Life on Planet Earth on Soldiers

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A Soldier's Sacrifice

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Scripture

Ephesians 5:2, 1 John 3:16, Philippians 2:8, Romans 5:8, Galatians 2:20, John 15:13

A chaplain was speaking to a soldier on a cot in a hospital. “You have lost an arm in the great cause,” he said. “No,” said the soldier with a smile. “I didn’t lose it–I gave it.” In that same way, Je...

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God of wonder and grace: You knew us

God of wonder and grace: You knew us from even before we were born; You loved us from eternity. Then, when we needed to know you most, You called us by name and saved us. Nothing escapes Your notice a...

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Good and Gracious God, Father, Son, and

Good and Gracious God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: we come to You as an impatient people filled with a multitude of desires and needs. We yearn for simple things--the arrival of warm weather, enough...

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God of nations and Lord of all

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, Romans 15:5-6, Isaiah 58:10-11, Psalm 34:18-19, Matthew 5:4, Isaiah 41:10

God of nations and Lord of all creation: You were there at the beginning of time and at our beginning, and You will be there at the ending and when we finally come home. There is no time You are not t...

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Author

Brennan Manning

Keywords

In Love's service, only wounded soldiers can serve.”

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O God our Father, who sent your Son to

Author

William Temple

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 4:16, Philippians 1:9-10, 2 Timothy 1:7, Esther 4:, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Colossians 3:23-24, Hebrews 12:1-2

O God our Father, who sent your Son to be our Savior: renew in us day by day the power of your Holy Spirit; that with knowledge and passion, with courage and love, with gratitude and hope, we may stri...

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The Enemy Lines are Hard to Find

Author

Fleming Rutledge

Keywords

A friend of mine who is a child psychologist told me about something one of her young patients said. It is common practice to give toys to children in the treatment room so they work out their conflic...

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Author

Colin Powell

Keywords

Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not c...

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Author

Carolyn Custis James

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 6:10-12

Paul tells the bride in Ephesians 6:10-12 that her enemies are 'not...flesh and blood,' but the unseen spiritual forces of evil and darkness. She is called to arm herself for battle, to 'b...

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Father, Son, Holy Spirit–our God,

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Romans 8:28, Psalm 34:18, James 5:14-15, Jeremiah 29:11, Isaiah 26:3, Philippians 4:6-7

Father, Son, Holy Spirit–our God, Mysterious, Awe-Inspiring, Wonderful, One-in-Three/Three-in-One: You surprise us not with flashing lights, loud crashing noises, and constant activity. You surprise u...

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Author

Rick Lambert

Keywords

"Everything we encounter today is used by God to prepare us for tomorrow. he wastes no trials, withholds no blessings, nor does he hold back on the discipline of his soldiers. All He does prepare...

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God of grace and truth, hope and power:

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 6:10-11, Isaiah 58:11, Philippians 4:6-7, Isaiah 61:1, Psalm 147:3, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Romans 15:13

God of grace and truth, hope and power: in the midst of an ever-changing world, we delight that You are constant, joyous and loving, always the same, but never stagnant or boring. That’s why we’re so ...

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Compassionate God—In Christ, you enter

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

1 Timothy 2:1-4, Psalm 33:22, Philippians 4:6-7, John 14:1, 1 Peter 5:7, Romans 12:15

Compassionate God—In Christ, you enter our condition; you experience our sorrow and our joy ... and redeem them. By Your Holy Spirit, you carry us along: in crisis and celebration, in despair and acco...

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Just a stain in the soil

Author

William Rowley

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 3:19, Ecclesiastes 3:20, Genesis 18:27, James 4:14, Psalm 90:12, Psalm 39:4, 1 Peter 2:24-25, Psalm 90:10, Psalm 78:39, 1 Chronicles 29:15, Psalm 39:5, Psalm 144:4, Job 14:1, Psalm 103:15-16, Job 7:6-7, Genesis 2:7

I love a British TV show called Time Team. Hosted by Tony Robinson, a team of archeologists descend on a site in Britain and excavate for three days. Inevitably, the archeologists unearth the dead...

