By Bob Flynn on
2/3/2012 8:00 PM
Dr. Laurence M. Gould, president emeritus of Carleton College, said “I do not believe the greatest threat to our future is from bombs or guided missiles. I don’t think our civilization will end that way. I think it will die when we no longer care. Arnold Toynbee has pointed out that nineteen of twenty-one civilizations have died from within and not by conquest from without. There were no bands playing and flags waving when these civilizations decayed. It happened slowly, in the quiet and in the dark when no one was aware.”
Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all—the apathy of human beings. (Helen Keller, My Religion)
The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity. (George Bernard Shaw, The Devil’s Disciple)
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By Bob Flynn on
2/2/2012 8:00 AM
The truth of God's almightiness in creation, providence, and grace is the basis of all our trust...(J.I. Packer, I Want To Be A Christian)
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By Bob Flynn on
2/1/2012 8:00 AM
"Sowing principles is shining the light of the Word of God in people's lives. Light dispels darkness. Holding believers accountable is encouraging them to walk in the light, helping them to discern truth from lies" (The Sower, Gary G. Hoag, ECFA Press)
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By Bob Flynn on
1/31/2012 8:00 AM
"Do not go beyond what is written" (1 Corinthians 4:6 NIV)
That struggle is not over; it is perennial and carries the potential for undermining the power of the Reformation today. (Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., B.D., Th.M., Th.D.)
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By Bob Flynn on
1/30/2012 8:00 AM
A representative has no right to defeat the wishes of those who elect him, if he knows their wishes. (William Jennings Bryan, The Price of a Soul)
"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" (Jesus Christ)
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By Bob Flynn on
1/29/2012 8:00 AM
"Some have thought the soul question a question of the next world only, but it is a question of this world also; some have thought the soul question a Sabbath-day question only, but it is a week-day question as well; somehave thought the soul question a question for the ministers alone, but it is a question which we all must meet. Every day and every week, every monthand every year, from the time we reach the period of accountability until we die, we—each of us—all of us, weigh the soul." William Jennings Bryan
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By Bob Flynn on
1/28/2012 8:00 AM
What better can we do, than — prostrate fall Before him reverent; and there confess Humbly our faults, and pardon beg; with tears Watering the ground, and with our sighs the air Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign Of sorrow unfeign'd, and humiliation meek? (William Wilberforce, A Practical View of the Prevailing)
Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. (Colossians 4:2 NLT)
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By Bob Flynn on
1/27/2012 8:00 AM
"But we will give ourselves continually(G4342) to prayer, and to the ministry of the word." (Acts 6:4 KJV)
For God does not employ prayerless ministers, since He has no dumb children. (A. W. Pink)
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By Bob Flynn on
1/26/2012 8:00 AM
It is no wonder that the world looks upon the Christians of today in the same way they look upon the hopelessly insane!
“Repentance is a medicine for the cure of sin, a gift bestowed from above, an admirable virtue, a grace surpassing the power of laws.” (Chrysostom, as quoted in the Institutes of the Christian religion, John Calvin)
For no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them to Me, and at the last day I will raise them up. (John 6:44 NLT)
The reason why this is such a “hard saying,” even unto thousands who profess to be Christians, is because they utterly fail to realize the terrible havoc which the Fall has wrought; and, it is greatly to be feared, because they are themselves strangers to “the plague” of their own hearts. (A. W. Pink, Studies on Saving Faith)
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By Bob Flynn on
1/25/2012 8:00 AM
“The patriot who feels himself in the service of God, who acknowledges Him in all his ways, has the promise of Almighty direction, and will find His Word in his greatest darkness, ‘a lantern to his feet and a lamp unto his paths.’ He will therefore seek to establish for his country in the eyes of the world, such a character as shall make her not unworthy of the name of a Christian nation.” Francis Scott Key, (February 22, 1812)
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By Dan Cartwright on
1/24/2012 4:37 PM
There are only two classes of people in the world, in the sight of God There are those who are called the wheat — and there are those who are called the chaff. "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing floor. He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire!" Matthew 3:12
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By ClaireShackelford on
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 10:02 AM
"Sometimes God calms the storm, and sometimes He calms the sailor." - (unknown)
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By Bob Flynn on
1/24/2012 8:00 AM
You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God's word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. (Hebrews 5:12 NLT)
"Should not every believer teach someone else the fresh insights into biblical truth which he has acquired, warn of traps to be avoided, instruct in new lessons about Christ?" (Dr. Leslie B. Flynn, 19 Gifts of the Spirit)
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By Bob Flynn on
1/23/2012 8:00 AM
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT)
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By Bob Flynn on
1/22/2012 8:00 AM
And why, it may be asked, are we in this pursuit alone to expect knowledge without inquiry, and success without endeavour? (A Practical View of the Prevailing by William Wilberforce)
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By Bob Flynn on
1/21/2012 8:00 AM
There's a clever young fellow named Somebody Else—
There's nothing this fellow can't do.
