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The goal of this podcast is always to give simple messages of hope and encouragement. My reward is simply knowing that God can use this podcast to touch the lives of people I may never meet.I have no way of knowing who is listening nor is that important. However I know that it is possible for the P.E.M. podcast to be heard anywhere that the internet can go. For this reason I wish to ask a favor of you. If you have listened to the podcast would you please let me know where you are listening f ...
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Open Journal is a weekly Magazine of all things going on in the Houston Community. Open Journal is hosted by Duane Bradley and Stephanie Coleman every Monday evening from 6-7pm broadcasting live on 90.1 KPFT-FM. The Open Journal Podcast includes Conversations with the interesting people who make up the diverse city of Houston Texas.
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Dead Last Week Jairus stood by her bed watching as she slept. His heart was so happy it almost hurt. At twelve, she was still a little girl yet so close to being a young woman. Also at twelve, he had almost lost her. He listened to her breathing as she slept and saw a sweet smile on her beautiful face. He closed his eyes and whispered a prayer of t…
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Trust The other night, we ordered takeout from a local restaurant. When I arrived to pick it up, the order wasn't quite ready, so I had to wait a few minutes. As I stood waiting, I could see the kitchen area and watched the cooks prepare the meals. Seeing how the food was handled made me wonder about their cleanliness and hygiene. Despite my concer…
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Everybody is a Nobody Who Can Be Somebody In Mark Chapter 5, there is a story about a woman who was a nobody. We don’t even know her name. If we had been there on this day, she would not have been in our field of vision. Seeing her would have made us uncomfortable, so we would have chosen not to see her. If we had seen her, we would have assumed he…
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That's What Daddies Do Daddies fix things. They fix flat bicycle tires, start stubborn lawnmowers, repair leaky commodes, troubleshoot washing machines, and get swings swinging again. Most of the time, they may not know exactly what they're doing, but they always do their best because that's what daddies do - they fix things. My daughter called me …
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Memories I remember Gin Creek. I assume it was named Gin Creek because at some point in time and someplace in its travel it must have powered a cotton gin. I remember a smooth path alongside this creek where I would walk. I remember crawfish running backward and minnows threading the quick current. Long before cell phones and computers, there were …
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Memorial Day 3,000,000. If Google is correct, this is the approximate number of American Soldiers who have died in service to this great country. These are the ones we honor on Memorial Day. Now this may shock you, but listen carefully. The sacrifices of these great heroes were not made in defense of our freedoms. In their Oath of Enlistment, every…
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Call Your Mama Among the last items of business that Jesus took care of, even as He hung on the cross, was to make sure that His mother would be cared for. His mother’s life was turned upside down at His birth. She was there while He grew, changing His diapers and kissing His skinned knees. She worried when He was left behind in the temple and trie…
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How magnificent is the Power and Authority of the Lord my God! His shining glory illuminates the highest heaven. From the mouth of children, He ordains strength. A bloodthirsty fool may rise against Him, but He destroys the enemy with vengeance. On a blustery day, I hear the wind howl and watch the tree sway back and forth. When the sun goes down, …
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A Call for Kindness I am committed to treating everyone with kindness, regardless of their background or lifestyle. I believe that good manners can revolutionize society, and as such, I will always use polite language when speaking to others. Even if I don’t agree with their views, I will use words like "yes sir," "no sir," "please," "thank you," a…
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The Last Star It is early. The sky is clear. The night is fading as the darkness gives way to the rising sun. There is one last pinpoint of light in the southeastern sky. Is it a stubborn star or a distant planet? I don’t know. But I do know that as the sun rises it will disappear. God has appointed the moon and stars the task of being lights in a …
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This Old House On April 16, 1978, Deborah and I were married. In 1979 we purchased a house and it has been our home ever since. In this house we have laughed and cried, fought and made up, celebrated and mourned. This is where we live. In this house, we raised our family, and every inch of it is coated with memories. It is our home, but it is not u…
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A Tale of Two Men In the fourteenth chapter of The Gospel of Mark, we find the story of two men who betrayed Jesus. One of these men betrayed Him for money, and the other one was afraid. One of these men betrayed Jesus with a kiss, and the other one denied Him with an oath. The first one had maliciously schemed to sell Jesus and the second one had …
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The Tomb Was Not Empty In none of the Gospels are we told that the borrowed tomb of Jesus was empty. If someone had stolen the body of Christ, the tomb would have been empty. If the body of Jesus had been left to rot, the tomb would have been worse than empty. If the tomb had been empty, then Christ would not have risen and we would be most miserab…
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Triumphant “A great multitude, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ The King of Israel!” John 12:12 Most triumphal parades are for the benefit of those who understand them the least. This one included. Most o…
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Preacher Jack’s Kids Their age is around the half-century mark. They were raised in a small country church called Falling Creek. Some are in heaven today, but most are still making their mark on the world. They are a small but highly privileged group. They were and are Preacher Jack's Kids. During the Sunday morning worship service right after the …
