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Thursday, November 24, 2022

Thanks Illustration

 Illustrations About Blank


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Give Thanks!



Be Thankful!

"Thanksgiving"




Church Songs?

#Thanks
#Thanksgiving
#Gratitude

#Scripture

You Think About it!
Kevin Rayner




Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Together Illustrations

Illustrations About Blank






Church Songs?

#Hashtags?

#Scripture

You Think About it!
Kevin Rayner




Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Greatness Illustrations

Illustrations About Blank


Only God Is Great
In 1715 King Louis XIV of France died after a reign of 72 years. He had called himself “the Great,” and was the monarch who made the famous statement, “I am the state!” His court was the most magnificent in Europe, and his funeral was equally spectacular. As his body lay in state in a golden coffin, orders were given that the cathedral should be very dimly lit with only a special candle set above his coffin, to dramatize his greatness. At the memorial, thousands waited in hushed silence. Then Bishop Massilon began to speak; slowly reaching down, he snuffed out the candle and said, “Only God is great.”

Today in the Word, April, 1989, p. 24.






Church Songs?

#Hashtags?

#Scripture

You Think About it!
Kevin Rayner




Thursday, December 08, 2022

Counter Culture Illustrations

Devotional Thoughts and Teaching Illustrations About Blank

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Video

Following Jesus in an Urban Community with Jovan Payes
Apr 23, 2025  Radically Christian Podcast = In this episode of the Radically Christian Bible Study Podcast, Wes McAdams talks with Jovan Payes about what it means to be a follower of Jesus in an urban context. The conversation explores how urban and rural Christians often misunderstand one another, and how Christians in cities navigate cultural complexity, injustice, and the call to be peacemakers in a densely populated and diverse environment. Jovan shares insights from his own experience growing up in San Francisco and working in ministry.
Wes and Jovan discuss biblical concepts like cultural humility, justice, and love, emphasizing that sin is everywhere—urban or rural—but cities offer unique challenges and opportunities. Jovan challenges the assumption that cities are less spiritual than rural areas, reminding listeners that Christianity was born in urban settings. They dig into passages like Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 9, and Ephesians 2 to highlight how the gospel calls people to empathy, adaptability, and sacrificial living. 
Jovan Payes is a longtime minister with roots in gang life who came to Christ at 16. He has spent over a decade in ministry in Bakersfield, California, and is now preparing to serve as Dean of Students at Faulkner University. He brings a perspective shaped by cultural diversity, street-level ministry, and a deep love for God's mission in the city.
Resources:
The Urban Christian by Wayne Meeks
The Universe Next Door by James W. Sire



Church Songs?

#Culture
#Cultured
#Uncultured

#Scripture
Acts 18:24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent and cultured man, and well-versed in the [Hebrew] Scriptures.
Romans 1:14 I have a duty to perform and a debt to pay both to Greeks and to barbarians [the cultured and the uncultured], both to the wise and to the foolish.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.



You Think About it!
Kevin Rayner




Sunday, August 22, 2021

Email Updates

Blogger is no longer sending email updates, so if you would like to get the updates. If you would like to get email updates, please go to my google group at

https://groups.google.com/g/parable

or to subscribe from this link and start receiving emails, send a blank email to  parable+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Also, some posts on Facebook at

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Wednesday, January 04, 2023

Appearance

Devotional Thoughts and Teaching Illustrations About Blank

    There is a story of a blind man's seeing-eye dog leading him across the street. The seeing-eye dog came to the intersection; instead of waiting for the light to change, he began to lead his owner across the street. Cars had to come to a screeching halt and some had to run up on the curb to avoid hitting the man and his dog. Luckily the man made it across the street without getting hurt. After he had gotten to the other side, the man reached into his pocket and got a dog biscuit for the dog. A bystander who had seen the whole thing came running up to the man. The bystander said "Wait, you don't understand; your dog almost got you killed. He doesn't deserve a treat." The blind man said, "You don't understand I am giving him the treat so I can find where he is so I can kick him."
   Things are not always as they appear. If we would take the time to see things from other people's perspective, a lot of arguments and disagreements would never happen, in Philippians, the 2nd chapter, we are told not to look out just for our own interests, but to also look at the interest of others. We would all benefit from taking the time to see things through other people's eyes.
Philippians 2:1-4

Beautiful People
Men in Midlife Crisis, Jim Conway, p. 84
Joyce Brothers, a well-known and popular psychologist, points out in Better than Ever that “beautiful people have beautiful personalities …We consistently judge them to be more sensitive, kind, intelligent, interesting, sociable, and exciting than less attractive people.” Dr. Brothers goes on to speak of a study made in a school among kindergartners and teachers regarding the people to whom they were most often attracted: “They (the children) picked the most attractive children as their favorites. Their teachers did likewise, and considered the less attractive children more likely to be troublemakers.” She continues, “When we grow up, for both men and women, higher salary levels and greater advancement have a high correlation with pleasant looks, at all ages and in all fields.”


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Video


Church Songs?

#Appearance
#Appear
#Appeared
#Appearing
#Appears
#Display
#Show
#Disappearance

#Scripture
1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
Proverbs 31:30 ESV Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
John 7:24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
Luke 9:29 (NLT) And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white.
Matthew 17:2 (NLT) As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.
Mark 9:2 (NLT) Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed,
Titus 2:13 as we wait for the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior, Jesus the Messiah.
James 1:11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and dries up the grass; its flower falls off, and its beautiful appearance is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will wither away while pursuing his activities.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree produced good food, was attractive in appearance, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. Then she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate some, too.
Matthew 3:1 About this time John the Baptist made his appearance, preaching in the Desert of Judaea.

Appearance
    God is not impressed by someone’s appearance (1 Samuel 16:7)
    Physical beauty fades (Proverbs 31:30)
    Do not worry about clothes (Matthew 6:25–34)
    Appearances can be deceiving (Matthew 23:27)
    Christians should care more about their spiritual welfare than their physical appearance (1 Timothy 2:9–10)
    Do not judge others by their appearance (James 2:2–4)
    Inner beauty is more important than physical beauty (1 Peter 3:1–6)



You Think About it!
Kevin Rayner