“My ears are plugged. I don’t want to hear your side of the story. My mind is made up. Please don’t try to reason with me. I won’t budge an inch. I have no intentions of modifying my position or changing my perspective. When I make up my mind, I dig in my heels. I’m not a waffler. I stand firm – I’ve got a spine. I’m no jellyfish. I don’t care what anybody says – don’t try to dazzle me with verses or what other Godly saints have taught. My Bible tells me this and I am sticking with it! Frankly, I’m not interested in other perspectives and yes, you can call me close minded. I don’t care. I know what this verse means so that’s the end of the discussion!”

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Is it one of those weeks when things seem too tangled and knotted to untie? Problems too big to solve. A load too heavy to bear. Fear is sapping all your energy and it can only get worse – you fear. This is the big one and you’re just about finished. You’d like to rest in the knowledge that with the Lord all things are possible – and that nothing is too difficult for the Lord to do but you can’t rest. You’re having panic flashes, moments when your heart chokingly jumps to your throat. The knot in your stomach is causing you pain and you can see no way out of this one!

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What’s the tolerance level for smut, dirt, and filth in my life? Zero tolerance!
Paul sent these words to the believers in Ephesus:


What does the word ‘fornication’ mean in this context? It refers to any form of sexual immorality. Today’s term ‘pornography’ is closely related to the Greek word here for fornication – porneia. What about uncleanness? Any moral uncleanness or dirtiness acted out alone or with another – impurity of any kind whether in our thoughts, words or in our actions.

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Sometimes we say: “Lord, Lord!” and we sound really good. But there’s very little evidence that Christ is reigning upon the throne of my heart. Is He really the Lord of my life or do I just feel better when I call Him that? Do I call Him “Lord” and continue on with my life as I want to live it? Enjoying the things that give me a rush; pursuing the goals that appeal to me; and making choices that make sense to me. What ‘say’ does the LORD really have in my life?

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Some people have a phobia about islands. They feel trapped – surrounded by water. Confined. Cut-off. Stranded. We live on an island that is only 224 kilometers long but do I feel cut off? Not at all! The North American continent was connected to Prince Edward Island in the 1990’s by the world’s longest bridge over ice-covered waters. We can come and go as we wish. But Patmos was different.

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Okay – no gloating allowed. So you know all the alphabet letters in their proper order. Which consonant doesn’t have a real vowel or another consonant after it? Sorry - maybe that was a little on the tough side. If an argument erupted in a Toy store over the number of alphabet letters, would you be able to put your hands on your hips and say authoritatively: “Look you two scrappers – I’ll settle this once for all. The exact number is 27! We learned that in kindergarten!”

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Perhaps you’re feeling useless and embarrassed. A dark cloud is hanging over you and you can’t see even a single ray of light. The future seems bleak. And Satan whispers: “You’re right. You ARE a failure! Give up while you’re ahead. You’ve blown it so badly you could never be useful to God. You’re up and down like a yo-yo – forget it. Hot one minute and cold the next! On one week and off the next. Don’t embarrass yourself again.”

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If you work for a university, arts and culture center, a health institution or a humanitarian aid society you will be very familiar with the word philanthropist. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Bono from U2, are currently in the news as high profile, world-class philanthropists. In a previous generation the Kellogg family and the Rockefellers were known around the world for their generosity towards humanity. Quietly, behind the scenes, there are many other philanthropists who give millions to worthy causes but do not want their names to be publicized. These people too are known as philanthropists – they love fellow man so much they are willing to part with their property and possessions for the betterment of society.

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To a great degree we have become insensitive to sin. We don’t lose our breath when someone next to us says a swear word. We aren’t shocked when friends talk about their weekend partying escapades. We aren’t sick to our stomach when an unmarried co-worker becomes pregnant. We aren’t horrified when we learn a friend has won $250,000 in a lottery draw. We aren’t repulsed when someone tells us they sold their car without telling the buyer it needed a motor job. Those who justify watching secular movies hardly notice when an actor exclaims: “Oh my God!” When the scene is obviously leading up to a sexual encounter in a bedroom the movie is not instantly shut down in disgust. “Why should it be? It never showed an explicit sex scene. Wasn’t it just suggestive – there was only partial nudity involved.” Our minds have been so warped by sin that we think it’s okay for someone to hint at sin. We think it’s clean if the picture doesn’t go all the way.

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