Author: cheez
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Help Your Pastor “To Remember the Sabbath”
As a Lutheran, I grew up memorizing Luther’s Small Catechism, including Luther’s explanation to the commandment “to remember the Sabbath.” We are to fear and love God, so that we do not despite preaching or God’s word, but instead keep that word holy and gladly hear and learn it. (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 1160) “The…
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Make A Difference For One Family—Yours
Everyone wants to make a difference in this life. Yet, amazingly, we pass up so many opportunities that come our way to do so. The following sermon illustration is so good—and has been used so often—it is hard to imagine that some pastors out there have never heard or never used this illustration in one…
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Introducing The Non-Simultaneous Home Exchange
Eight-year-old Caleb and his cousin, seven-year-old Drew, had a wonderful time during their family vacation in Larvik, Norway. Both agree that their favorite memory was playing with the children who lived next door to the home where their family did a home exchange arranged through Christian Home Exchange. These two boys from Florida did not…
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Who’s Been Sleeping In My Bed?
Recently, I was telling a friend how much I enjoy home exchanges. I was hoping to convince her. I was shocked by her comeback. She said, “I don’t think I could sleep in someone else’s bed or have someone sleep in my bed.” Really? Immediately, I realized that I could talk for hours trying to…
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Every Christian A Missionary
Reality is not always my friend. I know what I want to do, but I can’t always do it. At the end of our seminary years, my husband and I felt the call to consider mission work. We attended a few informational meetings–and then backed out. At the time, our children were 6 months, 18…
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Take Time To Review The Big Picture
Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Every once in a while, it’s a pretty good idea to stand back and look at ourselves, who we are, what we are doing, where we are going. Living is a lot like painting a mural. You have to stand back once in a while…
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It’s Time To Get Out Of Town
You know the definition of “insanity,” right? Doing things the same old way and expecting different results. Sometimes we defend our insanity by insisting that we are victims. Now, that is perhaps the worst kind of “insane rut” we can live. In fact, some would say this way of living barely qualifies as “existence,” much…
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The Sabbath In Sabbatical
“Remember the Sabbath (day) to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8) Most people probably think of “the Sabbath” as one day of the week—”the Sabbath day.” But the biblical idea of a “Sabbath” in not limited to just a day. A ministry sabbatical is a pastor and a congregation keeping God’s commandment. Clergy (who often have…
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Vacation Home Exchanges Offer Flexibility
Some people own more than one home—their primary residence and a vacation home. This provides for a variety of interesting possibilities when arranging for a home exchange. Most often a vacation home—or second home—is intended for weekend getaways and as a vacation destination. When planning your next home exchange, keep in mind that “peak season”…
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Ministry Sabbaticals 101
At Christian Home Exchange, we believe that the world will be a better place once pastors and all Christians take seriously the word, “Go,” as in “Go, therefore …” (Matthew 28:19). Many refer to the world these days as the Global Village, but it seems to me that most of us are just sitting around…