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Time Ain't on Our Side Time slips away. How often do we look at the clock and say, oh no, I'm late.? How often do we wish that we could manage our time better? But then, who can manage time? Like a great threshing machine, time is mowing down the days of our lives. Time marches on and it has no concern for our plans or desires. No, we cannot manage…
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God Still Says, “It is Good” In the first chapter of the Bible, we read about the creation story. It is a simple yet magnificent record of God, who came from nowhere, stood on nothing, and spoke everything into existence by the power of His Word. After creating everything, God created rest. On the day of rest, He looked around at all things and sai…
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There is No Fear in Love The Bible says; "There is no fear in love; for perfect love cast out fear, --- he who fears has not been made perfect in love." The words, “There is no fear in love” may conjure up images of white doves fluttering away in the sunset while violins play in the background. But really, what does this verse mean? How is it possi…
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Valentine’s Day February 14th is Valentine’s Day. It is a day of celebrating the romantic love between men and women. It is also a day when Jared, Hallmark, and FTD Flowers celebrate an increase in their revenue. I do not think many people know the real story behind all the candy, flowers, and heart-shaped cards. While it is good that we celebrate …
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But God Did It was Friday morning. The last day of Vacation Bible School. On this day, before we could eat our cookies and drink our Kool-Aid, we had to listen to the Preacher. Pastor Suttles talked about how much God loved us. He asked us to trust Jesus and give our lives to Him. That day I decided to follow Jesus. I asked Him to save me. I was on…
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He Is Enough Last night before I went to bed, I stood in my front yard looking up at the sky. It was a clear night. As always, the stars were beautiful and awe-inspiring. Now, I have a limited knowledge of the science of the stars. I know a little bit about light years, galaxies, and solar systems. However, I often imagine the stars I see are pinpr…
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Do The Right Thing “Today is the sum total of all your yesterdays and today is the common denominator of all your tomorrows. What you are today is a result of all your past decisions. The things you said or did not say, the things you did or did not do have shaped your life today. Everything you have seen or heard and everywhere you have been or re…
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The Door The door separated the waiting room from the examination area of the doctor's office. As he stood there looking out, there was a look of confusion on his face. She saw him standing there and her heart broke. Wise, gentle, and strong, she had always leaned on this man. But now, fear was on his face. A nurse spoke to her and said, “The docto…
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The Speed of Yesterday At five years old, the days seemed to crawl by. He didn't think Christmas would ever get here. As a seventeen-year-old senior, he couldn't wait for graduation. At twenty-two, she said yes, but the year-long engagement seemed to last forever. In his twenty-fifth year, the nine months he waited to meet his baby was interminable…
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There Will Be Hope Except for using it as a marketing scheme, the world hates Christmas. Why? Because Christmas represents hope. Hope, the national news media will misreport it, the entertainment industry will misrepresent it, and politicians will attempt to misappropriate it. But there was, there is and there will always be hope. God has promised …
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Peace on Earth The soldier has a few hours of downtime. He spends this time cleaning his weapons and checking his equipment. Christmas is coming. From his pocket, he pulls a picture of his family. He kisses his finger and touches his wife’s face. With a smile, he thinks about how excited his children will be on Christmas morning. He wishes he could…
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The Sound of Christmas When God delivered His final message through Malachi, (who wrote the last book of the Old Testament), He stopped communicating with man for nearly 400 years. It was a deafening silence in divine revelation. After 400 years God broke His silence by sending angels to speak to Zacharias, Mary, and Joseph. The angels brought this…
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Joseph His name was Joseph. His calling was the most important task ever given to a man. Joseph was chosen to be the earthly daddy to the Son of God. He could have rejected this responsibility but He didn’t. Instead, Joseph chose to be the daddy he didn’t have to be. If I asked you to tell me what Joseph said, you couldn’t do it. None of his words …
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Walking after the Will of God A carpenter goes to the wood yard to buy lumber. Because He has a reputation as an expert craftsman, he chooses his material carefully. Turning each board, he examines it from every side. It is important to him to choose boards that ideally suit the project that he is working on. Jesus is the Master Carpenter; He is wo…
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Many years ago, Rich Mullins declared in a song “Our God Is an Awesome God.” Today I will affirm that statement. The rising sun has not cleared the trees yet but a shaft of light has broken through. Like an ambassador of the day, it paints a portion of the tree in my yard with a golden slash. It is a beautiful clear morning. From eight miles away I…
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My Own Stupid Fault I have a food allergy. I won't go into detail but certain foods make me sick. There is no guessing about it. I know what I can and cannot eat. But last night I tried to cheat. I ate something I knew I shouldn’t. I rationalized that it wouldn't hurt me because it was just a little bit. Wrong!! For the next twelve hours, I was mis…
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Ninety-nine sheep are safe. Only one is missing. Outside it is cold and dark. The wolves are howling. It is dangerous to go out. Some shepherds would say, “Ninety-nine are safe, so I won’t concern myself with the one that is lost.” But not the Good Shepherd. He knows His sheep by name and His heart trembles for the one that is lost. Listen to this …