He's busy from morning 'til way late at night
Just substituting for you. (Unknown)
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By Bob Flynn on
1/20/2012 8:00 AM
In this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding? (Dr. Benjamin Franklin, LL. D.)
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By Bob Flynn on
1/20/2012 8:00 AM
To accomplish this amazing feat of aviation they turned off the engine and propeller anti-ice systems to squeeze out the last available Bernoulli (pound of thrust). About twenty minutes later the grand silence befell them as three of the four engines flamed out (quit running).
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By Bob Flynn on
1/19/2012 8:00 AM
How can we journey forth into a new day with a new destination until we first know where we are?
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By Bob Flynn on
1/19/2012 8:00 AM
In this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding? (Dr. Benjamin Franklin, LL. D.)
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By Bob Flynn on
1/19/2012 8:00 AM
On or near June 21st is the longest day of the year with about 15 hours of sunlight.
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By Bob Flynn on
1/18/2012 4:10 PM
In this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding? (Dr. Benjamin Franklin, LL. D.)
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By Jay & Chris Henning on
1/7/2012 5:18 PM
Wow! Looking at my last blog entry I realize that it has been over a year since my last blog entry. During that time, I have had several significant life events consuming me. I retired from the United States Army after 22 years, I found a new job working for Kansas State University, and I started to take seminary classes through Regent University. I don't want to spend the entire blog time talking about me, but I just wanted to update some things as to why it has been so long between entries....
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By Bob Flynn on
12/30/2011 8:00 AM
"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fail about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an unhealthy interest in them." (C. S. Lewis, The Screw Tape Letters)
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By Bob Flynn on
12/29/2011 8:00 AM
"Their hearts were too hard to take it in." Mark 6:52b NLT
Satan goes on with mankind as he began with them. He prevailed against our first parents, cast them out of paradise, and suddenly brought all their happiness and glory to an end, by appearing to be a friend to their happy state, and pretending to advance it to higher degrees.…During the strife, Satan leads both parties far out of the right way, driving each to great extremes, one on the right hand, and the other on the left, according as he finds they are most inclined, or most easily moved and swayed, till the right path in the middle is almost wholly neglected. In the midst of this confusion, the devil has great opportunity to advance his own interest, to make it strong in ways innumerable, to get the government of all into his own hands, and to work his own will. (Jonathan Edwards)
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By Bob Flynn on
12/28/2011 8:00 AM
What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. (Matthew 18:7 NLT2ndEd)
"Madison, WI — A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled the National Day of Prayer, saying the day amounts to a call for religious action."
As I look around our world today, I see how really fragile is our life here on planet Earth.
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By Bob Flynn on
12/27/2011 8:00 AM
"Live in such a way that God's love can bless you as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you." (Jude 21 NLT96)
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By Bob Flynn on
12/26/2011 8:00 AM
Whenever God erects a house of prayer
The devil always builds a chapel there:
And ’twill be found, upon examination,
The latter has the largest congregation.
Daniel Defoe, Author of Robinson Crusoe
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By Bob Flynn on
12/23/2011 8:00 AM
Religion and politics ought to be wedded like a loving pair. (Senator Alfred Holt Colquitt)
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By Bob Flynn on
12/22/2011 8:00 AM
And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door. (Genesis 19:11 ESV)
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By Bob Flynn on
12/21/2011 8:00 AM
The child of God is free. He has been delivered from every aspect of the law — as a rule of life, as an obligation to make himself acceptable to God, and as a dependence on the impotent flesh. Lewis Sperry Chafer
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By Bob Flynn on
12/20/2011 8:00 AM
In the realm of religion right choices are critically important. A.W. Tozer
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By Bob Flynn on
12/19/2011 8:00 AM
Question: Ought I not be left to the grace of God in my own heart?
The body of Christ in America is like unto a thousand rivets flying in close formation. A great assemblage of metal but hardly an airplane.
