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(Stowell) When was the last time you prayed for the eternity of the doctor who runs the local abortion clinic or the marchers in the annual gay-rights parade?

(Stowell) Did it ever occur to you that His plan just might be better than your's?

(Stowell) Many are concerned that if they commit themselves as fully devoted followers, Christ will threaten the treasury. He probably will. We either let Him be the Master of our money, or our money will master us

(Stowell) The nets God calls us from are not always sinful or degrading. He calls us away from everything that stands between us and Him. He is looking for netless hands in a fully devoted follower. It is to a Person- the the God of the Universe- that I surrender all that I presently am, all that I will be, and all that I now or ever will possess. This is the essence of following. It is not a project. It is a Person. It is not a task. It is a tribute to the worthiness and trustworthiness of Christ and His cause. It is that and that alone

(A Rogers)   There are three kinds of people in the world: those who are afraid, those who don't know enough to be afraid, and those who know their Bibles

(C. Stanley) You can never outgive God

(Rogers) Have you ever thought about the fact that God loves us one by one. He sees me;He knows me; He wants me. Even though we are really just specks on a globe that is no more than a grain of sand compared to the size of the universe, the great God who runs the universe is concerned about you as though that was His only thought

It has often been said that sharing your faith is simply one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread

(Rogers) God does business with those who mean business

(Wiersbe) The most expensive gift in the world: God's gift of eternal life

(Wiersbe) We have God's " unsearchable riches" that can never be fully understood or completely exhausted

(Wiersbe) When a day begins, you never really know for sure how it will end

(Wiersbe) Commenting on Luke 19:10 (a) a man becomes a child (b) a seeking man becomes  found(c) a small man becomes big (d) a poor man becomes rich (e) the host becomes the guest

(Wiersbe) The  important thing is not how much ability you have but how faithful you are to use what you have for the Lord. Faithfulness now is preparation for blessed servicer then

(A W Tozer)  Nothing twist and deforms the soul more than a low or unworthy conception of God

(Wiersbe) Jonah looked on Nivevah and hoped it would be destroyed, while Jesus looked at Jersusalem and wept because it had destroyed itself

(Wiersbe) Instead of praying for the people, the priest were preying on the people

(Wiersbe) His outline of  Luke 19:28-48: preparation(28-36) ,celebration(37-40),lamentation(41-44), denunciation(45-48)

(Stowell ) Many of our choices involve a choice between what is better and what is best


(Stowell) Fully devoted  followers  leave the path of their followership littered with the nets they have shed for the supreme worth of the One they follow

(Stowell) None of us is exempt from the potential to fall

(Stowell) Let's face it. It is rarely the large, instinctive moves that put our lives, relationships, and sense of well-being in jeopardy. It is more often the small moments of self-management that slowly but surely detour our lives from what they might have been, Only eternity will reveal the tremendous loss as we realize that instead of accumulating treasures in heaven, we chose to follow the impulses of the flesh and pile up treasures here that are meaningless there

043011

(Stowell) When the God of the universe became a man, He chose to come in the form of a servant.It is a staggering thought that out of all the attributes He could have chosen, He chose humility

(Stowell) If we could only learn to see tragedy as a platform to demonstrate the power of God's glory through us, we could have a far greater impact on our world than we do

(Stowell) When our anger, rhetoric, and political practices contradict the spirit and standards of Christ and overwhelm our sense of compassion for the lostness of the perpetrators of social deprivation, we no longer display the uniqueness that a follower of Christ is intended to express

(Stowell) When we are committed to following,  Christ will take us to places we have never been before and will teach us to see people as we have never seen them before. The harvest is composed of people who are not like us, not from where we are from, and not going where we are going

(Billy Sunday)  You can't take it with you;even if you could it would melt where some of you are going

(A. Rogers) You'll never have spiritual life until you first admit you are spiritually dead

(A Rogers) There will be no peacocks in heaven

(Lowell Davey)  The crowd said, " He is finished". Christ said, " It is finished"

(Ray Stedman) True worship is simply the honest expression of your heart to God

( Charles Stanley) Brokenness is God's requirement for maximum usefulness

(A. Rogers) Four ways to know the will of God for your life: (1) The Will Principle((Rom 12:2);(2) The Word Principle(Ps 119:105;(3) the Wisdom Principle( James 1:5); the Walk Principle(Prove 3:6). The will of God is not a blueprint that He lays out before you to study from beginning to end. It's more like a scroll that you unroll, and God shows you a step at a time. God doesn't direct you as you stand still. He leads you as you move out. Its hard to steer a ship that's not moving. You must be seeking the face of God in order for Him to guide you by His eye

(Charles Spurgeon) God does not permit His children to sin successfully

(Wiersbe) Christianity isn't a judge punishing a criminal; it is a loving Father dealing with His disobedient children to bring them willingly to the place of surrender

(Wiersbe) Guilt is to the conscience what pain is to the body; it tells us that something is wrong and must be made right, or things will get worse, the waters of chastening will only get deeper, and the storm will increase

(Alexander Maclaren) God's kiss of forgiveness sucks the poison from the wound of sin

(Wiersbe) God in His grace forgives us, but God in His government says, " you shall reap what you have sown"

(Wiersbe outline of Ps 32)
     The blessing of acceptance(1-2)
     The folly of impentitence (3-4)
      The way of deliverance(5-7)
     The joy of obedience(8-11)    

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(Stowell) Character leaves a legacy - it is transferrable to succeeding generations. It makes others believe that they can achieve a life marked by character and excites others to grow

(Stowell) How would you know a follower of Christ if you saw one? He or she would bear a resemblance to Christ in character and conduct

