Politics
My Kingdom is not of this World
"The Kingdom of God is not going to arrive on Air Force One" --Chuck Colson
How Accurate are the Polls?
The day before the 1996
Presidential election, Bill Clinton had a 16 percentage point lead in the polls
over Bob Dole. On election day he won by 8%.
Bill Clinton 49%
Bob Dole 41%
The exit polls on 2004
Presidential election had John Kerry as the winner.
When the votes were
tabulated, the results were:
George W Bush 51%
59,651,262 votes
John Kerry 48% 56,158,891
votes
Prayer
The Lords Prayer (edited)
Although
many people love to recite the Lord’s Prayer, not many love to forgive their
debtors. So they edit the Lord’s Prayer, changing the parts they don’t like.
The Lord’s Prayer, RSV (Revised Several
Verses)
Our Father
who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom
come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us
this day our daily bread.
And forgive
us our debts . . .*
And do not
lead us into temptation**
but deliver
us from evil***
For Thine
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
* Deleted
from original prayer: “as we also have forgiven our debtors”
** Except
when we want to be tempted
*** Only
the scary kind of evil
(Kent
Crockett, I Once Was Blind But Now I Squint, Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers,
2004, 99)
4 Ways God Answers Prayer
God usually answers prayer in one of four ways: yes, no, wait, and “you do not know what you are asking for!” (Mark 10:38). (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 138)
Thy Will Be Changed
Sometimes
we pray "Thy will be changed" rather than "Thy will be done." (Kent Crockett,
The 911 Handbook, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003, 126)
Learning From a Child
A little girl was about
to undergo a dangerous operation. Just before the doctor administered the
anesthetic, he said, "Before we can make you well, we must put you to sleep."
The girl responded, "Oh, if you are going to put me to sleep, then I must say my
prayers first."
She closed her eyes, and
said:" Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should
die before I wake; I pray the Lord my soul to take. And this I ask for Jesus'
sake. Amen."
Later on the surgeon
admitted that he prayed that prayer that night for the first time in thirty
years. --Donald L. Deffner, Seasonal Illustrations as cited on
Error! Hyperlink
reference not valid.
Preaching
The Recipe for Good Preaching
"Don't just throw the
seed at the people. Grind it into flour, bake it into bread, and slice it for
them. And it wouldn't hurt to put a little honey on it." --Charles Spurgeon
Kent Crockett's Sermon Illustrations, www.kentcrockett.com
Say Something
"Preaching isn't getting
up and having to say something. It's getting up and having something to say."
--Mike Pennington
Kent Crockett's Sermon Illustrations, www.kentcrockett.com
Thus Saith . . .
"Spend most of your time
figuring out what God said rather than what you can say." --Bailey Smith
Kent Crockett's Sermon Illustrations, www.kentcrockett.com
Really Enjoyed Sermon
A man said, "Preacher, I
really enjoyed your sermon today. It was like water to a drowning man."
Kent Crockett's Sermon Illustrations, www.kentcrockett.com
Preaching Baloney
"I preach like baloney. I
can cut the sermon off anywhere--it's all the same!" --Dudley Hall
Kent Crockett's Sermon Illustrations, www.kentcrockett.com
We Do Not Preach Ourselves
"The best man at the
wedding is the worst man at the wedding if he steals the show from the groom."
--Vance Havner
Kent Crockett's Sermon Illustrations, www.kentcrockett.com
When To Pound the Pulpit
A preacher wrote in his
sermon notes: "Pound pulpit here--argument weak!"
Kent Crockett's Sermon Illustrations, www.kentcrockett.com
Sermons Getting Better?
A woman leaving church
one Sunday told to her minister, "Pastor, it seems that every sermon you preach
is better than the next one!"
Kent Crockett's Sermon Illustrations, www.kentcrockett.com
The Long-Winded Preacher
A long-winded preacher
was shaking hands with members of his congregation. In a slip of the tongue, one
church member accidentally called him "Neverend" instead of "Reverend."
Kent Crockett's Sermon Illustrations, www.kentcrockett.com
Meaty Sermons
A lot of preaching today is what I call longhorn preaching, as in the longhorn cattle found in Texas. This style of preaching has a point here, a point there, and a lot of bull in between. --Rick Warren
Predestination
The General Choosing Volunteers
God knows
everything before it happens, which is foreknowledge. That means he knows ahead
of time who will call on Him to be saved and who won't. First Peter 1:1-2 says
we are "chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father."
Even though
God does the choosing, we are given the opportunity to ask Him to choose us.