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By Bob Flynn on
12/16/2011 8:00 AM
"True spiritual Liberty is one of the most glorious things in the World, but it is little under stood and frequently abused by many." William Penn
Liberty or license? This is the question of our day. When the rest of the world is finding new ways of practicing hedonism and self-indulgence (neither of which is a new thing) what prevents the church from impacting the same lost persons with the Good News?
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By Bob Flynn on
12/15/2011 8:00 AM
Love God and Do What You Please (Saint Augustine)
Some would say that this phrase would be a call to sin without restraint or that it would become a motto for loose living. However, the first part of the phrase is, "Love God." If we truly love God, then it would follow that the things we do that please us would please Him as well. This is true Christian Liberty! Is there any Scriptural basis for this?
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By Bob Flynn on
12/14/2011 8:00 AM
All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us n all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, I is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God's comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7 NLT96)
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By Bob Flynn on
12/13/2011 8:00 AM
God made us to serve him, and enjoy him; but by sin we have made ourselves unfit to serve him, and to enjoy him. We ought, therefore, continually to beseech him, by his Holy Spirit, to give us understanding. The comforts some have in God, should be matter of joy to others. But it is easy to own, that God's judgments are right, until it comes to be our own case. All supports under affliction must come from mercy and compassion. The mercies of God are tender mercies; the mercies of a father, the compassion of a mother to her son. They come to us when we are not able to go to them. Causeless reproach does not hurt, and should not move us. The psalmist could go on in the way of his duty, and find comfort in it. He valued the good will of saints, and was desirous to keep up his communion with them. Soundness of heart signifies sincerity in dependence on God, and devotedness to him. (Matthew Henry)
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By Bob Flynn on
12/12/2011 8:00 AM
Christianity exists not merely as a power or principle in this world, but also in an institutional and organized form which is intended to preserve and protect (not to obstruct) it. Christ established a visible church with apostles, as authorized teachers and rulers, and with two sacred rites, baptism and the holy communion, to be observed to the end of the world. (Schaff, P., & Schaff, D. S. (1997). History of the Christian church.)
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By Bob Flynn on
12/9/2011 8:00 AM
"But now I come to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Thy word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."-John 17:13-16
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By Bob Flynn on
12/8/2011 8:00 AM
It is an unquestionable truth, that if a man be not happy at home, he cannot be happy anywhere; and he who is happy there, need be miserable nowhere. (John Angell James, The Marriage Ring)
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By Bob Flynn on
12/7/2011 8:00 AM
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. (Colossians 2:6 NLT)
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By Bob Flynn on
12/6/2011 8:00 AM
That heart that is hard, impenetrable, and cold; the affections and passions that are unyielding, frozen to good, unaffected by heavenly things; that are slow to credit the words of God. I will entirely remove this heart: it is the opposite to that which I have promised you; and you cannot have the new heart and the old heart at the same time. (Dr. Adam Clarke)
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By Bob Flynn on
12/5/2011 9:00 AM
Satan is very clever: He knows exactly which bait to use for every place in which he fishes. (Arthur W. Pink, Studies on Saving Faith)
God knows people's hearts, and He confirmed that He accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts through faith. (Acts 15:8-9 NLT)
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By Bob Flynn on
12/2/2011 8:00 AM
That’s Enough
The Rev. R. I. Williams telephoned his sermon topic to the Norfolk Ledger Dispatch.
"The Lord is my Shepherd," he said.
"Is that all?" he was asked. He replied, "That’s enough." And the church page carried Mr. William’s sermon topic as: "The Lord is my Shepherd—that’s enough."
The minister rather liked the idea. He used the expanded version as his sermon title that Sunday at Fairmont Park Methodist Church. —Gospel Herald
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By Bob Flynn on
12/1/2011 8:00 AM
Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. (James 4:8 NLT)
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By Bob Flynn on
11/30/2011 8:00 AM
"We need to sort out our hurts and learn the difference between those that call for the miracle of forgiveness and those that can be borne with a sense of humor. If we lump all our hurts together and prescribe forgiveness for all of them, we turn the art of forgiving into something cheap and commonplace. Like a good wine, forgiving must be preserved for the right occasion." Lewis B. Smedes, Forgive and Forget.
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By Bob Flynn on
11/29/2011 8:00 AM
We are being saved from the power of sin by faith!