(Stowell) Christ rescues us from a life of heading the wrong way

(Is 26:5 The Message paraphrase) Those who lived high and mighty He knocked off their high horse

(Charles Stanley) God's peace is the inner sense of contentment and quietness, regardless of life's circumstances. It is stedfast confidence in our faithful, immutable heavenly Father. It is the presence of joy in the  midst of unhappiness that surpasses all human understanding. It is based on the fact that the  God is a holy,omnipotent, and never-changing God who lives within us. His peace is complete, adequate, and sufficient for anything we face. Peace with God is the fruit of onesness with God

(Wiersbe)  There can be no true peace apart from righteousness, and there can be no righteousness apart from God's salvation in Christ

(Wiersbe) Resurrection is not reconstruction. God does not reassemble the body and give it life

(Wiersbe) The unjust shedding of blood pollutes the land( Numbers 35:29-34;Psalms 106:34-39) and invites the judgment of God

( David McCasland)  Today, when plans are shattered, do our minds dwell on the circumstances or on the Lord? Is 26:3-4 is an anchor for our souls in every storm of life

(Frances Havergal)  Stayed upon Jehovah,
                                Hearts are fully blessed,
                                Finding as He promised,
                                Perfect peace and  rest

(Daily Bread) When we put our problems in God's hands, He puts His peace in our hearts

(Stowell) Christ calls us not to safety, but to service. Followers of Christ focus on people and their needs regardless of the consequences

(Stowell) The only entity of true value and worth on he earth is people. Authentic followers of Christ focus the attention of their lives on the spiritual potential and destiny of mankind. Is there a greater cause?

(Stowell) A career is not your calling. It is where you fulfill your calling as a follower of Christ

(Stowell) Nothing in life is more important than Christ and His cause. All of life's decisions and attitudes are formed by this dynamic

(Stowell) The ongoing question is, " Is my commitment to the spiritual  needs   and eternal destiny of others closer to Christ's responses now than it has been in the past, or does life still revolve around me and my concerns?"                              

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(Stowell) Eternity is the only reality that can resolve life's insoluable delimmas. Followers of Christ view all life-its good times as well as bad- through the lens of eternity. The worth and value of every activity and involvement is ultimately not  measured by the bang it create on this side, but rather by the benefit it contributes to our eternal home. Followers have the marks of eternity clearly evident on every endeavor

(Stowell) Followers of Christ can reduce all of life questions to, "What is it my Father in heaven wants for my life in this moment?" Does the expanding character of Christ in my life become by far the most important element of my existence?

(Stowell) Integrity measures the activities of life by the standard of truth. Integrity is far more than telling the truth. It means living a life that is consistent with the truth, whether in public or in private. Its opposites are hyprcrisy and duplicity

(Stowell) Compassion listens, contemplates life from another's point of view, knows no barriers of color or culture, and clearly seeks to bless others rather than to be blessed

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(Stowell) Jesus Christ came to our planet and proceeded to take the machete of divine wisdom and cut through the underbrush of ou fallenness, forging fresh,new paths. No aspect of our lives is exempt. He leaves nothing untouched.

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(Joe Stowell) Tells the story of a letter from then- NY Governor Martin Van Buren to President Andrew Jackson appealing to him to maintain the status quo of the canal systems versus the railroads. In his letter he states," As you may well know, Mr. President, railroad carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of fifteen miles per hour. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such  breakneck speeds"

(Stowell) We are often deceived into thinking that what we have grown accustomed to is best. Beware of becoming smugly satisfied with the spiritual status quo which, in essence, says, " this is good enough. I think I'll stay right here" . Going into a fixed orbit about Christ means stifling any further impulse of movement toward Him. Orbital Christians contradict the very essence of what it means to be followers of Christ. Fully devoted followers are involved in a passionate pursuit of Christ that is never satisfied with stagnancy. Becoming an orbital Christian is alluring because it is more comfortable and less challenging. And besides we can always take satisfaction in the fact that there are others whose orbits are farther out than ours. Refusing to deorbitize ourselves denies the essence of who we are in Christ. Following Christ is a call to resume the adventure-regardless.

(Stowell)  Christ seeks to radically alter the essence and expression of both the content and the context of our lives. Christ seeks to take us back to our intended glory as the pinnacle of His creation and to show us life the way it was meant to be. He is undaunted in His pursuit of this purpose

(Stowell) Nowhere is the radicaltransforming leadership of Christ more evident than in the Sermon on the Mount. The underlying tenet is that all of life must be viewed beyong the boundaries of this present world. Eternity is the benchmark by which every earthly issue is measured. He toppled the ever-prevalent notion that externals reflect who are what we really are. He took us beyond action and held His listeners accountable for attitudes and thoughts. He put everyting in paradigms never taught before

(Stowell) No one Christ meets is exempt from His care and compassion, regardless of one's status or position

(Stowell) Christ was never intimidated by the prevailing norms of behavior or the power of the leaders

(Stowell) Christ, the transformational  Leader, imposed on the fallen world the culture of eternity. He was aware that eternity is the real forever world. He never lost His sense of reality and how life was meant to be lived. Christ's  world is the real world

(Stowell) Christ acts in our lives on the point of change that is most strategic. Not surprisingly, this will often be the point of our greatest resistance. There is no price too high to pay to experience the privilege of walking with Him! Deep within us is the desire to live life the way is was meant to be, not the way we have made it. What could be good or valuable enough to put between Christ and you? He is the One worth the unsettling adjustment of tampering with the key components of our lives.

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(Stowell) The " what you see is what you get" attitude almost always refers to some personal deficiency we have decided not to deal with

(Stowell)  How many church members does it take to change a light bulb? "Change?!......Who said anything about change?!"