Matthew Stoll

  • mtstoll3
  • Lowell, Michigan
  • Sanitized Christianity

    We often fail to appreciate the radical love of Jesus for "sinners and tax collectors". Those considered by our religion to be "out" because of their sin and therefore untouchable. Jesus had the audacity…

    Created 7 days ago

    Mark 2:15 (NLT)

  • Moral choices

    Why do you make the moral choices you do? Joseph was propositioned by his masters wife on a daily basis, but each time he refused, even trying to avoid being around her. His reason? "How could I do such…

    Created 13 days ago

    Genesis 39:9 (NLT), Genesis 39:10 (NLT), Genesis 39:12 (NLT)

  • Faith at Work - Part 1

    Does your faith make a difference at work? Sometimes we are made to think that lying, deceiving, or "doing whatever it takes" will get us ahead in this world, and if you have high moral standards which…

    Created 13 days ago

    Genesis 39:2 (NLT), Genesis 39:3 (NLT), Genesis 39:4 (NLT), Genesis 39:5 (NLT)

  • Ephesians 4:11-12

    Ephesians 4:11-12 (NLT)
    Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.

    Created 14 days ago

  • Earned a Badge — Created 100 Highlights

    2012-05-19

  • Leadership of a father

    Joshua took a stand, not just as a leader of the Israelite people, but as a husband and father, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." To often in this day and age I see fathers and husbands…

    Created about 1 month ago

    Joshua 24:15 (NLT)

  • Is there anything too hard for the Lord?

    An angel of the Lord spoke these words to Abraham and Sarah because she couldn't believe that at the age of 90 she could become pregnant (and who would), even though the Lord promised to bless them with…

    Created about 1 month ago

    Genesis 18:14 (NLT)

  • God's commands are for our good

    Often people think of God's commands as restrictive, sometimes oppressive, but is that what they were intended to be? In this passage from Deuteronomy, God reminds his people that the commands and decrees…

    Created about 1 month ago

    Deuteronomy 10:12 (NLT), Deuteronomy 10:13 (NLT)

  • Deuteronomy 10:12-13

    Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (NLT)
    “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the LORD your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul.

    Created about 1 month ago

  • The Church as Marketplace

    One of the only times we read of Jesus really getting angry is this episode from his last week, we call passion week, where Jesus was so upset with what was going on at the Temple complex that he knocked…

    Created 3 months ago

    Mark 11:15 (NLT), Mark 11:16 (NLT), Mark 11:17 (NLT)

  • Extravagent devotion

    On his way to Jerusalem for the last time (pre-resurrected) Jesus stopped in Bethany to visit his friends Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. The last time Jesus was there he had brought Lazarus back from the…

    Created 3 months ago

    John 12:3 (NLT)

  • Spare tire faith

    Is our faith like a spare tire? We throw it in the trunk, out of sight, out of mind, but present just in case we have an emergency, a flat tire in our life. Then we can pull it out of the forgotten place,…

    Created 4 months ago

    Matthew 11:28 (NLT), Matthew 11:29 (NLT), Matthew 11:30 (NLT)

  • You are not alone

    After Elijah the prophet had one of the greatest spiritual victories in his life (defeating the prophets of Baal at Mnt. Carmel and having his prayer for rain answered after three years of no rain), he…

    Created 4 months ago

    1 Kings 19:10 (NIV84)

  • Earned a Badge — Created 10 [Public] Notes

    2011-11-29

  • Persistent prayer

    The beginning of the Christmas story begins with a priest named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. We soon discover that Elizabeth was not able to conceive and they were both old (whatever "old" meant…

    Created 6 months ago

    Luke 1:6 (NLT), Luke 1:7 (NLT)

  • Confession- God's forgiving grace

    No one likes to look at our sin, and yet the Apostle John was very straightforward when writing to Christians, "if we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves." Even as Christians we have sin in our…

    Created 7 months ago

    1 John 1:8 (NIV), 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

  • 2 Corinthians 3:18

    2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)
    So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

    Created 7 months ago

  • What's a Christian to do about Halloween?

