Tag: response
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Greater or Lesser Than Evils
Read: Psalm 119:41–48, Deuteronomy 10:10–22, James 2:14–26 🔎 Focus No one ever accomplishes good by means of evil, because they are themselves conquered by the evil. On the contrary, evil is corrected by good. St. Barsanuphius the Great You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. James 2:19 (NRSVue)…
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Seeing Christ In The Lives of Others
Romans 12:16–21 As part of our college ministry many years ago, we asked our college students to come up with their mission statement. It was coached in a business/organization language; it should have been better phrased as a Rule of Life. Mine was: Seeing Christ in the Lives of Others. Yes, the title was my…
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Let ‘Em Fight
Psalm 145:10–18; 2 Kings 3:4–20; Colossians 3:12–17 It can be hard to be rid of wounds. Many physical ones heal with scars, though the deeper body ones may not heal well. For most of us, the emotional and spiritual wounds are the ones with deep and lasting effects. These are the ones that can hold…
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Burning Call
Psalm 145:10–18; 1 Kings 19:19–21; Colossians 1:9–14 One of the issues that has come up in the last year in church-ish circles is the ordination of women. Saddleback took a bold step and ordained women which went against the predominant grain of their partner body (SBC). There was an unexpected explosion in certain circles against…
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Kick or Lift
Psalm 23; Jeremiah 12:1–13; Luke 18:35–43 Understanding that we don’t know the whys and wherefores of life is one step. Accepting it is another. Then the biggest step is not blaming God. Often blaming God is the easiest as it means we have no responsibility. It also means we have no control, so we are…
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Tabled Enemies
Psalm 23; Jeremiah 10:17–25; Acts 17:16–31 One of the things that will make many Christians fall away from the faith is a weak foundation when it comes to trials. We say many platitudes, and try not to think about what happens where we actually tested. If you’ve ever read anything on the many martyrs of…
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Who Is For You
Amos 7:7–15; Psalm 85:8–13; Ephesians 1:3–14; Mark 6:14–29 There are many people in the world who have a person they focus on. That person could be an individual they look up to. That person could also be a person who was the source of a lot of pain or conflict. When there is such a…
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God of Boxes
We struggle (and that’s fine) with the concept that God would discipline through pestilence, famine, war, etcetera. We will often use the language of “God allows”, or explain things as “an ‘old world’ understanding”.