Many preachers keep a notebook of random thoughts on a variety of subjects that they intend to use in a sermon or article sometime.  Many of those tidbits never see the light of day.  Others write articles like this one and present those unrelated reflections.  Here are a few from one preachers notes.

Prayer:  Do you really realize the benefits of prayer?  When you pray to God you never get a busy signal.  He never puts you on hold.  You are never interrupted by call waiting.  You can talk as long as you want.  And the call is toll free.  What…

If you fall out of that tree and break your neck, Im gonna wear you out! Sometimes we dont think before we go out on some limb. Its foolish to be where we dont belong, even if its a bit exciting. Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18).

If you cant be happy, you can at least smile while youre not. That may seem like an oxymoron, even patently foolish, but its just good advice. Fact is, even when youre upset or discouraged, a smile can bring a measure of relief, both to yourself…

We have all seen different temperaments in our children. One child must be spanked continually, while another one breaks out in tears with a word or look of disapproval. As parents, we are always trying to get at the heart of our children. We continue to train each child, according to their need, so that when they are teenagers they will heed our words without the use of a rod. With some children, this is a challenging job. 

But how hard is it for God to train us?  Do we have the easily touched heart when we are confronted with…

DOVER TOWNSHIP, N.J., A 10-year-old boy has been charged with stabbing his father to death as the two argued over a missing can of chocolate cake frosting, authorities said.

Andrew Harms, 38, accused his son of taking the icing, goaded the boy and even handed him a 5-inch kitchen knife during Monday night’s argument, Ocean County Prosecutor E.  David Millard said.

“The discussion became heated and emotional. At that point, Mr. Harms picked up a knife and placed it in the juvenile’s hand and stated that if he hated him that much, then he wanted him to stab him,” he…

How valuable is God’s written Word to me? Before the printing press, copies of the Bible were made by hand. One estimate is that it would take one copyist 3 years to copy the entire Bible. If copied onto vellum (animal hide), it would take 250 sheep to make one Bible. Such would make it extremely expensive to own an entire copy of the Bible.

Do we appreciate the great sacrifices of those who brought the Word of God to us? The English scholar William Tyndale was the first to translate the English Bible directly from the Greek and Hebrew. In 1526,…

The fundamental fallacy of the modern environmental movement is its inherent denial of supernaturalism and metaphysical reality. Rather than acknowledging that the entire Universe was created by the transcendent God of the Bible, Who both prepared and perpetuates the Earth for human habitation (Genesis 1:1-2:19; 8:22;Hebrews 11:3), the environmental movement posits an eternal Universe that must be protected and preserved by humans in order for life to continue. The future of the Earth is viewed as dependent on mankind. If man damages the fragile environment, he is hastening its imminent demise.

It…

A true Christian is the best friend any government can have. This is not usually understood, especially by governments that have never grasped the meaning of true Christianity. Thus, Christians have often been persecuted as subversive to the government. In the Old Testament their own people governed the people of God, with God at the top. It was a theocracy. The Jew's religion and his government were intertwined. Apparently God felt this was necessary to insure that the promise he made to Abraham would be fulfilled, for God saw no need for such an arrangement after Christ came. In the…

God has given us great illustrations of faithfulness, couched in the character and personalities of men. For instance, have you ever considered:

The faithfulness of Abraham? Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees of his own free will, choosing deliberately to go out, “not knowing whither he went.” Think about that. You want to talk about faith? “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country,” (Heb. 11:9), “for he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God” (11:10). He saw, by the eye of faith, something better. Do…

Have you ever noticed that in John 4 the apostles went into Sychar, came back out to Jesus, and not one single person started following Jesus. Yet, the Samaritan woman went into the exact same city and many of the Samaritans came out to see Jesus. Many of those came out began to believe in Jesus. (John 4:39-42)

Why did this happen? I see two reasons. The first is a shortcoming on the part of the apostles and the second was an advantage on the part of the Samaritan woman.

First, the apostles’ shortcoming: The apostles…

One of the challenges that we face as children of God is to learn to wait on the Lord. Waiting for anything is hard. Most of us want what we want on our time schedule, which usually means we want it sooner than later. This mentality sometimes creeps into our personal dealings with God. When we are anticipating a particular blessing from God, perhaps something for which we have recently prayed, it is easy to lose patience when the blessing doesn’t arrive when we think it should. Once in a while we forget that God operates on His own time…

A deer hunter in Indianapolis, Indiana, fell out of a tree stand and suffered a severe spinal injury which paralyzed him from the shoulders down. The 32-year-old man was asked if he wanted to live in that state, to which he emphatically answered “no.” Life support was removed and he died five hours later.

Certainly the great Judge of all the earth will do what is right for this man (Genesis 18:25), and I do not wish to judge him lest I be found in error in my judging. But the article went on to say that…

It is reported that several years ago researchers did a study to determine the effect hope has on those undergoing hardship.  Two sets of laboratory rats were placed in separate tubs of water from which they could not escape unaided.  The researchers left one set in the water and found that within an hour the exhausted rats all drowned.

The other rats were periodically lifted out of the water and then returned.  These animals swam for over 24 hours.  Why?  Not because they were given rest, but because they had hope!  They had come to believe that if they held…

He went back to the original pattern. “.. He who made them from the beginning made them MALE and FEMALE, and said, For this cause shall a MAN leave his FATHER and MOTHER, and shall cleave to his WIFE; and the two shall become one flesh .....What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:4-6). This is God’s definition of a natural marriage as contrasted with that “which is against nature” (Romans 1:26, 27). To redefine marriage is to put asunder what God enjoined. This verse also shows God…