Only moments earlier, a lifeless object had lain on the ground. In a moment, everything shifted, and now, standing boldly in the light, a man stared intently upward and gasped in new air. What had been dead tissue was now bright pink lungs, rising and falling with every vigorous breath. …
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"We will have to move through a very deep valley, I believe much deeper than we can since now, before we will be able to send the other side again." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer As Adolf Hitler rose to power in the early 1930’s, he sought to influence the German churches for…
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Most of the focus on Christ is either the Christ of the past or the Christ of the future. Many, with a nostalgia that enhances Israel's tourist industry, go back to take the steps where He once walked. I too have enjoyed the tour and have led others on the…
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I once read that Willie Nelson, the country star, bought his own golf course. Somebody asked what “par” was. “Anything I want it to be,” he replied. “See that hole over there? It’s a par 47.” Then he added, “And yesterday, I birdied it!” That would be laughable if it…
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“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV) The New King James renders this phrase in the Greek as “sound mind.” The other part of the phrase is where we get the…
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As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of…
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During my senior year in college, I decided to read the Bible straight through quickly rather than in bite-sized chunks. When I did so, a larger pattern jumped out at me: God's abiding concern for the poor, and his expectation that we share his concern. That's the message from Genesis…
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“The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63) Have you ever been to a family reunion or other gathering where you can’t even get through the meal without replaying a negative or painful comment that someone said to you, even as long…
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Right from the start, James and I came to a crucial agreement, one we believe is supported by the words of the Bible. We agreed not to indulge in compulsive spending and not to try to impress people with any of the stuff we had. As James likes to say,…
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God does not reveal himself as limitless in order to limit us. Quite the contrary. He wants to put his heart within us. My friend Christine says it best: “God did not save you to tame you!” God is not looking for people who act like Christians. He wants us…
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