"Nevertheless..." (II Corinthians 7:6) There is a remarkable menagerie of words expressing pain of every kind in Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth; words like affliction, anguish, beatings, distresses, fastings, fightings, labors, perils, persecutions, sorrows, stripes, sufferings, tears, tumults, weak, and weakness. They snap and snarl at the…
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“Run away from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is asin against your own body.” (1 Corinthians 6:18) Kirk Franklin is a contemporary gospel, hip-hop and R&B artist whose music has reached multiple-platinum status, garnering five Grammy Awards and…
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“Thou shalt not steal.” (Exodus 20:15) God’s Word tells us that anytime we take anything that belongs to someone else or withhold that which rightly belongs to another, we have transgressed this commandment. Whether it's time, money, affection, possessions, appreciation, love, or anything else, if we defraud somebody else in…
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"If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?" (Matthew 5:46-47) Tullian Tchividjian comes from a line of devout Christians who have been…
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“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6) Princess makes an effective alarm clock, but not a very pleasant one. We have a mat in our garage decorated with a dachshund and the phrase, “Caution: Dog Cannot Hold Its…
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“Peter came to him and asked, 'Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?''No, not seven times,' Jesus replied, 'but seventy times seven!'” (Matthew 18:21-22) The other day my husband asked me to check into airfare for a few of our kids, so they could…
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"God showed his great love for us by sending Christ todie for us while we were still sinners." (Romans 5:8) Todd and Katie were at a family church camp in Arkansas this summer when their son nearly died. Kevin was playing with his friend near a swiftly-flowing creek. His friend's…
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"He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.(Isaiah 53:3) My father died on my sixth birthday. Leukemia. I soon found that I had lost my mom as…
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"No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the winewill burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and the skin as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins." (Mark 2:22) Shortly before the Berlin wall toppled, I was performing my one-man show in East Germany. The…
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"And so, my children, listen to me, for all my ways are joyful." (Proverbs 8:32) Anyone who owns a dog knows that they can often run. Some bolt any time the door opens, some stray too far when on a walk, and some get distracted by natural distractions, like other…
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