Moral Excellence!

If you are numbered among the many who are searching for spiritual truth, do it with integrity. Study the words of Jesus and the life He lived. Imitate his moral excellence. As you begin to lead a life of moral excellence, your knowledge of God will increase.

A Prayer begins . . .

Our Father who is in heaven, may your name be honored. Who, but you, can help us live lives of moral excellence. Please, help us!

We highly recommend the books we've quoted. We are confident you will find them worthwhile. Buy the books. Read them. Share the wealth by loaning them to friends! We've made it easy to buy them from online Internet booksellers who served us well when we bought books through them. To buy, just Clickle the bookcover graphics, the titles, or the "Buy Now" links at the end of each quotation!

Two selected book quotations begin . . .

God's TLC

Kevin A. Miller, Secrets of Staying Power, Overcoming the Discouragements of Ministry, Copublished by Christianity Today, Inc. and Word, Inc. 1988, p. 199. This volume is part of The Leadership Library.  SoAmazing.com

Category: Christian Living
Keywords: secrets, staying power, minister, God, endured, cynical, hardened, truth, love, call, Christianity Today, Word, Inc. Miller, Kevin A. Miller

"Perhaps the most important secrets of staying power are the ones you can't see--the internal, hidden resources.

Ultimately, the minister called by God must be sustained by him. There may be periods when the people and things we had counted on for support fail us, turn against us, waste away. As David cried out from the dank recesses of a cave, 'Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life' (Ps. 142:4 [NIV]). But even at that moment we are not alone: 'I cry to you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living' '(v.5).

There is always one who cares for us.

The ministers who have endured, who have continued through the years without becoming cynical or hardened, have drawn deeply from what I call 'God's TLC'--his truth, his love, and his call."

SoAmazing Review: Secrets of Staying Power is a powerful resource for ministers, church staff and full-time Christian workers. It identifies the tough moments of ministry and provides answers.

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"This Church Saved Our Lives!"

Gilbert Bilezikian, Community 101, Zondervan Publishing House, 1997, pp. 184, 185. SoAmazing.com

Category: Christian Living
Keywords: church, starvation, death, bar, Jesus, Savior, welfare, hungry, garbage bins, depressed, die, Lord, groceries, children's clothes, money, strangers, car ministry, jobs, saved our lives, Zondervan Publishing House, Bilezikian, Gilbert Bilezikian

" 'This church saved us from starvation and sure death.' Intrigued by her statement, I asked her what she meant. In a flat monotone voice, without show of emotion, she told the following story:

'Somebody my husband met in a bar invited us to go to church with him and his wife. He said this church was different and that we would like it. We did. The children loved their programs. We began attending every week, and I received Jesus as my Savior. But a year and a half ago, my husband left me without warning and ran away with a woman he knew from work. He took the car and left us with two months' rent due on the apartment. The telephone had already been cut off. There was no money and almost no food. I was alone with two small kids.

'I went through a very hard time. I couldn't call anyone or go anywhere. I had never been on welfare before. I didn't even know who to talk to. Our neighbors went to work every day. The three of us sat alone in that empty building, crying all the time. Soon, we became hungry. The children were asking for food. I became sad and could do nothing. All that came in the mail was bills and letters from lawyers asking for money. It dawned on me that we might die. I was only hoping that the three of us would die at the same time.

'Then, a miracle happened. One evening, the buzzer rang. When I opened the door, an angel of the Lord was standing there. She came in, saw my predicament, and left. That same evening, some people came in and brought a beautiful hot meal. A man and his son brought bags of groceries and children's clothes. They said it was from the church's food pantry. Two people came with a little stack of twenty dollar bills and said the money was ours. I couldn't believe my eyes, for they were complete strangers to me.

The next day, the rent was paid and the phone reconnected. Two ladies came in, put a set of keys on the table, and said there was a car parked outside that was provided by the car ministry of the church and that it was mine. In the following days, they arranged for child care and gave me leads so I could look for a job. I did find a job, and now we're standing on our own feet. I know we're going to make it. You see, Dr. B., this church saved our lives.' "

SoAmazing Review: In Community 101 Bilezikian casts a vision of what a fully functioning Christian community looks like. The church, functioning as it ought, spreading God's good news and living selflessly in love, is the hope of the world.

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