Sword of the Spirit

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Max Lucado's Boat
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Max Lucados Boat

• "Well, the best I can figure it, the
  situation looks something like this. God has
  enlisted us into his navy. We have been called to
  serve on a ship...Some of us are called to man
  the cannons of praise and prayer. Others of us
  are diligently searching the sea for those who
  are lost on the sea. Still others are dedicated
  to the feeding and leading of the crew.

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Max Lucados Boat

• I dont know if youve noticed it or not,
  but not everybody on this ship is just like you.
  If youve been aboard this vessel very long,
  youve poked around in enough corners and in
  enough decks to find that not everybody thinks
  the way you think. Not everybody dresses the way
  you dress. Not everybody acts the way you act.
  And perhaps youve gotten up enough courage to
  approach someone and say, why are you do
  different? And their response was, I was just
  about to ask the same of you.

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Max Lucados Boat

• And oh, how we tend to cluster on this
  ship. Oh, how we tend to find people who think
  like we think and enjoy their presence. There are
  varying opinions on this ship. There is a group
  of people aboard this ship who think that true
  spirituality is measured out in what you do and
  how you work and are diligent in prayer and
  solemn in expression. For that reason, they tend
  to congregate around the part of the ship known
  as the stern. There are still others who are very
  opinionated regarding the type of prayer. They
  feel that prayer is experienced truly on your
  knees. So they enjoy being around the bow.

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Max Lucados Boat

• There are those aboard this ship who say
  once you get on it, youre never able to get off
  no matter what you do. And then there are others
  who say to get off would be foolish and fatal,
  but the choice is always yours. There are those,
  I have noticed, on this ship who say you are here
  out of no choice of your own, you were
  predestined to be a sailor not everyone was, but
  you were. And then there are those who say, no,
  God is a God of choice and he would only leave
  that choice with us.

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Max Lucados Boat

• There are those who say that before this
  ship docks, there will be a great and mighty
  tribulation. There are those who say, yes, there
  will be a great and mighty tribulation, but that
  will come after this ship safely reaches the
  shore. And, oh, how we tend to cluster.

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Max Lucados Boat

• And then there is the matter of the weekly
  meeting in which we gather to read the words of
  the captain and give thanks to him. We all agree
  that it is necessary, but thats about the extent
  of our agreement. There are those who say it
  should be solemn there are those who say it
  should be spontaneous. There are those who say
  certain genders should be quiet there are those
  who say certain genders should be loud. There are
  those who say we should play the trumpet and then
  there are those who say, no, my voice is simply
  trumpet enough. And, oh, how we tend to cluster."
  
• - Max Lucado, Pepperdine University Lectures, 1995

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Unity in Diversity

• Hate Error
• Psa. 119104, 128
• Rev. 26, 14-15

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Unity in Diversity

• No Other Doctrine
• Gal. 18-9
• 1 Tim. 13
• 2 Jn. 9-10

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Unity in Diversity

• One Faith
• Eph. 45
• The Faith
• Acts 67 1422 165
• Gal. 123
• Jude 3

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• Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which
  cause divisions and offenses contrary to the
  doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them
  (Rom. 1617)
• Lucado Accept, Tolerate
• Paul Mark, Avoid
• NO UNITY IN DIVERSITY!