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By Dan Cartwright on
11/29/2011 6:10 AM
All men ought to love peace. War is an immense evil, though it is a necessary evil sometimes. Battles are bloody and distressing events, though sometimes nations cannot maintain their rights without them. But all men ought to love peace. All ought to pray for a quiet life.
All this is very true, and yet there is one war which it is a positive duty to carry on; there is one battle which we ought to be always fighting. The battle I speak of is the battle against the world, the flesh, and the...
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By Bob Flynn on
11/28/2011 8:00 AM
"The law of gravity tells you what stones do if you drop them; but the Law of Human Nature tells you what human beings ought to do and do not." C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
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By Bob Flynn on
11/25/2011 8:00 AM
Temperance is, unfortunately, one of those words that has changed its meaning. It now usually means teetotalism. But in the days when the second Cardinal virtue was christened "Temperance," it meant nothing of the sort. Temperance referred not specially to drink, but to all pleasures; and it meant not abstaining, but going the right length and no further. (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)
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By Bob Flynn on
11/24/2011 8:00 AM
Let us say then, leaving unresolved problems behind us, that virtues are in general beneficial characteristics, and indeed ones that a human being needs to have, for his own sake and the sake of his fellows (Philippi Foot, Prof. Emeritus, UCLA, Virtue and Vices).
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By Bob Flynn on
11/23/2011 8:00 AM
Virtue — Moral goodness; the practice of moral duties and the abstaining from vice, or a conformity of life and conversation to the moral law. (Noah Webster)
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By Bob Flynn on
11/22/2011 8:00 AM
BLISS, n. The highest degree of happiness; blessedness; felicity; used of felicity in general, when of an exalted kind, but appropriately, of heavenly joys. (Noah Webster)
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By Bob Flynn on
11/21/2011 8:00 AM
Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed. And as a matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people drift away? (C. S. Lewis, Virtue and Vice)
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By Bob Flynn on
11/18/2011 8:00 AM
"Vice and Virtue to the modern ear convey meanings twisted by our own culture and behavior. The word vice sounds benign, describing fundamentally harmless habits and attitudes, the kinds of things normal people do and feel." C. S. Lewis, Virtue and Vice
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By Bob Flynn on
11/17/2011 8:00 AM
“To love sin is far worse than to commit it, for a man may be suddenly tripped up or commit it through frailty.” Arthur W. Pink, A Fourfold Salvation
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By Bob Flynn on
11/16/2011 8:00 AM
A general reason, and the foundation of the entire argument: the kingdom of heaven consists not in these outward things, but in the study of righteousness, and peace, and comfort of the Holy Spirit. (Geneva Bible Translation Notes)
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By Bob Flynn on
11/15/2011 8:00 AM
Sometimes we can find encouragement in odd places.
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By Bob Flynn on
11/14/2011 8:00 AM
The man who walks along the path of life lives in the presence of the joy-giving God. (W. Hay Aitken, Thought for the Quiet Hour)
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By ClaireShackelford on
Monday, November 14, 2011 8:46 AM
Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life,
Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life;
Words of life and beauty teach me faith and duty!
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life!
Christ, the blessèd One, gives to all wonderful words of life;
Sinner, list to the loving call, wonderful words of life;
All so freely given, wooing us to heaven!
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life!
Sweetly echo the Gospel call, wonderful words of life;
Offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life;
Jesus, only Savior, sanctify us forever!
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life!
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By Bob Flynn on
11/11/2011 8:00 AM
My brethren, count it all joy - Which is the highest degree of patience, and contains all the rest. (John Wesley)
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By ClaireShackelford on
Thursday, November 10, 2011 10:55 AM
"We all have images in our mind’s eye that defines what we think a certain type of person or a certain vocation must be like. Very few members of John-Q-Public ever have the opportunity to see what an enlisted Soldier, an NCO, or an Officer of the US Armed Forces is really like. Too much of our knowledge is formed by Hollywood and the TV networks, even in this age of alternate media reporting. Maybe more strides have been made during my lifetime to correct this problem than ever before.
