Joy in Jesus Ministries

the bottomline High School Reunion by Dan Allen, 8 April 2021 I dreamed that it was my 50th High School Reunion and things didn’t go well....Continue reading

Christ-Rise Sunday Sermon. After listening - share! Thanks.

the bottomline April Fools by Dan Allen, 31 March 2021 There have been a lot of April Fool’s jokes, some of which have obtained global laughter. One is the spaghetti hoax presented on April 1 on the BBC showing a family in southern Switzerland harvesting spaghetti from the family spaghetti tree. Since spaghetti was relatively new in the UK in 1957, people thought it was real and wanted to know how they could get their own spaghetti producing trees.... But cross the pond and advance almost 40years to my favorite produced by Taco Bell. In an ad that apparently escaped the editors’ eagle eye, the taco people declared that to assist in bringing down the country debt they purchased the Liberty Bell which would now be known as the Taco Liberty Bell. According to a recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, which also posted this ad (along with the NY Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, and USA Today), this spread like wild fire on all the media outlets. In fact, the White House press spokesperson, Mike McCurry, played along saying: We’ll be doing a series of these things. Ford Motor Co. is planning an effort to refurbish the Lincoln Memorial. It’ll be the Lincoln Mercury Memorial. And Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News did a segment on it as if it was real. He concluded at the end: And guess what? It’s just a joke. It worked. Taco Bell spiked by $1 million over the next two days. All of this for thinking outside the bun, noted the Inquirer. I haven’t thought of a good April Fools joke in years. But the Bible did. Listen to this: The fool has said in his heart, there is no God (Psa. 14:1a). You know what that means, right? This world is filled with foolsnot just on April 1, but every single day of the year. Could it be that they are fools because they do not know the truththey have not heard the truth? That’s where you and I come in to debunk the tomfoolery and tell them the truth. Will you commit yourself to telling the truth about God?

Palm Sunday Sermon - Pastor Dan shares a challenging message from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 11, about the courage of Christ during the days leading up to His crucifixion.

Next sermon in the Joshua Series - "The Man, The Book, His God." Just under 15-minutes.

the bottomline Skin, it’s the thing that’s in by Dan Allen You gotta have skin / All you really need is skin. So begins a silly song I remember from my college days. One of the musicians played and sang this. I thought he was making it up. Not the case. It’s a real, bona fide song. Skin it covers your nose and it’s wrapped around your toes....Continue reading

Weekly Sermon: "Now What?" How is Joshua to act now that Moses is dead?https://joyinjesusministries.com/sermonpodcasts#37

We're back and we’re in a series studying Joshua, The Man, The Book, His God. And again we look at The Man - Joshua A spiritual leader; a leader of men and a humble man. That identifies the Biblical Joshua - https://joyinjesusministries.com/sermonpodcasts#36

Pastor Dan Allen details the story of the spies sent into the promised land. Their lack of faith led to long-term challenges for the people of Israel, but Joshua and Caleb . . . https://joyinjesusministries.com/sermonpodcasts#35

Hey - let's study Joshua from the Old Testament. Each podcast is about 15-minutes long. This one is the second of the series - "Joshua, the man, the book, his God" and is on "leadership training." Both can be found on the Joy in Jesus Ministries.com website. Here's today's offering: https://joyinjesusministries.com/sermonpodcasts#34

You into New Year Resolutions? How about listening to this 15-minute message before you make a few. It could change your life! https://joyinjesusministries.com/sermonpodcasts

View From the Front Porch Dan Allen - 12/31/20 Elizabeth Montgomery and Barbara Eden with a nose twitch and the blink of an eye, respectively, could change things immediately. These two actresses from the 1960s, one an enchantress and the other 2,000 year old genie, through their specific quirks created humorous episodes. The one show, Bewitched faded after 8years when Dick York was replaced by Dick Sargent (the second Darrinwho no one seemed to like) and the other, I Dr...eam of Genie, had a 5year run starring Larry Hagman as Air Force Captain Tony Nelson, an astronaut. Both ladies would be beneficial to have at the stroke of midnightJanuary 1, 2021. We all would love to see an unforgettable year instantly changed to not only a new decade and new year (which will happen), but also with this horrible pandemic done away with. But holding our breath for the latter is not wise. This is one piece of baggage that will be carried well into 2021. And so is the case with many of our bad habits and proclivities. It’d be great if they magically disappeared as one rebooted on December 31 or anytime. Some try resolutions to help them change. But for many, as someone noted, it’s resolutions in one year and out the other. But there is a way that change can be made . . . and it can be permanent. Earlier I gave you two fictitious women who had unusual power to evoke change. This was all fantasy, makebelieve. There is no witch or genie who is going to give to you your greatest desire. But there is One who is real. Who, when He spoke, caused change and often it was immediate. Whether it was healing a person from a disease, giving sight to the blind, allowing the lame to walk and the speechless to talk, or a storm to cease immediately, He had the power to make that change. That is none other than Jesus Christ and what He did while on earth some 2,000 years ago. Here’s the good news. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). What He did then, He can do now. In fact, He invites us to ask Him for whatever our desire is Ask and you shall receive (Mt. 7:78). So, that weight which holds you back in the race; that sin which so easily besets you; that habit that seems to control you; that desire that just won’t go away; can be changed. God could do it in an instant, however, He seems to delight in helping us grow in our faith and dependance on Him by not just yielding to immediate change, but rather helping us to work with Him to gain the triumphant. This is where prayer, Bible memorization and Biblical meditation come into play. The victory will be more a process and requires commitment. The suitcase labeled Covid, unfortunately, is packed and ready for our journey into a new year. Our prayer is that it will get lost as the world gains control of this devastating virus. What additional suitcases you take are in your control. No nose twitching or blinking an eye will eliminate them. It will take some work, but with God it is possible.

Here we go - following "The Christmas Carol" is "The TRUE Christmas Carol" with the sermon entitled: "The Spirit of Christmas Change." At the end, Scrooge declares he will change. We've reworded it to the following: I will honor Christ in my heart, and try to follow Him all the year. I will live in the Past, Present and the Future. The Holy Spirit, shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons the Holy Spirit teaches me. For the context listen/watch the following 15-minute message: https://joyinjesusministries.com/sermonpodcasts#31

Nobody likes to be put-in-their-place, but sometimes it is necessary. Jesus did this very thing with Peter. Check out my sermon entitled: "A Holy Put-Down," from the "Follow Me" Series: https://joyinjesusministries.com/sermonpodcasts#28

A Thanksgiving Sermon - many Thanksgiving services have been canceled. So, here's a sermon on Thanksgiving: https://joyinjesusministries.com/sermonpodcasts#27

This is a tough one. As a follower of Jesus we must accept "A Call to Die." That's Dan's sermon for this weekend. Hope you'll give it a listen to with an open heart and mind. Let God speak to you through His Word - https://joyinjesusministries.com/sermonpodcasts#26

the bottomline Christmas Catalogues by Dan Allen, 14 November 2020 Getting the Sear's Catalogue was the start of the Christmas season, so mentioned one of my friends on social media. They were vital documents at our house wrote another. Over dinner my wife, Vonnie, and I were discussing the Wish Book and other Christmastype catalogues and what we wished for back then. I then did some crowdsourcing to see if anyone ever got what they wanted from these. Some did. Most d...Continue reading