Tag: response
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Moneyed Futures
2 Samuel 7:12–21; Matthew 6:33–34; James 4:13–5:6 If you’ve ever listened to Dave Ramsey, you’ve probably heard of the “emergency” fund. When you start his Financial Peace University program, this is the first thing to be done. His point being that credit cards and payday loan “emergencies” become less so when you actually plan for…
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Freely Abiding
Titus 3:1–11 The next wave is coming. All around the globe, the next wave of COVID is coming. Countries that thought they were done are back to a true lockdown state. In the US, certain states are returning to more limited engagements. It’s hard for those of us in the US. We really do not…
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Foundational
Matthew 19:16–26; Hebrews 9:1–14; Romans 10:8–13 The story of the rich young ruler, in my experience, has always been presented in one way…he cared too much for his stuff. This is true…to a point. Is the conclusion that we have often been led to actually correct? Or perhaps we, too, are missing which point Jesus…
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Following
Matthew 10:21–22; Matthew 12:46–50; Luke 11:27–28 Have you ever been in a conversation…and it’s going well…and then it’s really digging in…and then someone interrupts? That feeling of…really? Couldn’t you have held out just a bit longer? Really? What was so important? Family. Except, in comparison to the Kingdom of God, what is family? That might…
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Good Gone Bad
Mark 12:1–17; Matthew 10:5–7; Matthew 17:24–27 Within the context of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the primacy of the remnants of the Israelites cannot be denied. Jesus calls them the “lost sheep”. Their place is significant to God, for they are even called by God’s name (2 Chronicles 7:14). The tragedy of it all is that while…
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Get To Your Seats
Luke 14:7–14 When I was young, my father insisted on making sure I was appropriately experienced in “high” culture. We went to ballet and opera. My dad said that we were sitting in the Grand Tier (still sounds a bit grandiose). This was the tier above the Opera (i.e.,floor) Seats, and below the Upper Tier,…
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Work-Out Regimen
Luke 7:36–50; Philippians 2:12–16 The scorn of the Pharisees toward Jesus was pretty easy to see. They were effectively declaring that Jesus could not be an actual true prophet, because he dared to accept the anointing by the woman. “If he only knew what she was like,” they said. Jesus did and loved her anyway.…
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Mercifully Faithful
Matthew 9:9–13; Luke 10:25–37; James 2:5–13 “For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” — Hosea 6:6 (CSB) It’s interesting that the same translation, the CSB, translates Hosea 6:6 with faithful love, while in Matthew 9:13 it’s mercy. What makes it even more interesting is that the same word…
