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Thoughts From Pastor Jeff on Being "Forgotten" By God

Dear Friends, Pastor Jeff here. It has been a while. Seven weeks to be exact. For those who do not know, halfway through my vacation in September, I apparently did something that so injured my kidneys they essentially died or stopped functioning completely for weeks (neither I nor any doctor in the many hospitals I’ve been in since know what that was). Yet, to make a long story short, God has been wonderfully merciful and has slowly resurrected them from the dead, for which I am so thankful. Not totally back to where I was but I am a long way from almost going to be with him on Thursday Oct. 17. In light of all that many questions, thoughts and concerns went through my mind. And at least one result was the thought below. I do not usually send out thoughts I put together, but those of others. This time is an exception. I wanted (felt I needed) to pass this along as it was helpful to me during one of the darkest times of my life. Hopefully it will minister to someone else who may...
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Thoughts from Charles Spurgeon on Chronic Pain

Dear Friends, Life is not always easy. Things come our way that inflict pain and wound the heart. Sickness can steal away our energy and strength for a time – though it is more difficult when it is chronic. My father was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 43 and struggled with its effects until he passed away at 85 – being told close to that time that his physical body was like that of a 110-year-old. Being in constant pain earned him the occasional nick-name, “Grumpy Grampy.” I could understand why. Pain is no fun. I’m not the easiest to be around when I’m in constant pain either. And as John Owen once pointed out, “It is not the intensity of the trial, but its longevity, that eats away at our resolve.” Therefore, if you are struggling in this area (or know someone who is), today I offer you some helpful words from Charles Spurgeon. Yet, it helps to point out he was not giving advice as one who did not himself struggle. He battled much of his life with depressi...
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Thoughts on The Gospel

Dear Friends, One of my professors (Jerry Bridges) once let us listen to a cassette tape recording (2001) of best-selling Christian authors at a Christian Booksellers Conference. They were asked the question: “What is the Gospel?” The answers given by every one of the best-selling authors who were interviewed varied from lacking at best, to tongue-tied and scrambling for an answer, to completely heretical. Yet, the Gospel is the one message every believer should know through and through, since everything in the Christian life flows out of the Gospel! Therefore, today, I pass along some insights or descriptions of the Gospel that are very much “spot on” and in line with the biblical Gospel, because to the extent that we get the Gospel wrong, we weaken it’s saving and life-transforming power and can lead people astray. If the Gospel (the one given in the New Testament) “IS the power of God for the salvation of all who believe” a different Gospel (Galatians 1:6-7) does not carry ...
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Thoughts from Dr. Matt O'Reilly

Dear Friends, As I look online, I see a lot of posts by Christians voicing their sentiments on politics and the coming election. Some do it in a civil and engaging fashion, while others seem to be, “agree with me or exit the conversation.” Some paint their candidate as a flawless savior and the opposing candidate as the devil in the flesh, while others admit that both candidates (being human) are sinners, and therefore have flaws and blind spots – straying in differing areas from a well-rounded biblical or gospel-like perspective. The Gospel is too radical to be captive to any flawed and lacking human political party’s agenda. I try to stay out of politics, and have always kept it out of the pulpit, despite advice to the contrary. But since it is a reality we must deal with I prefer to simply offer guidance. The first section (in purple) is wise counsel on Christian involvement in politics in general, not from me, but from a man named Dr. Matt O’Reilly. Obviously, I agree wi...
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Thoughts From Writers Past and Present

Dear Friends, Today I want to offer you some wise and insightful thoughts which (to the best of my knowledge!) I have never sent out before. Some from current authors, some from antiquated authors – but all very insightful and helpful. I find that reading the insights of people past and present helps widen our perspective and make us realize that godly wisdom runs through the entire 2000 year history of the church, passed down to us from men and women, and from people of different countries, cultures, ethnicities and continents. Therefore I have added some notes regarding each author. Enjoy. “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot (1927-1956) wrote this phrase in his journal, before he was martyred in the jungles of Ecuador by members of the Huaorani (Auca) tribe, along with four other missionaries – Ed McCully, Roger Youdarian, Pete Flemming, and Nate Saint, on January 8, 1956. “Every saved person this side of heaven owes the ...
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Thoughts On Anxiety

Dear Friends, Recent studies have shown that 32.3% of the U.S. population (110,618,560 people) report dealing with anxiety/stress/worry symptoms (*2023 Household Pulse Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau). That’s down about 10% from November of 2020 when 42.6% of the population (147,260,958 people) reported symptoms. Yet it’s still very high – with the highest percentage of those being between 18-24 years old. Therefore, today, I wanted to pass along some “thoughts” (20 to be exact) that speak to the issues of anxiety/stress/worry. If you happen to be one of the people who wrestles with any of these, I hope you find this selection helpful. Enjoy. “Anxiety is contemplating your future apart from seeing the hand of a loving and sovereign God directing and guiding it.” “Though there is much to be puzzled about, there is nothing to be worried about.” C. S. Lewis “We fly off the handle because we flew away from anything having a handle to hold on to a long time ago.” Gar...
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Thoughts From Dr. Gavin Adams

Dear Friends, Today’s “thought” has to do with the nationwide trend affecting evangelically oriented churches in America. This post came to my inbox today, so it is very current, though the statistics have been out there since the Covid shutdown/2020 election polarization that caused a very sizable downward drop in church attendance (which now stands at upwards of about 50% across America). I offer this post as one that concurs with what I have seen and heard in conversations with people inside and outside church circles. Other things could be mentioned here, such as sports involvement, the mixing of politics or nationalism with the Gospel, social media distraction or addiction, or offering remedies (or "saviors") other than Jesus to be the answer to the problems we see all around us. Yet, with that being said, this post by Dr. Gavin Adams which came out today on https://churchacceleratorcommunity.com/blog/ is (in my opinion) a good ov...
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