    Christians have dealt with Halloween in various ways over the years, some have rejected it entirely (turn off the lights and don't participate). Others have engaged full force with the costumes, decorations,…

    Created 7 months ago

    1 Corinthians 10:23 (NLT), 1 Corinthians 10:24 (NLT), 1 Corinthians 10:25 (NLT), 1 Corinthians 10:26 (NLT), 1 Corinthians 10:27 (NLT), 1 Corinthians 10:28 (NLT), 1 Corinthians 10:29 (NLT), 1 Corinthians 10:30 (NLT), 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NLT)

  • Servanthood

    While the disciples kept arguing over who was the greatest, Jesus taught that in God's kingdom the greatest was the one who was the servant of all. We understand the need to serve others, to care for…

    Created 7 months ago

    Mark 9:33 (ESV), Mark 9:34 (ESV), Mark 9:35 (ESV), John 13:14 (ESV), John 13:15 (ESV)

  • Listening to the Gentle Whisper

    How does God "speak" to us? Many Christians even wonder, does God even "speak" to people today? Are we looking for God to give us big signs that tell us what to do? God taught Elijah, shortly after his…

    Created 7 months ago

    1 Kings 19:11 (NLT), 1 Kings 19:12 (NLT), 1 Kings 19:13 (NLT)

  • Prayer as abiding

    Jesus taught his disciples that the only way we produce fruits of love, joy, peace, etc. is by remaining or abiding with him as branches in the vine. This is more than just "being saved", he is referring…

    Created 8 months ago

    John 15:7 (NLT)

  • Everything is permissible but not necessarily beneficial

    As Christians Paul reminds us that we are no longer bound by the Law (God's Law)(Gal. 5:13f.). We are set free from our sinful nature, and free to follow Christ, to love God with our heart, soul, mind,…

    Created 8 months ago

    1 Corinthians 8:9 (NLT)

  • Be Still

    In his book, The Life You've Always Wanted, John Ortberg comments that the great enemy of the spiritual life (being available to God's transforming grace) is that we have "hurry sickness". The so called…

    Created 8 months ago

    Psalm 46:10 (NLT)

  • Worshipping as a Community

    In the OT God established times of "sacred assembly" for His people to gather together to worship, offer sacrifices, and remember what God had done and continued to do among His people. Some times were…

    Created 8 months ago

    Leviticus 23:3 (NLT)

  • Earned a Badge — Created First [Public] Note

    2011-09-29

  • Faith

    The core of Christianity is faith in Jesus, but what does it mean to have faith? The author of Hebrews helps us understand that faith is the confident assurance that what we believe in will happen. He…

    Created 8 months ago

    Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)

  • The Judgment Seat

    One day, when Jesus returns, we will all stand before his judgment seat. We know from other places in Scripture that only those who have proclaimed Jesus as Lord, and believed in their hearts that he…

    Created 9 months ago

    2 Corinthians 5:10 (ESV)

  • Be Ready

    After sharing about the End Times and the events surrounding the day of his return, Jesus told three parables about what it looks like to be ready for his return. The first parable of the ten bridesmaids…

    Created 9 months ago

    Matthew 24:44 (ESV)

  • Thy Kingdom Come

    In most places in the gospels Jesus refers to the kingdom of God coming, being "at hand" or "near", possibly indicating a future time when God would restore His Kingdom fully upon the earth. We are mistaken…

    Created 9 months ago

    Matthew 12:28 (ESV)

  • Signs of the End - 2

    Jesus makes the clearest reference in all of Scripture what to look out for in anticipation of the end in Matthew 24, "wars and rumors of wars... nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...Famines…

    Created 9 months ago

    Matthew 24:6 (ESV), Matthew 24:7 (ESV), Matthew 24:8 (ESV)

  • Signs of the End

    The season of Advent, meaning "coming" in Latin, it is a time of focusing our attention on the coming of Christ to our world. Usually we think of his first coming, we think of Christmas, when he was born…

    Created 9 months ago

    2 Peter 3:3 (ESV)

  • Earned a Badge — Created 10 Highlights

    2011-08-15

  • John 14:6, John 14:10

    John 14:6 (ESV)
    Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

    John 14:10 (ESV)
    Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

    Created 10 months ago

  • Earned a Badge — Subscribed to First Reading Plan

    2011-07-23

  • 2 Timothy 3:16

    2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)
    All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

    Created 12 months ago

  • Matthew 13:41

    Matthew 13:41 (HCSB)
    The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those guilty of lawlessness.

    Created about 1 year ago

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  • Earned a Badge — Created Your First Bookmark

    2011-04-08

  • John 13:25

    John 13:25 (NLT)
    So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?”

    Created about 1 year ago

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