By Richard S Willoughby
Sunday 14th December 2008
Today I had my first gut-wrenching cry since this odyssey of sickness began. It was deep and guttural. Once started, it washed over me in spasms. I ask God if I was doing anything wrong. I repented. I loathed my weaknesses and inconsistencies. I ask him why he had forsaken me. I knew full well he had not but I was confessing feelings not faith. I ask Him if what I was exhibiting was faith and if not he must show me, help me, …

This news article describes a pilot who was not certified to land this particular plane in the given climate conditions. There are several sermon uses for this article, from “I can do all things through Christ” to, “the 5 unprepared virgins”, to “flying blind (faith)” etc. If you have other thoughts, please leave them in the comments below.
A British passenger plane was forced to turn back minutes before landing in Paris because the pilot of 30 years’ experience was not qualified to land in fog, an airline confirmed on Thursday.
Speaking …

Many of us are living for nothing else. A volume of believing prayer is ascending to the throne night and day. Los Angeles, Southern California, and the whole continent shall surely find itself before long in the throes of a mighty revival, by the Spirit and power of God. – Way of Faith, Nov 16, 1905
Frank Bartleman – Azusa Street, p38

Tue Dec 9, 9:14 pm ET
LONGVIEW, Texas – A $1 million bank deposit slip wish by a Longview minister to pay for a new church came true — and then some. The Rev. Thomas McDaniels of LifeBridge Christian Center said a businessman, who chooses to remain anonymous, wrote him a $1.5 million check.
Members of LifeBridge, which formed in 2005, had met at a Longview hotel. Their new church opens in a few weeks.
McDaniels described on Monday how in January 2007 he took a bank deposit slip and wrote $1 million, …

Life in Christ is rewarding, yet much of the benefits are hidden to those who don’t seek them.
Seeking to Know Him (Revealing who Jesus is)
Pursuing the Image (Allowing Christ to be revealed in the way we live our lives)
Speaking to the Unseen (revealing His blessings through faith in action)
Listening (allowing God to reveal His will in our lives)

Get equipped with the fundamental tools we need to live out our faith.
First is Last
Seeing is not Believing
Give to Receive
Weak is Strong
Slavery is Freedom
Die to Live

According to a survey of 5,916 Americans conducted by the Brand Futures Group of Young and Rubicam, 54 percent of respondents said “religion plays an important part in my life.” The report also noted that religion is popping up in everything from tattoos to teen-age apparel to the popular “What Would Jesus Do?” merchandise.
“The Los Angeles Times” reported that far more Americans rated religion as important than did other national populations surveyed, especially in Europe, where church attendance is sparse. In the Netherlands, 25 percent of respondents said religion was …

Americans Turning Back to Religion to Find Identity and Meaning
ABC News charts parents’ desire to pass on meaning, values to their children
by Andy Butcher
Schools full of violence and homes empty of values are sending a growing number of Americans back to religion to find answers, according to an ABC News report. But at the same time, fewer families are regularly attending church or other services, a new survey has revealed.
Paul Vitz, a psychology professor at New York University, told ABC that many young adults are turning to religion as a …

(For we walk by faith and not by sight.)  II Corinthians 5:7
Try as we might to speak and write clearly, sometimes, it seems impossible to say what we want to say.
That’s why we use a little mechanism called parenthesis to help convey our meaning.   A parenthesis is a statement or expression that is beside the main point.  Often, it is a key to understanding the point that has just been established.
In this passage, the Apostle Paul probes into the dark enigma of death.  Death wreaks havoc, devastation and grief.  When …