Intercer Adventist News

Closer To Heaven
You are here: Home / Archives for News and Feeds / Better Sermons

Believing in Advance

By

 “If I spend enough time with God, I will inevitably begin to look at the world with a point of view that more resembles God’s own. What is faith, after all, but believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.” 

–Philip Yancey, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

I need to come into God’s presence daily. Doing so will ensure that I gain a perspective of myself and the world from his vantage point. When I fail to do this, I quickly assume that I am at liberty to live as I please. Apart from God I buy into the ideology of the west that promotes self fulfillment over sacrifice and service. 

Apart from God I self implode and ignore the needs of those around me. The same was true in Paul’s day, which prompted him to say, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”1

Paul follows this with an appeal for Christ’s followers to exercise their spiritual gifts for the sake of the Christian community, as well as the individual serving.

“Lord, give me courage to practice what I intuitively believe, even if it doesn’t make sense at the moment.”

1 Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2010. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: Believing in Advance

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

The Right Thing

By

“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”

–Benjamin Franklin

Photo: Edwin PP

If you haven’t bitten your tongue lately, then perhaps you’re being too lose with it. If you spend a lot of time around people and like to talk, your “word alert” should be set to high sensitivity.

“It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.” –James 3:5-6 (The Message)

Of course, we all make mistakes and say things we wish we hadn’t said, but we don’t have to keep making the same dumb mistakes over and over. By God’s grace our tongues can be “tamed.”

A few years ago I shared something with a friend that I later deeply regretted. I saw the effect it had on several people as it took on its own life and grew beyond its original form. “Like feathers in the wind, our words all fly away, and when they are gone, sometimes we have to pay, I should have known better.”
________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2010. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: The Right Thing

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

What’s the Rush?

By

“The trouble with so many of us is that we underestimate the power of simplicity. We have a tendency it seems to over complicate our lives and forget what’s important and what’s not. We tend to mistake movement for achievement. We tend to focus on activities instead of results. And as the pace of life continues to race along in the outside world, we forget that we have the power to control our lives regardless of what’s going on outside.”

–Robert Stuberg

Oh, to be simply quiet, wise, delightful and content. How can I recapture that state of mind? Today’s world races at break-neck speed in every direction. How can I resist chasing the crowds who run with the wind? Maybe the grass really is greener “over there.” What will I miss by forcing myself to be simple and quiet? Will I ever be able to catch up?

Perhaps the better question is, what will I miss by failing to heed simplicity’s call? Always running ahead of my heart, weakens my sense of purpose and meaning. Lord, Help me to slow down and rediscover the joy of soulful communion.  
________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2010. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: What’s the Rush?

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

Look to the Heavens

By

“I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how a man could look up into the heavens, and say there is no God.”

–Abraham Lincoln

Nature is a powerful weapon in God’s arsenal of spiritual weapons. Being exposed to God’s creation in all of its glory can soften our jaded senses and transform our thinking. Years ago, when only 17-years old, I went on a camp-out with a friends in central California to a place called Pinnacles National Monument. While there I came to my senses and began my life-long journey with God. This was my moment of truth. And nature certainly played a role in bringing me to the point where I was willing to listen to God.
________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2010. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: Look to the Heavens

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

Winning and Losing

By

“The most important tactic in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without an embarrassing loss of face.”

–Syndey J. Harris

When debating with someone over an issue, it is tempting to think that our goal is to win the argument. But really it should be to win the confidence and respect of the person we are talking with. If we don’t accomplish this, we run the risk of being right but losing a friend.

I recently heard a radio talk show host say that conservatives should not try to work with liberals but should just flat out beat them. In his view, our government doesn’t need two sides of the isle.” We should only elect people who agree on every major issue–and of course, they must be conservative.

This kind of thinking is both unrealistic and unAmerican! The democratic process can only continue if we are willing to allow everyone a seat at the table, while showing respect and compassion for the other, regardless of the issue. The moment we demonize our opponent we lose the magic of what has made the United States the great nation that it is.
________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2009. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: Winning and Losing

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

About Intercer

Intercer is a website with biblical materials in Romanian, English, Hungarian and other languages. We want to bring the light from God's Word to peoples homes. Intercer provides quality Christian resources...[Read More]

Lucian Web Service


Intercer is proudly sponsored by Lucian Web Service - Professional Web Services, Wordpress Websites, Marketing and Affiliate Info. Lucian worked as a subcontractor with Simpleupdates, being one of the programmers for the Adventist Church Connect software. He also presented ACC/ASC workshops... [read more]

Archives

Categories