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Bullied By Christian Leaders

Author

Bill Gaultiere

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 27:27-31, Luke 23:34-35, Luke 6:27-28

Have you ever been bullied by a group? Or felt ganged up on? Maybe it wasn’t intended by them, but you felt abused? I have. So have some of the pastors and influencers we help. So has Jesus… Lord J...

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Times of Crisis: Sermon Illustration Tuesday

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Crises

On November 28, 1942, a fire broke out and spread rapidly through an overcrowded Boston nightclub called Cocoanut Grove (the owner’s spelling), whose sole exit became blocked. A total of 492 people di...

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Author

Ambrose Bierce

Keywords

History

History, n. an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools.

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Raising Special Needs Children & Stress

Author

Gillian Marchenko

Keywords

Disability

In her compelling memoir Still Life , author Gillian Marchenko recounts her struggles with depression. In this excerpt, Marchenko shares the challenge of raising special-needs children: My friend...

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Living In Peace and Forgiveness with our Neighbors

Author

Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice

Keywords

Sometimes, the Christian faith can be confounding to the outside world. Enemies can become friends, even to the point of caring for and protecting each other. In this short story from the small Africa...

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He is Coming: A Triumphal Entry

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:8-11, Luke 19:36-44, John 12:16-19

Just under 80 years ago, a crowd gathered on a humid August day to commence what was to be an unparalleled event for its time. Hundreds of thousands of spectators, police officers, and soldiers gather...

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The Story of Valentine’s Day

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

John 15:13, 1 John 4:10-11, Romans 12:10, Song of Solomon 8:6-7, Genesis 29:20, 1 Samuel 18:20

Valentine’s Day commemorates the date on which Valentine, a roman priest, was executed by order of Emperor Claudius II. Claudius II was embroiled in a number of wars and believed that married men mad...

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Times of Crisis: Reappraising and Rebuilding Lives

Author

Jared Diamond

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 34:18, Romans 12:15, John 11:35, Isaiah 61:3, 2 Corinthians 1:4, Lamentations 3:32

On November 28, 1942, a fire broke out and spread rapidly through an overcrowded Boston nightclub called Cocoanut Grove (the owner’s spelling), whose sole exit became blocked. A total of 492 people di...

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Author

Tertullian

Keywords

Christ, in disarming Peter, disarmed every soldier.

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For the Sake of the Medal

Author

Timothy Keller

Keywords

On a TV detective show some years ago I saw a story of an old man in his eighties, an ex-Marine, sadly broken down and accused of a crime. Two big, strapping military police and a snarling Navy lawyer...

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O Lord, we remember before you all the

Author

John Baillie

Keywords

O Lord, we remember before you all the workers of the world: Workers with hand or brain: Workers in cities or in the fields: Those who go forth to toil and those who keep house: Employers and employee...

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Chamberlain’s Charge

Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a professor of rhetoric at Bowdoin College when the Civil War broke out. In 1862, Chamberlain accepted a commission in the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the...

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Begging to Stay

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

During his time as commander in the Roman army, Caesar Augustus (who would become the first Roman Emperor) had to relieve a soldier from duty for bad behavior. The man begged to remain in military ser...

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You know all about us–our weakness, our

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, Romans 8:28, 2 Corinthians 12:9, 1 Peter 5:7, Isaiah 40:29, Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 34:18

You know all about us–our weakness, our failing, our sin; and you still love us enough to give your Son to redeem us. Hear the cries of our hearts today. There’s someone for whom it was hard to get ou...

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When Decisions have Fateful Consequences

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Joshua 1:5, Psalm 20:7, Isaiah 40:30-31, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, Hebrews 10:23; 13:5-6

The famous poem The Charge of the Light Brigade includes these haunting lines: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred… Someone had blundered. Theirs not to reason why, ...

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Author

Justin Martyr

Keywords

We ourselves were well conversant with war, murder and everything evil, but all of us throughout the whole wide earth have traded in our weapons of war. We have exchanged our swords for plowshares, ou...

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