Yet, I think a fully-orbed view of who the citizen soldier “is” may be too much for people to grasp. Additionally I think it is too traumatic for them to grasp. Because, if they did then they would have to care, and if they cared then they would have to do something about it. By “something” I don’t mean carry a sign, write a congressman, or forward an email. No. I mean they would really have to do something tangible in the same manner as when your three year old says “please, I am hungry” — and the cost of actually doing something is for some of them too high. Far too high. So it is easier to idealize our Soldiers, our Officers, and the like by casting them in the role of sinner or saint. In that way the observers can embrace as much or as little as they can afford to embrace." - D. Bryan Shackelford
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By Bob Flynn on
11/10/2011 8:00 AM
The word ‘meek’ usually refers to those who are patient in the reception of injuries, but the Hebrew word used here (ענוים ‛ănâviym) means properly the oppressed, the afflicted, the unhappy. It involves usually the idea of humility or “virtuous suffering”. Here it may denote the pious of the land who were oppressed, and subjected to trials. (Dr. Albert Barnes)
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By Bob Flynn on
11/9/2011 8:00 AM
For faith in the Lord Jesus brings him into the heart; and by his indwelling all his virtues are proved, and an excellence discovered beyond even that which his disciples beheld, when conversant with him upon earth. In short, there is an equality between believers in the present time, and those who lived in the time of the incarnation; for Christ, to a believing soul, is the same to-day that he was yesterday and will be for ever. (Dr. Adam Clarke)
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By Bob Flynn on
11/8/2011 8:00 AM
Not with a civil worship, as he was sometimes worshipped by men, in the days of his flesh, who, though they took him for some extraordinary person, knew him not to be the Son of God; but with religious worship as God: for by his resurrection from the dead, Christ was declared to be the Son of God, and both by that, and by his going to his Father, his ascension to heaven, the disciples were more confirmed in his proper deity, and divine sonship; and therefore worshipped him as God; by calling upon his name, ascribing blessings and honor, and glory, to him; by making him the object of their reverence and fear; and by trusting in him; and by doing every religious act in his name, and which they ever after continued to do. (Dr. John Gill)
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By ClaireShackelford on
Tuesday, November 08, 2011 8:34 AM
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." -- Hebrews 12:1-3
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By ClaireShackelford on
Tuesday, November 08, 2011 8:30 AM
Oh Holy Night is probably my favorite hymn of all time. It is usually only sung during the Christmas season, but it’s message is timeless. This Christmas I am singing with a small group in my Church and this is one of the songs we are preparing for our Christmas program.
I was humming the tune and singing the words that brought my recent study of Acts chapter 15 to life:
“Truly He taught us to love one another. His law is love and His Gospel is peace. Chains shall he break for the slave...
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By Bob Flynn on
11/7/2011 8:00 AM
This is the prayer of a man in bitter grief, whose human nature cannot at present submit to the divine will. God’s long-suffering toward the wicked seemed to the prophet to be the abandonment of himself to death; justice itself required that one who was suffering contumely for God’s sake should be delivered. (Dr. Albert Barnes)
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By Bob Flynn on
11/5/2011 1:44 PM
We as men are responsible for our marriage. Even if its demise would be totally the wife's fault (we would remain responsible!).
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By Bob Flynn on
11/4/2011 8:00 AM
Those whom God loves as a Father, may despise the hatred of all the world. As the Father loved Christ, who was most worthy, so he loved his disciples, who were unworthy. All that love the Savior should continue in their love to him, and take all occasions to show it. The joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment, but the joy of those who abide in Christ's love is a continual feast. They are to show their love to him by keeping his commandments. If the same power that first shed abroad the love of Christ's in our hearts, did not keep us in that love, we should not long abide in it. Christ's love to us should direct us to love each other. He speaks as about to give many things in charge, yet names this only; it includes many duties. (Matthew Henry)
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By ClaireShackelford on
Thursday, November 03, 2011 6:40 PM
I was chatting with a friend when an analogy came to my mind about how I would feel when I saw Mike for the first time after 7 months of deployment. He was slated to come home in November for his first mid-deployment leave during the troop surge of 2007. I told my friend that the emotions, feelings, and anticipations are a lot like when you are in the delivery room at the hospital.
Remember all of those firsts?
Moms and dads, do you remember?
Remember when you heard that first little cry that signaled to you that your baby was doing well and was strong and healthy? Remember when you held your baby for the first time? You had never met this little person face to face, but he fit snug in your arms as if your arms were created solely to hold him. ...
