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“My” church vs. “His” church thinking
“I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” (Psalm 122:1 ESV). As Americans, we are so accustomed to having things our own way that it should come as no surprise that we bring this way…
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Fish symbols and generosity
“You will be glorifying God through your generous gifts. For your generosity to them will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ” (2 Cor. 9:13 NLT). Some years ago I had a conversation with my son about…
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Tattoos, tribes and true community
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Acts 2:42 (ESV) What makes a true community? People use the word community to describe all sorts of social groups. But what constitutes a “true” (real,…
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Bible memorization and business cards
“… he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law …It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere…
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Do you use S.O.A.P daily?
“Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23 NIV). “Daily.” There’s something about daily habits. What we do every day eventually…
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The need to belong
“Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian” (Ephesians 2:19 TLB). Belonging was formally…
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Taking time to celebrate
“It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:32 ESV). In the parable of the prodigal son, the older brother complains to his father about the…
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The worth of having nothing
“Those things were important to me, but now I think they are worth nothing because of Christ. Not only those things, but I think that all things are worth nothing compared with the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians…
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God at work in Guatemala
“Jesus gave them this answer: ‘Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does’” (John 5:19 NIV). This…
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Let the children come
“But Jesus called them to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God’” (Luke 18:16 ESV). We met this past Tuesday to debrief our KidzFest event. The results were…