Monday, August 8th 2011 @ 3:44 PM

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Each place in our pilgrimage mirrors the places in the Israelites’ journey from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land only we are leaving the slavery of sin and heading for the ultimate Promised Land, Heaven.  Bitterness about our circumstances or the people surrounding us is really rebellion against God for letting the situation occur.  We need to be healed from bitterness and rebellion, but how?  We are to expect trials and adversities in our Christian growth.  This message reminded me of the video Bear made where he discussed why bad things happen to good people.  He said we shouldn’t ask ‘why us?’ but rather ‘why not us?’  But this does not mean that we can handle anything that comes our way without divine help.  Lately our family has been beset by various illnesses of differing severity.  Lord, I pray your healing touch on those family members and any church members out there right now going through difficult times, in Jesus’ precious name I pray, Amen.

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Lenny Daniel

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LennyDaniel said on Monday, August 8th 2011 @ 3:50 PM:

Very well put Jeff. Our prayers also go out to family and friends who are going

through trials right now.

Lenny, Jeanetta & Rebecca

Monday, August 1st 2011 @ 3:49 PM

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Starting today I wanted to share with you the first installment of a series Brother Tommy delivered back in 1987 showing us the parallels between the Israelites’ journey out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land with our journey out of slavery in sin and into Heaven.  So many people focus on the beginning or end of these journeys, but Tommy is going to concentrate on the places along the way and how they relate to our life today.  This week’s message is called ‘The Place of Starting.’

Monday, July 25th 2011 @ 11:47 AM (not yet rated)

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Let’s take a break today from a series of messages from Brother Tommy’s archives.  This is a stand alone lesson that he delivered in 1987 about the secret of perpetual youth.  No, this is not an infomercial about wrinkle creams or anti-aging serums.  The Bible says we can constantly be spiritually  refreshed.  Our God is never weary and He offers us strength from His never ending supply.  The Bible is also full of blank checks waiting for us to cash (good story).  And He makes strength out of our weakness.  I am always amazed at how much we (myself included) emphasize the physical over the spiritual, especially in youth and strength.  Listen about halfway in and see how Brother Tommy’s message dovetails with Barbara’s most recent blog entry.   Now you may think that I picked this week’s message after seeing Barbara’s post, but I had prayed about and prepared this presentation last week without any discussion with her.  As she has pointed out to me many times, only God could plan these events so perfectly.

Next week we are going to start a series of messages that show us the parallels of the Christian journey to the path the Israelites took to the Promised Land.

Monday, July 18th 2011 @ 3:00 PM (not yet rated)

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Unlike the previous message to bear with each other’s differences or quirks, this command is to bear each other’s burdens caused by sin.  Because this is a difficult thing to do many Christians avoid or only partially fulfill this directive.  But as the Word tells us the penalty for not doing this is that we may also fall into temptation.  The purpose is to restore a Christian who has lapsed in their faith to the fellowship of believers.  As we wrap up this series, look up all the topics Brother Tommy covered here and you will see how all of these messages relate to building each other up in a church family.  Tommy used to say he looked forward to the day when it could no longer be said of the Christian community that they are the only army that eats it’s wounded.  So to that end, let us put into practice these steps to build each other up.

Monday, July 18th 2011 @ 3:30 PM (not yet rated)

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You may think of yourself as a ‘people’ person, but what about when you dial it down to your individual friends, family or fellow Christians?  This message of bearing with one another is about getting over those quirks and imperfections that annoy us in others.  As Brother Tommy says the perfect place to begin this command is at home.  But don’t just stop there take it out into the world to build each other up.  Listen about halfway through for some great biblical lessons about love.  Oh and on a humorous note, you may hear us refer to Brother Tommy as Bear every now and then, so one of his favorite sayings was ‘bear with me.’

Monday, July 11th 2011 @ 12:00 AM (not yet rated)

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Serve One Another – As Christians, we have been freed from sin, but freed to do what?  We have been freed to serve Christ and others.  We are to serve each other spiritually.  Have you ever heard of the Fruits of the Spirit?  But we have to get past self first.

Monday, July 11th 2011 @ 12:00 AM (not yet rated)

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Comfort One Another – Don’t worry everything will be alright.  Or will it for everybody?  Christians have unique assurances given to them by the Lord.  And they are in an excellent position to spread comfort to others from the truest and purest source of joy.

Monday, July 4th 2011 @ 12:36 PM (not yet rated)

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Admonish is not a word that we use very often if at all today.  It means to correct someone especially regarding duties or responsibilities.  That is why Brother Tommy says this is such a delicate matter.  There are several things to keep in mind before fulfilling this ‘one another’ command.  I like the way he balanced this message by using it the same day as he taught the ‘Encourage One Another’ lesson.