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Viewing 64 - 66 out of 66 Blogs.
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"COME, BE MY DISCIPLE'...SO MATTHEW GOT UP AND FOLLOWED HIM." ( MATTHEW 9:9 NLT) &nb sp; EVERYBODY'S WELCOME According to the Jews, tax collectors ranked barely above plankton on the food chain. So everybody kept his distance from Matthew the tax collector. Everyone except Jesus. "Come...be My disciple'...So Matthew got up and followed Him." Then it gets interesting, "[Matthew] gave a big dinner for Jesus at his house. Many tax collectors...were eating there, too" ( Lk 5:29 NCV ). What a party! Salty language. Mardi Gras morals. These guys keep the phone number of their bookie on speed dial. But a friend is a friend. What can Matthew do? Invite them to meet Jesus! Great idea! Then the door opens and an icy breeze blows in. "The Pharisees began to intervenes, "I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough" (Mt 9:13 NLT). And Matthew is just like you, isn't he? Maybe you've never taken taxes, but you've taken liberty with the truth, taken credit for what wasn't yours, taken advantage of others. And to you He says, "Follow Me." But what if you have a bad reputation? So did Matthew. Come, you may end up, like him, writing a book. Furthermore, you don't have to be weird to follow Jesus. And you don't have to stop liking your friends to follow Him. Just the opposite: a few introductions would be nice. Think of all Christ has done for you-then share Him with your friends. Sparrow7~
"THE MANY PARTS MAKE UP ONLY ONE BODY." ( 1 CORINTHIANS 12:12 TLB ) WHY YOU NEED THE CHURCH There's a wonderful story about Jimmy Durante, one of the truly great entertainers. He was asked to do a show for World War 11 veterans. He told them he was very busy, but if they wouldn't mind his doing one short monologue and immediately leaving for his next appointment, he'd come. They agreed. But when Jimmy got on stage he went through the short monologue-then stayed, and stayed. Soon he'd been on stage 15, 20, then 30 minutes. Finally he took a last bow and left. Backstage someone stopped him and said, "I thought you had to go after a few minutes. What happened? Jimmy answered," You can see for yourself if you look in the front row." In the front row were two veterans, each of whom had lost an arm in the war. One had lost his right arm and the other had lost his left. Together, they were able to clap, and that's exactly what they were doing, loudly and cheerfully. That's a picture of what's supposed to happen in church: "But the many parts make up only one body when they are all put together. So it is with the body of Christ." But to enjoy its benefits you have to go, and when you get there you must reach out to others so that you can know, and be known. Pew-sitting, back of the head, fellowship won't cut it! Someone sitting next to you has 20/20 vision where you have blind spots. You need their counsel, correction and comfort. And they need yours. When that happens, the church is working like it's supposed to. Sparrow7~
"YOU ARE ONE OF THEM...YOUR SPEECH SHOWS IT." ( MARK 14:70 NKJV ) &nb sp; WHAT YOUR SPEECH SAYS ABOUT YOU You can try to disguise your identity by changing your looks, your social circle and your address--but how you speak will give you away every time. It happened to Peter. When a servant girl saw him warming himself by the fire, she said, "You...were with Jesus of Nazareth.' But he denied it...And the...girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, ' you are one of them...your speech shows it'" ( Mk 14:67-70 NKJV ). So in order to convince his accusers that he wasn't a friend of Jesus, Peter "began to curse and swear, 'I do not know this Man of whom you speak!" ( Mk 14:71 NKJV ). And it worked! After that nobody else accused him of knowing Jesus. Isn't it interesting how public profanity in any language has a way of making others question the quality of your relationship with Christ? Paul says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up...that it may benefit those who listen" ( Eph 4:29 NIV ). If you want to win people to Jesus, start with how you talk. Paul said, "Let your speech always be with grace...that you may know how you ought to answer each one" ( Col 4:6 NKJV ). Words are powerful things. They either build up or tear down, add to or take from. It's not important that people can tell from your accent where you're from, but when they can't tell by the way you talk that you're Christ's disciple, something's seriously wrong. Sparrow7~
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