have asked Oprah is, “Why?” Why does the truth matter so much if a lie was helpful? What if Frey had never been exposed as a liar? Oprah not would have felt duped or embarrassed, and millions of people would have continued to be inspired by his book. And the pretty standard belief that “absolute truth isn’t relevant” would continue to thrive.
Well, as Frey amazingly says in his own book on two occasions, “The truth is all that matters.” The Jim Garrison character in Oliver Stone’s collection of fabrications, JFK, said the same thing. Because man is so capable of inconsistency, failure and evil, we don’t want a world where a man or woman decides which truth is important and which lie is helpful. As Oprah said, we’d prefer to decide for ourselves whether we can handle the truth or not; we don’t need someone else “duping” us because they think we’ll be better off.
The website that uncovered Frey’s lies, thesmokinggun.com, did it in a couple of days and with little effort. The Bible has been scrutinized for thousands of years, and a charge of factual inaccuracy has yet to be proven. It’s a pretty good feeling not only to believe that “truth does matter,” but that in having my life changed by a book I base all my beliefs on, I haven’t been duped.
February 7th, 2006
by: Dallas Jenkins
I’m not a huge Oprah Winfrey fan. I think she’s a genuine and sincere person who has done some wonderful things for many disadvantaged people, and her success is remarkable and to be admired. But in general, I don’t find her all that exciting or compelling, and I don’t think she says or preaches anything radical. There’s not anything necessarily wrong with that; it just doesn’t draw my attention five hours a week.
But last week, she did a show that was radical and incredibly compelling, and she said things that you’d normally expect from a C.S. Lewis or Os Guinness-type. Of course, what she said was quite a damaging blow to her own worldview, but hey, it’s progress.
As you may know, there’s a book titled A Million Little Pieces, a memoir about the recovery from drug addiction by James Frey. It became a publishing phenomenon, especially after Oprah added it to her book club. Millions of people testified that they were inspired or changed by his raw, unflinching look at the horrors of drug addiction. Several stories were so graphic and shocking that some readers had to turn away from the page, but the stories still moved them, especially considering that he survived them and recovered.
Problem is, many of the stories were embellished or never happened. I won’t get into all of them here, but the point is that the guy lied in the book, lied about his past in subsequent interviews and lied on Oprah’s show. After this was uncovered, he went on Larry King to discuss it, and Oprah chimed in with her two cents. She said that because so many people were affected by the book and because the core themes were relevant, she didn’t feel the book should be invalidated.
Fast-forward to her remarkable show last week. She got on the air and apologized, offering no excuses or conditions. Pretty rare. She said that her comments on Larry King implied that “the truth doesn’t matter.” She added, “But the truth does matter, and I’m sorry for suggesting otherwise.” She had Frey on the show, and she laid into him, rebuking his lies and expressing her humiliation and anger. “I’ve been duped,” she said, on the verge of tears.
As a Christian, I was thrilled to hear her say this. I’ve always been confused by which situations the pop culture elite deems as “fact-important.” Bill Clinton’s lies about sex with an intern? Not really important. Mel Gibson’s supposed historical inaccuracies in The Passion? Dangerous. Scorsese’s inaccuracies in The Last Temptation of Christ? Artistic _expression. James Frey’s lies to Oprah Winfrey? Embarrassing.
But most importantly, the key issue where truth doesn’t seem to be vital is religion. “What’s true for you may not be true for me, and that’s OK” is a popular phrase. Many are hesitant to define Islamic culture as “wrong” because it they’re simply coming from a different perspective. I’ve even heard non-Christians say that it’s not important that the Bible is inaccurate as long as it’s helped people. Jesus said He was the only way to heaven, which many, of course, believe is a lie, yet He was a “good man.” I remember during the Ellen DeGeneres furor, Oprah responded to a girl’s charges that homosexual behavior is sin by saying, “But that’s just your perspective.”
But now, when faced with the embarrassment of being “duped” on national television, Oprah declares that the truth “does matter.” Even though millions of people were helped by Frey’s book, it was under false pretenses, and that suddenly made a difference. Nationally respected commentators and journalists were brought on the show to examine how tragic this was, and what steps must be taken to ensure “that something like this never happens again.”
A question I would have asked Oprah is, “Why?” Why does the truth matter so much if a lie was helpful? What if Frey had never been exposed as a liar? Oprah not would have felt duped or embarrassed, and millions of people would have continued to be inspired by his book. And the pretty standard belief that “absolute truth isn’t relevant” would continue to thrive.
Well, as Frey amazingly says in his own book on two occasions, “The truth is all that matters.” The Jim Garrison character in Oliver Stone’s collection of fabrications, JFK, said the same thing. Because man is so capable of inconsistency, failure and evil, we don’t want a world where a man or woman decides which truth is important and which lie is helpful. As Oprah said, we’d prefer to decide for ourselves whether we can handle the truth or not; we don’t need someone else “duping” us because they think we’ll be better off.
The website that uncovered Frey’s lies, thesmokinggun.com, did it in a couple of days and with little effort. The Bible has been scrutinized for thousands of years, and a charge of factual inaccuracy has yet to be proven. It’s a pretty good feeling not only to believe that “truth does matter,” but that in having my life changed by a book I base all my beliefs on, I haven’t been duped.
February 7th, 2006
Have you been paralyzed by the failure to confess?
When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable and groaned all day long.
Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
Therefore, let all the godly confess their rebellion to you while there is time.
Psalm 32:3-6 NLT
Confessing instead of hiding
We find many ways to get around admitting our sin. We rationalize our sins away. We try to drown out the guilt with all types of distractions. But over time, our sins deplete our will to pray. David was intimately familiar with all the ways one can try to hide sin. He had exhausted himself covering up his own sins. But everything changed when he finally gave up running away from his sin: “Finally, I confessed all my sins to you.”
Like David, we can find our prayer life renewed when we freely confess our sins to God. Confess your sin and let God restore your prayer life to what it can and should be.
February 6th, 2006
What Is a Visitor?
A visitor is the most important person
in this church
A visitor is not dependent on us; we
are dependent on them.
A visitor is not an interruption of our
work or our pleasure. He is the
purpose of it. We are not doing a
favor by serving him. He is doing us a
favor by giving us the opportunity to
do so.
A visitor is not someone to ignore or
treat casually. No church has ever
been effective without them.
A visitor is a person who brings us his
wants, needs,hurts, and dreams. It is
our job to handle him properly so
he can become all God intended and
our church be counted as wise
stewards of the ministry God has
entrusted to us.
February 4th, 2006
What do you when hope fades?
Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck.
Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can’t find a foothold to stand on.
I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me.
I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched and dry.
My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me…
But I keep right on praying to you, Lord, hoping this is the time you will show me favor.
Psalm 69:1-3, 13 NLT
Praying when hope seems dim
David’s prayer recorded in this psalm essentially amounts to a simple, “Save me, I’m sinking.” It’s the cry of a desperate man who can’t even think of helping himself. But at least David knew whom he needed to ask for help. Although he was exhausted from crying to the Lord in prayer, he kept on shouting to his God, the only one who could save him.
When waves of adversity threaten to drown you in despair, pray to God. Remember David’s persistence, and keep on asking God for help.
Prayer for today:
Dear Lord, I am exhausted from crying for help, but I will keep on praying to you.
from The One Year® Book of Bible Prayers edited by Bruce Barton, Tyndale House Publishers (2000), entry for February 9
January 31st, 2006
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