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I was twelve years old and it was the opening day of deer season. It was still dark. The sun would not even think about rising for another thirty minutes. Daddy shined his flashlight on the boards nailed into the tree as I climbed up to the deer-stand. He watched as I got settled in then handed my new Winchester 30-30 up to me. Before he walked to …
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No one has time to listen, that is no one but God! Yes, God in Heaven is leaning forward on His throne to listen to me. The Bible tells me that before I even speak God hears and answers my prayers. He promises that if I call out to Him, He will hear and show me things that are beyond my imagination. When I ask for something, He gives it. When I am …
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If you are a child of God, He has a calling for you. But His purpose for your life does not depend on what you have or don’t have. Sometimes people resist God’s calling because they are afraid, uneducated, or don’t have enough money. However, God can turn poverty into plenty, fear into strategy, and a limited education into wisdom. Place your confi…
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Sometimes we forget that God is sovereign. In our arrogance, we think that even God can be tamed. Here is the problem. We want God to suit us. We try to put a bridle in His mouth and turn His head to please us. We end our prayers with, “In the Name of Jesus, Amen” thinking that God can be manipulated. But you need to know, God is untamable. This de…
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In the process of life, sometimes we all get broken. And sometimes we don’t even know that we are broken. When God begins the process of fixing us, we don’t understand why we are suffering. So, we cry out to Him for mercy. The truth is when God is grinding, cutting, welding, and hammering on us, He is being the most merciful to us. He is fixing us …
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God dearly loves His children and that is why He chose us and set us apart. So, no one should ever be surprised by the kindness of a child of God. It is faith in Jesus that has saved us. We are commanded to add goodness, self-control, godliness, and brotherly kindness to this faith. With a gentle word, we can turn away anger. With a good word, we c…
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When I think about the Goodness of my God I am overwhelmed with joy. I have to lift my voice and my hands to Heaven. And I often wonder why other people don’t do the same thing. You see, I am happy that I serve The Lord. When I am in His presence, I can’t help but sing. And even though my voice is not very good, the noise I make is full of joy.…
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The Great Engineer of the universe tells us in Genesis Chapter 8 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.” When I go to gather my tomatoes and have to wipe the sweat from my face, I will give glory to God because the sweat on my brow is a testimony that His promises wil…
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The powers that be hate it when people get along. They know that people who get along cannot be controlled by evil people. So let us make their lives miserable. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Lift each other in prayer. We can glorify God with our actions and make the world better with our smiles. Be like Jesus and say, I Love People.…
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God is a master at bringing beauty from ashes and joy from suffering. In Romans 8:18 we are promised that “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Yes, droughts and fires may be worrisome and smoke and haze may cause us pain and suffering. But look at that sunset!…
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In the Bible, God tells us to “Be still and know that I am God.” These days, wickedness abounds and evil is celebrated. So now, more than ever, we need to humbly bow our heads and experience His unmistakable sovereignty. At night the whippoorwill declares that God is good. In the morning the birds awaken to sing to the glory of the Righteous King. …
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A rich young man once asks Jesus how he could enter Heaven. Jesus told him to sell all he had, give away the proceeds, and follow Him. Sadly, the young man missed Heaven because he could not turn loose of his stuff. Does this mean that riches and wealth are evil? No! It means that we must understand that all we have comes from God. If you love your…
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the love of God and the wrath of God are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other. In almost every book in the Bible, we read commands and admonitions to fear God. Throughout the Bible all the people that God used had one characteristic in common, they all feared God. The righteous people that I have known in my lifetime we…
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Church attendance is down all over the country. And many churches struggle to keep their doors open. Why is that? I believe it is because most Christians don't want to offend anyone. They are unwilling to stand up for Jesus. When Christ is not lifted up, no one is drawn to Him. Therefore, churches all around are dwindling away.Will you be the reaso…
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Strong is the heart of a daddy. The heavy-duty heart of a daddy has been crushed, broken, stretched, and swollen. It has soared like an eagle and yet stooped to a child's eye level. This great heart can roar like a lion and purr like a kitten. For the sake of his children, he will stand up and fight the fiercest enemy or kneel in prayer to the Holy…
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This is a retelling of the story of The Prodigal Son. But in this story, the emphasis is on the older brother. Don't let a hard heart become so cold and calloused that the embers of love cannot be rekindled.By Douglas Huff
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The promises of God are as sure as the air we breathe. And like the air we breathe, the promises of God are necessary for our very existence. However, while breathing air is involuntary, claiming the promises of God is not.Listen to this podcast to hear more about the Promises of GodBy Douglas Huff
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In Luke chapter 17, the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith. Jesus then told them that they could do great things if they had even a tiny bit of faith. Wow, that is a tremendous promise. That is what most of us want.Listen to this podcast to hear more about how God uses faithful people.By Douglas Huff
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