Tag: response
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Speed Check
Isaiah 56:1–8; Ezekiel 2:1–10 When you’re driving, do you continue to check your speed? What do you do when you check a speed limit sign? A speed limit sign cannot make you stop speeding. A speed limit sign cannot make you speed up. A speed limit sign can only tell what the authorities have set…
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Even to…
Acts 11:1–18; Galatians 3:27–29 Depending on the translation, Acts 11:18 is phrased something akin to, “even the Gentiles got the gift.” It’s not exactly the most positive response. It shows us that at the beginning of the church the new reality of a faith that transcended Gentile and Jew still had to be learned. We…
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Did You Fail?
1 Kings 18:19–19:5; Malachi 4:5–6; Matthew 17:10–13 This is a famous story. It really is very impressive how the priests of Baal were humiliated in their bloody ritual, and how God delivered magnificently and undeniable. In a quick turnaround, they went from following the Baal priests to killing them. This actually doesn’t say much about…
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Using Ways
Luke 16:1–9 This is one of those interesting parables. I knew a small business owner who taught a Sunday School lesson on this passage. He was quite honest that he hated it. As a small business owner, he could not understand the apparent praise for a person who reduced what was owed. This is understandable.…
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Self of Nothing
Judges 4:1–24; 2 Samuel 6:12–22; Psalm 18:20–29 Many have often condemned Barak as a coward who hides behind a woman’s skirt (so to speak). What if there is something else at play? If you read the Book of Joshua and 1 & 2 Samuel, the Ark of the Covenant was part of the army’s formation.…
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Always the Same
Jeremiah 16:10–15; Malachi 3:1–7 Many years ago, in a bible study, an older woman said to the study leaders, “I do not believe in the God of the Old Testament. That God is cruel and unjust. I only believe in the loving God of the New Testament.” Many people walked away from the church and/or…
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Here’s Looking At…
Matthew 27:1–11; John 21:12–23 What’s that to me? Sounds like you have a problem. These and similar phrases/questions are quite prevalent in our society. The first issue that they shine a light on is pride. This may not only be the pride of the responder, but it may also be the pride of the asker.…
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Wholly New or Newly Whole
2 Corinthians 5:14–21; Titus 1:1–3 The “new creation” is an often-quoted phrase. Like many verses in the Scriptures, it can stand on its own. However (you knew that was coming), in context its meaning is so much more important than a mere new creation. It is a creation with a purpose. While it is accurate…