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By Bob Flynn on
11/3/2011 8:00 AM
A love that can never be fathomed;
A life that can never die;
A righteousness that can never be tarnished;
A peace that can never be understood;
A rest that can never be disturbed;
A joy that can never be diminished;
A hope that can never be disappointed;
A glory that can never be clouded;
A light that can never be darkened;
A happiness that can never be interrupted;
A strength that can never be enfeebled;
A purity that can never be defiled;
A beauty that can never be marred;
A wisdom that can never be baffled;
Resources that can never be exhausted. (Unknown)
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By Bob Flynn on
11/2/2011 8:00 PM
“On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.” (Thomas Jefferson in a letter to William Johnson, June 13, 1823, University of Virginia on-line library).
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By Bob Flynn on
11/1/2011 8:00 AM
Oral Hygiene — "You'll wonder where the yellow went." I remember the jingle from the Pepsodent toothpaste commercial. I suppose with the advent of modern dentistry we would not think of letting the barnacles grow on our MacLean's smile. However, what about the moral decay we see in the world society each day?
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By Bob Flynn on
10/31/2011 8:00 PM
"But obedience in the matter of prayer is costly and takes commitment. On Monday night as our week of prayer began, a mere thirty-four adults showed up out of a regular church attendance of twenty-three hundred. By Thursday, only seventeen adults were praying. I was totally discouraged." Stephen Arterburn, Every Man's Battle
Perhaps some would find a book on the temptations men face and their fight for purity a strange place to find the aforementioned comment on prayer. However, I find it most timely indeed.
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By Bob Flynn on
10/28/2011 8:00 AM
It is a pitiful situation if the very light is darkness. This happens when the eye of the soul is too diseased to see the light of Christ. (A. T. Robertson)
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By Bob Flynn on
10/27/2011 8:00 AM
"There is in the Christian life great need of watchfulness and of prayer, of selfdenial and of striving, of obedience and of diligence. But "all things are possible to him that believeth." "This is the victory that overcometh, even our faith."
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By Bob Flynn on
10/26/2011 8:00 AM
What a difference there is between a deeply exercised and spiritually burdened heart pouring out itself before God in fervent supplication and the utterance of verbal petitions by rote! Arthur W. Pink
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By Bob Flynn on
10/25/2011 8:00 AM
A much loved prayer of St Francis of Assisi:
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By Bob Flynn on
10/24/2011 8:00 AM
"By consequence, 'whatsoever he doeth , it is all to the glory of God.' In all his employments of every kind, he not only aims at this (which is implied in having a single eye ), but actually attains it.... (John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection)
The battle ensues in our culture to secularize the religious for the sake of tolerance in the public arena.
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By Bob Flynn on
10/21/2011 8:00 AM
To-day we go forth separate, some of us to pleasure, some of us to worship, some upon duty.... (Robert Louis Stevenson-Vailima Prayers and Sabbath Morn)
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By Bob Flynn on
10/20/2011 8:00 AM
Lord, receive our supplications for this house, family, and country. Protect the innocent, restrain the greedy and the treacherous, lead us out of our tribulation into a quiet land.... (Robert Lewis Stevenson, Vailima Prayers and Sabbath Morn)
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By Bob Flynn on
10/19/2011 8:00 AM
We are evil, O God, and help us to see it and amend....Robert Lewis Stevenson - Vailima Prayers and Sabbath Morn
When we look into the mirror, what do we see?
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By Bob Flynn on
10/18/2011 8:00 AM
Giving thanks for the providence and tender mercies of the day is fitting lest we presume upon the watchcare of His Sabboth Rest while we sleep defensless were it not for His Grace.
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By Bob Flynn on
10/17/2011 8:00 AM
How do you start your day? Is it with coffee only? We would think ourselves misused if we did not fill our stomachs with food. But what if we began our day without fellowship with the Father? Take a short sojourn with the Lion of Dundee and see if you might find some encouragement for your souls.
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By Bob Flynn on
10/14/2011 8:00 AM
"When thou prayest let thy words be few, but thy thoughts and affections many…" Martin Luther
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By Bob Flynn on
10/13/2011 8:00 PM
Lord, the creatures of thy hand, thy disinherited children, come before Thee with their incoherent wishes and regrets:
"Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves." (1 Corinthians 6:9 NLT)
We often wallow in our "vain resentments" and miss the blessing of Christ's work of Grace upon our hearts.
