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IS THERE HOPE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF EVANGELICALS?
Russell Moore recounts a conversation with the evangelical theologian Carl Henry. As Moore and some of his friends were lamenting the miserable shape of the church, they asked Dr. Henry if he saw any hope in the coming generation of evangelicals. Dr. Henry replied: "Of course, there is hope for the next generation of evangelicals. But the leaders of the next generation might not be coming from the current evangelical establishment. They are probably still pagans. Who knew that Saul of Tarsus was to be the great apostle to the Gentiles? Who knew that God would raise up a C. S. Lewis or a Charles Colson? They were unbelievers who, once saved by the grace of God, were mighty warriors for the faith."
Russell Moore added: "The next Jonathan Edwards might be the man driving in front of you with the Darwin Fish bumper decal. The next Charles Wesley might be a misogynist, profane hip-hop artist right now. The next Billy Graham might be passed out drunk in a fraternity house right now. The next Charles Spurgeon might be making posters for a Gay Pride March right now. The next Mother Teresa might be managing an abortion clinic right now."
(From a sermon by David Ward, Gospel Without Walls, 8/15/2012)
THE CENTER OF A FAMILY
Gary Ezzo says that one of the problems with families today is that the husband and wife join hands to form a family circle and then a child comes along and they place the child in the center with the husband and wife still forming the circle. But now everything revolves around the child. Then a 2nd child comes and that child is also placed in the circle. And now everything revolves around two children. And as the family becomes larger the center becomes so big that the hands of the father and mother are pulled apart and the circle is broken. He says that what we must do is form the circle but with Christ in the center. Then as each child is born, they join hands with mom and dad to make the circle bigger. And the result is that the circle is never broken as long as Christ is the center.
Here’s the deal. We must love God more than we love anyone. He is first.
(From a sermon by David Henderson, "Father Abraham" 1/5/2011)
DR. R. G. LEE ON THE BIBLE
The late Dr. R. G. Lee, former pastor of the Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis TN expressed the value of God’s Word in this way:
"The Bible is a book beyond all books as a river is above and beyond a rivulet. The Bible is a book beyond all books as the sun is above and beyond a candle in brightness. The Bible is a book beyond all books as the wings of an eagle is above and beyond the wings of a sparrow. It is supernatural in origin, eternal in duration, inexpressible in value, immeasurable in influence, infinite in scope, divine in authorship, human in penmanship, regenerative in power, infallible in authority, universal in interest, personal in application, and inspired in totality. This is the Book that has walked more paths, travelled more highways, knocked at more doors and spoken to more people in their mother tongue than in other book this world has ever known or will know."
(From a sermon by Rev. John D. Jones, That Ye May Grow, 7/20/2011)
JESUS DIED FOR MARY TOO--Communion Meditation
Mark Lowry, a Christian comedian observed that Mary’s silence at the cross always amazed him. If he were being crucified in the middle of town, his mother would have "Pitched a fit", but Mary never said a word. Lowry wondered if maybe what made the difference for her was remembering back to that 1st Christmas. Remembering touching his little hands and feet and counting his fingers and toes.
On a serious note, Lowry says:
"I wonder if she realized then that those were the same fingers that
had scooped out the oceans and formed the seas.
Mary probably counted those little toes- I wonder if she realized
that those were the same feet that had walked on streets of gold and
had been worshipped by angels.
Those little lips were the same lips that had spoken the world into
existence.
When Mary kissed her little baby, she wasn’t just kissing another baby - she was kissing the face of God.
33 years later she’s standing on a hillside watching blood pour from His veins, from the side of her own son... and she didn’t open her mouth. What a great testimony to the fact that
H...
Donnie Martin
When we use the name of God, we aren't talking about the peanut farmer down the road. We're not talking about the person who picks up our trash, nor even our father and mother. Trivialize the names of those people if you will, but don't trivialize God. Flippantly invoke the name of a mere human being if you must, but do not flippantly invoke the name of God.
MATTHEW HENRY SAID, “When Christ died He left a will in which He gave His soul to His Father, His body to Joseph of Arimathea, His clothes to the soldiers, and His mother to John. But to His disciples, who had left all to follow Him, He left not silver or gold, but something far better—His PEACE!
Tell Mommy I love Her.
John had been on the road visiting clients for more than three weeks. He couldn’t wait to get back to Ohio to see his wife and children. It was comoig up on Mother’s Day, and he usually tried to make it "Back home",but this year he was just too tired. He was in a small town just outside of Little Rock when he drove by a flower shop. He said to himself, "I know what I do, I’ll send Mom some roses."
He went into the small shop and saw a young man talking to the clerk. "How many roses can I get for Six dollars, Ma’am?" the boy asked.
The clerk looked at John and was just shaking he head. Something inside of John was touched by the boy’s voice. He wanted to get those roses so bad. John had been blessed in his business, and he looked at the clerk and silently mouthged that he would pay for the boy’sroses.
The clerk looked at the young man and said "Okay, I will give you a dozen red roses for your six dollars.
John followed the young boy down the street until he came to huge gate he went inside, this was a grave yard, and John watched the boym, he heard the young gboy speaking, "Mommy, oh Mommie, why didn’t I tell you how much I love you. Why didn’t I tell you one more time? Jesus, please find my Mommy. Tell my Mommy I love her."
Philip Yancey, in his book "Reaching for the Invisible God" describes the way God get’s blamed for things in this way.
"When Princess Diana died in an automobile accident, a minister was interviewed and was asked the question “How can God allow such a terrible tragedy?” And I loved his response. He said, “Could it have had something to do with a drunk driver going ninety miles an hour in a narrow tunnel? Just How, exactly, was God involved.”
Years ago, boxer, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, killed a Korean opponent with a hard right hand to the head. At the press conference after the Korean’s death, Mancini said, “sometimes I wonder why God does the things he does.”
In a letter to Dr. Dobson, a young woman asked this anguished question, “Four years ago, I was dating a man and became pregnant. I was devastated. I asked God, “Why have you allowed this to happen to me?”
Susan Smith, the south Carolina mother a couple years ago who pushed her two sons into a lake to drown and then blamed a fictional car-jacker for the deed, wrote in her confession: “I dropped to the lowest point when I allowed my children to go down that ramp into the water without me. I took off running and screaming, ‘Oh God! Oh God, no! What have I done? Why did you let this happen?”
Now the quest...
M-O-T-H-E-R
"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she’s growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she’ll always be,
Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.
~By Howard Johnson~
YOU’RE THE BEST
My mother said to me, "If you become a soldier you’ll be a general; if you become a monk you’ll end up as the pope." Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.
SOURCE: Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist. Citation: Celebrating Mother: A Book of Appreciation. Edited by Glorya Hale and Carol Kelly-Gangi. MetroBooks, 2002. pg. 63.
