faith | Got Potential?

When a Child Dies

Steve S. — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:18:54 +0000

I like to think I’m pretty good with words, but a few times in my life I’ve been speechless. At those moments anything I could have thought to say would have been less than required. Words of advice or comfort or empathy would have been wooden and miserably weak. There wasn’t a thing I could […]

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Everybody loves the Promised Land but nobody likes the trip

Steve S. — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:52:19 +0000

â€œThe vision is always a fact. It is the reality that is often a fraud.â€ (G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy) Iâ€™ve been to Israel a half dozen times in the last few years. Youâ€™d think it would get old after so many visits â€¦ it doesnâ€™t. Thereâ€™s something about Israel, the Promised Land, thatâ€™s different from any […]

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One Oil Drum at a Time

Steve S. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:22:41 +0000

â€œIn your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed.â€ (Exodus 15:13) I once heard a story about two young men who made a goal of riding through the Sahara Desert on motorcycles. There arenâ€™t a lot of street signs in the Sahara and this was long before the days of GPS devices. […]

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Cracks in the Sidewalk

Steve S. — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:07:49 +0000

By Jenny Lou Jones During my elementary years, I walked home after school.Â Â Well, it was more like I lollygagged and meandered, especially down the big hill that ended at my house.Â That last perilous slope was littered with cracks in the sidewalk that I had to avoid to keep my motherâ€™s back intact.Â Where […]

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Forget About Tithing

Steve S. — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:10:37 +0000

â€œWoe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spicesâ€”mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the lawâ€”justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow […]

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Light Shines Better in the Dark

Steve S. — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:03:25 +0000

Thriving in Tough Times Part 10 â€œFor the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.â€ (James 1:11) Thereâ€™s nothing pleasant about tough times. Employment is better than unemployment. […]

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Thriving in Tough Times Part 7

Steve S. — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:48:55 +0000

Tempering Your Faith in World Systems â€œWhat he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spiderâ€™s web.â€ (Job 8:14) I was eating lunch at a restaurant in Orlando one summer day a few years back when a thunderstorm knocked out the electricity. Power outages from lightning arenâ€™t uncommon in the Southeast in […]

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How to Walk on Water

Steve S. — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:35:57 +0000

“‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘Tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said.” (Matthew 14:28-29) You’ve got to admit, walking on water is a pretty neat trick. Only two people in history are reported to have done it and one of them was the Son of God. Peter, Jesus’ disciple, […]

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Living in Two Kingdoms

Steve S. — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:25:12 +0000

I don’t always believe God is real. Kind of shocking, isn’t it? But let me present the evidence. If I believed God was real, I’d believe in what His Son said. I’d take it to heart. I wouldn’t doubt it. I’d have what we â€˜believers’ call â€˜faith’. Not believing God is real is more common […]

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“Would You Condemn Me to Justify Yourself?”

Steve S. — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:34:33 +0000

“â€˜Would you discredit my justice?Â Would you condemn me to justify yourself.'” (Job 40:8) I received a sad comment this weekend. It was a response to a Purpose Weekly letter “Has God Forsaken You?” You can read the letter and the comment (feel free to comment yourself) at: https://gotpotential.org/gods-purpose/has-god-forsaken-you. Here’s the comment from John: Bull____. […]

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I Will Lift Up My Eyes to the Hills

Steve S. — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:32:26 +0000

“Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” (Psalm 90:2) I took advantage of the relative quiet over the last two weeks of holiday to finish pre-press edits for the North American edition of Unlocking the Bible by David Pawson. It’s a […]

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Past, Present, Future

Steve S. — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:30:13 +0000

“And the Scriptures also say, â€˜He is the Stone that some will stumble over and the Rock that will make them fall.’ They will stumble because they will not listen to God’s word, nor obey it, and so this punishment must follow – that they will fall. But you are not like that, for you […]

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Widow’s Mite – A Christmas Story (part 2)

Steve S. — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:18:09 +0000

Saturday morning came and Cora Lee’s chickens never entered my mind.Â Christmas was just three days away and I had a hundred last minute chores still undone.Â Sunday morning Ray asked the congregation to remember Cora Lee in prayer. She had slipped into a coma on Wednesday night. When Ray mentioned Cora’s name Elaine and […]

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Widows Mite – A Christmas Story (part 1)

Steve S. — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:16:59 +0000

“And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain ï»¿ poor widow putting in two mites. ï»¿So He said, â€˜Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all …'” (Luke 21: 1-3) Terry Creek church is perched on […]

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The Path of God

Steve S. — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:12:59 +0000

“Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths;” (Psalm 25:4) One of my favorite movie scenes comes from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” It’s where Indy discovers the cave where the Holy Grail is supposed to be, but he’s separated from the chamber holding the Grail by impassable abyss. His guide book […]

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You canâ€™t make a Horse out of Horse Manure

Steve S. — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:11:36 +0000

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” (I Corinthians 1:25) Purpose Weekly is a success newsletter. I know it doesn’t always appear that way. Sometimes it’s kind of preachy – talking about spiritual stuff more than practical success. Yeah, I know that […]

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John Brown’s Faith

Steve S. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:05:47 +0000

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” (Hebrews 11:1-2) Last week we learned that faith – believing in God – is a lot more than holding some concept in our minds as true. Faith requires action. […]

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Responding to God

Steve S. — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:19:39 +0000

“But someone will say, â€˜You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I’ll show you my faith by what I do.” (James 2:18) Last week we talked about responding to God. Really that’s all we can do. We can’t act on God first, that He may respond to us. He […]

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Doing Church 24/7

Steve S. — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:10:27 +0000

“And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?” (Luke 18:7) I visited a place called International House of Prayer in Kansas City last week. IHOP for short … yeah, like the pancake house, everybody gets the joke. Here’s the interesting thing […]

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THE SHACK, PART II

Steve S. — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:28:59 +0000

â€œIf I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I […]

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Just Another Brick in the Wall

Steve S. — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:25:00 +0000

â€œYou, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before Godâ€™s judgment seat. It is written: â€˜As surely as I live,â€™ says the Lord, â€˜every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.â€™ So then, each of us will […]

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Is ‘Church’ a Dirty Word? Part 4

Steve S. — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:59:00 +0000

â€œJesus replied, â€˜Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.â€ (Matthew 16:17-18) Purpose Weekly Vol. […]

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Is ‘Church’ a Dirty Word? Part 3

Steve S. — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:08:00 +0000

Purpose Vol. 2 Issue 22 June 3, 2008 The Weekly Newsletter of True Potential Publishing Is â€œChurchâ€ a Dirty Word? Part III I may have opened a can of worms by bringing up the definition of â€œchurch.â€ At this point in Christian history weâ€™ve been so ingrained with our concept of what â€œchurchâ€ is, it […]

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Courage Part 3

Steve S. — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:51:00 +0000

Purpose Vol. 2 Issue 18 May 2, 2008 The Weekly Newsletter of True Potential Publishing Courage Part 3 â€œIn those days Israel had no king; every one did as he saw fit.â€ (Judges 17:6) â€œWe have met the enemy, and he is usâ€ – Pogo Weâ€™re going to hang with the Judges for one more […]

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Courage Part 2

Steve S. — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:41:00 +0000

â€œLet me die with the Philistines!â€ (Judges16:30) Purpose Vol. 2 Issue 17 The Weekly Newsletter of True Potential Publishing Courage Part II What Makes a Hero? Remember last week? Gideon fought the bad guys, the Midianites, and won. He was a Judge, remember? There was another Judge in old Israel, a few Judges down from […]

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