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By Bob Flynn on
10/12/2011 8:00 AM
PRAYER has to do with the entire man. Prayer takes in man in his whole being, mind, soul and body. It takes the whole man to pray, and prayer affects the entire man in its gracious results. E. M. Bounds — The Essentials of Prayer
"Yes you have been with me from birth; from my mother's womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you!" "Psalm 71:6 NLT)
The heart of prayer is found in the bending of the knee. It is found in the contrite heart of him who would confess that his heart is like a valley of dry bones that needs to be brought back to life (Ezekiel 37).
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By Bob Flynn on
10/11/2011 8:00 AM
We are His lambs, and therefore ought to be ready to suffer, even to the death, without complaining. John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection
"Do everything without complaining and arguing," (Philippians 2:14 NLT)
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By Bob Flynn on
10/10/2011 8:00 AM
Lord, enlighten us to see the beam that is in our own eye, and blind us to the mote that is in our brother’s. Robert Louis Stevenson-Vailima Prayers and Sabbath Morn
How quick we are to see fault in others! How crafty we are to justify our own actions and rationalize their effect.
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By Bob Flynn on
10/7/2011 8:00 AM
No matter how much we anticipate the pending loss of a loved one, knowing the result of age, ill health, or injury will have its way in the end, their death still comes unexpectedly. Our hearts are never ready to say goodbye. Isaiah says that "we all do fade as a leaf." James says that our life is like a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Why is it then that as vapors we should cling so tightly to our sojourn here?
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 NASB)
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By Bob Flynn on
10/6/2011 8:00 AM
Why is it that we cannot see the light of Christ? Because the church in America is full of “dark corners!” For the two hundred sixty-three years since the death of the great awakening, we have been seeing the fallen light and following a counterfeit gospel and worshipping an Anti-Christ and all the while telling ourselves that we are serving the Lord with great zeal!
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By Bob Flynn on
10/5/2011 8:00 AM
In the Holy Scriptures we have a standard of right and wrong upon which we can always depend for the general principles at least which should direct our actions, and in the voice of the Holy Spirit we shall always have the special guidance which we need in particular circumstances. But there are certain conditions which we must ever observe. "The meek will He guide in judgment." The yielded and willing heart will find His way. The selfish will, the heart that chooses its way and then comes to God to have Him indorse it, will be very likely to go astray. (A. B. Simpson, Danger Lines in the Deeper Life)
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By Bob Flynn on
10/4/2011 8:00 PM
…America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great. (Alexis de Tocqueville)
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By Bob Flynn on
10/3/2011 8:00 AM
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. (Proverbs 11:30 KJV)
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By Bob Flynn on
9/30/2011 8:00 AM
“Every minister should make much of his calling and impress upon others the fact that he has been delegated by God to preach the Gospel. As the ambassador of a government is honored for his office and not for his private person, so the minister of Christ should exalt his office in order to gain authority among men. This is not vain glory, but needful glorying.
Paul takes pride in his ministry, not to his own praise but to the praise of God. Writing to the Romans, he declares, ‘Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office,’ i.e., I want to be received not as Paul of Tarsus, but as Paul the apostle and ambassador of Jesus Christ, in order that people might be more eager to hear. Paul exalts his ministry out of the desire to make known the name, the grace, and the mercy of God.” Dr. Martin Luther
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By Bob Flynn on
9/29/2011 8:00 AM
But in addition to all which has been yet stated, the word of God instructs us that we have to contend not only with our own natural depravity, but with the power of darkness, the Evil Spirit, who rules in the hearts of the wicked, and whose dominion we learn from Scripture to be so general, as to entitle him to the denomination of "the Prince of this world." There cannot be a stronger proof of the difference which exists between the religious system of the Scriptures, and that of the bulk of nominal Christians, than the proof which is afforded by the subject now in question. (Willaim Wilberforce)
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By Bob Flynn on
9/28/2011 8:00 PM
How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure….God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure. And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. (Ephesians 1:3-5, 9-10 NLT96)
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By Bob Flynn on
9/27/2011 8:00 PM
"When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck." Indiana poet James Whitcomb Riley (1849–1916)
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By Bob Flynn on
9/26/2011 8:00 AM
“The call is not to be taken lightly. For a person to possess knowledge is not enough. He must be sure that he is properly called. Those who operate without a proper call seek no good purpose. God does not bless their labors. They may be good preachers, but they do not edify. Many of the fanatics of our day pronounce words of faith, but they bear no good fruit, because their purpose is to turn men to their perverse opinions. On the other hand, those who have a divine call must suffer a good deal of opposition in order that they may become fortified against the running attacks of the devil and the world.”
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