It's like the army general who asked his soldiers, "Whoever would like to
volunteer to go on a dangerous mission with me, please step forward." About
one-third of the soldiers stepped forward of their own free will, separating
themselves from the other soldiers.
The general
then went up to each soldier who stepped forward and said, "I choose you and you
and you...." He chose everyone who stepped forward, but he didn't choose anyone
who didn't volunteer. He gave them their free will, but he did the choosing.
In the same
way, God allows us to have free wills, but He chooses everyone who wants to love
Him. (Kent Crockett, The 911 Handbook, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers,
2003, 199-200)
Preparation
Practice Makes Perfect
In 1997, Brandy Perryman
entered into his senior season at the University of Texas as the school's
leading career leader in free throw percentage, 88.3. When he missed his first
two free throws of the season, Perryman decided he needed to practice more. He
didn't leave the practice gym the next day until he had set a personal best by
hitting 275 free throws in a row.
What's true in basketball
is also true in sermon preparation--the more diligently you prepare, the more
insights you will receive, and the better the sermon becomes. "Be diligent to
present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed,
handling accurately the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15)
Kent Crockett's Sermon
Illustrations,
www.kentcrockett.com
Pride
Glorifying Ourselves
One of the
guests on a late-night talk show was a bodybuilder. The host asked the weight
lifter if he would show off his muscles to the audience. With a big grin on his
face, the bodybuilder faced the audience and cameras, flexing his muscles.
"Boy,” the host said, “you sure do have the muscles. What do you use all of
those muscles for?" The bodybuilder didn't answer, but continued to flex and
smile at the audience.
Again the
host asked, "What do you use those muscles for?" Still grinning, the muscleman
remained silent and continued to show off. The answer was obvious. He didn't use
his muscles to do any useful work, but only to glorify himself.
We can glorify ourselves in many different ways. We can use our looks, intelligence, job status, and personal accomplishments to glorify ourselves. We can even use our spiritual gifts and ministries to exalt ourselves instead of the God who gave us those gifts. (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 125)
How to Identify Pride
Pride loves to be worshipped and is greatly offended when it is overlooked. (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 125)
Love to be Recognized
Diotrephes is described as someone who lived “to be first” (3 John 1:9). The late A. T. Robertson once wrote an article about Diotrephes for a religious publication. He renamed him, updated his story using present day terms, and labeled him the “church boss.” Dr. Roberston reported later that twenty deacons had canceled their subscriptions because they thought the article was a personal attack on them. (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 126)
My Will Be Done
Pride says to itself, "My will be done." Humility says to God, "Thy will be done." (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 129)
I Am the Greatest
Former heavyweight boxing champion boasted, “I am the greatest.” The apostle Paul boasted, “I am the least.” (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 130)
Looking Down on Others
During
Sunday school, a teacher told the children in her class about the Pharisee and
the tax-gatherer praying in the temple (Luke 18:10-14). She said that the
Pharisee prayed, “God, I thank You that I’m not like other people,” while the
tax-gatherer said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” The teacher explained how
the pious, self-righteous attitude of the Pharisee caused him to look down on
the tax-gatherer.
At the end of class, she asked one little boy to close in prayer. He prayed, “God, I thank You that I’m not like that Pharisee.” (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 130)
I Love Those Inferior People
Archie Bunker once said, “I’m not prejudiced. I love all those inferior people.” (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 130)
Are you a chicken or a salmon?
A chicken lays one egg and cackles about it, while a salmon lays ten thousand eggs and doesn’t say a word. (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 131)
Tickling the Ham
Someone once said that a diploma is like the curl on the tail of a pig. It doesn’t mean very much, but it sure does tickle the ham to which it is attached. (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 132)
Priorities
The Buttons on a Shirt
If we get the top button of a shirt buttoned wrong, all of the other buttons will also be off. The top button in life is to love God. The second button is to love people. Do that and every other button in life will fall into place. But the moment we stop loving God, we start loving ourselves. And then we get all the buttons messed up. (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 159)
You Have Got the Time . . .
"We always have time for
the things we put first." --Paul Johnson
Problems
Cross-reference--TRIALS
For more
stories on "Problems" please look under the topic "Trials."
Recognizing symptoms is the first step
"God is merciful. When we have unresolved problems, he gives us symptoms."--Henry Cloud and John Townsend
Take it to the Lord in Prayer
"Don't tell your problems
to people. 80% don't care and the other 20% are glad you have them." --Lou
Holtz, former college football coach