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The Enemy Called Mediocrity

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Recently I preached a message called The Enemy called Mediocrity in church. The message was God's specific word to me for the year 2013. It felt like He was preaching to me! He was screaming at me and scolding me to get my butt off my sedentary lifestyle and live my life to the full; to empty myself of all that He had deposited in me so that I don't go to my grave full. I dare say my life hasn't been the same since that day and I feel I must put this message up somewhere where it can be accessed and read by someone... someday... Who knows, by reading this, your life might receive that same dramatic change mine did. Below is an excerpt from that message:  Mediocrity means moderate to inferior in quality; lacking exceptional quality or ability; having undesirable or negative qualities; not very good or great, ordinary, average, second-rate, insignificant. Mediocrity is a silent, yet deadly enemy of man’s destiny and purpose; many fall into its trap at some point ...
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Someone Else's Obituary

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Our Church was saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our most valued members, Someone Else. Someone's passing creates a vacancy that will be difficult to fill. Else has been with us for many years and for every one of those years, Someone did far more than a normal person's share of the work. Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, there was one name on everyone's list: "Let Someone Else do it." Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results; "Someone Else can work with that group." It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the most liberal givers in our church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed Someone Else would make up the difference. Someone Else was a wonderful person, sometimes appearing superhuman. Were the truth known, everybody expected too much of Someone Else. Now Someone Else is gone. We wonder wha...
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THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE BODY

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My mother used to ask me, "What is the most important part of the body?" Through the years, I would take a guess at what I thought was the correct answer. When I was younger, I thought sound was very important to us as humans, so I said, "My ears, Mommy." She said, "No. Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again soon." Several years passed before she asked me again. This time I told her, "Mommy, sight is very important to everybody, so it must be our eyes." She looked at me and told me, "You are learning fast, but the answer is not correct because there are many people who are blind." Stumped again, I continued my quest for knowledge. Over the years, Mother asked me a couple more times and always her answer was, "No, but you are getting smarter every year, my child." Then last year, my grandpa died. Everybody was hurt. Everybody was crying. Even my father cried. I remember ...
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THE CHOICE

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IT'S QUIET. It's early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming. In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met. For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day's demands. It is now that I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I'm free to choose. And so I choose. I choose love . . . No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves. I choose joy . . . I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical . . . the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God...
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THE CAVE PEOPLE

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He came to the world that was his own, but his own people did not accept him. John 1:11 LONG AGO, OR maybe not so long ago, there was a tribe in a dark, cold cavern. The cave dwellers would huddle together and cry against the chill. Loud and long they wailed. It was all they did. It was all they knew to do. The sounds in the cave were mournful, but the people didn't know it, for they had never known joy. The spirit in the cave was death, but the people didn't know it, for they had never known life. But then, one day, they heard a different voice. "I have heard your cries," it announced. "I have felt your chill and seen your darkness. I have come to help." The cave people grew quiet. They had never heard this voice. Hope sounded strange to their ears. "How can we know you have come to help?" "Trust me," he answered. "I have what you need." The cave people peered through the darkness at the figure of the stranger. He was sta...
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SET APART FROM CYBER WORLD

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Hi, I read the article below in an e-newsletter I usually subscribe to and it humbled me. The writer aptly describes what so many Christians (myself including) are currently experiencing in this ever evolving, gadget-filled and computerized world we live in. I have received a rather rude awakening to the truth that though I am IN THIS WORLD, I am not OF THIS WORLD and I sincerely pray that as we all read this, we will “rewind the tape” and get back to living a vigilant and set-apart life on earth while we continue to await our father’s return. As Christian believers, we're called to live set-apart lives. To be holy as God is holy; to be in the world, but not of the world. God is the source of all holiness, and in order to live a set-apart life, we must spend time with Him so we can be fueled by His Holy Spirit. I don't know what your days look like, but mine are pretty full. They start early and end late. Once the sun rises, it seems that coffee isn't the only thing bre...
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The Bad News Preacher

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I didn't like the preacher I sat by on the plane. I know, I know. You're supposed to like everyone, but this fellow ...The plane was crowded. It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was tired from Sunday-morning services. I was speaking that evening in Atlanta and had planned on taking a nap on the flight. But this fellow had other ideas. Though he had been assigned another seat, he took the one next to me since it was closer to the front. And when he took it, he took every inch of it—and then some. Knowing I couldn't sleep, I figured I'd review my thoughts for the evening lesson, so I opened my Bible. "What ya' studying there, buddy?" I told him, but he never heard. "The church is lost," he declared. "Hellbound and heartsick." Turns out he is an evangelist. He speaks in a different church every weekend. "I wake 'em up," he growled. "Christians are asleep. They don't pray. They don't love. They don't care....
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