Matthew 26–28: Resurrection & Commission

Read the Bible in 2011 ◊ Week 10: Saturday “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching […]

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Who Are These Guys?

You may be wondering why I quote men who lived a century of more before us.  It’s certainly not to bore you stiff!  There are numerous reasons I could give you about why it’s worth the effort to read authors who use a different language style and unfamiliar words.  I could say it’s because I […]

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Psalms 3–5: Distress & Deliverance

Read the Bible in 2011 ◊ Week 2: Wednesday Mid-week on Wednesday, I turned back to the Psalms.  Today’s reading is Psalm 3–5: David asks for deliverance from foes, relief from distress, and he cries for help because of his foes. Within these Psalms he affirms who God is: Psalm 3: “a shield around me, […]

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A New Year’s Love

The Prodigal Son is probably the best known, and the best loved, of all of the parables told by Jesus.  I think that’s because it tells the story of the kind of father we would all like to have.  Some of us may have been blessed with a father similar to the one in the […]

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A New Year’s New Mind

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of […]

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A New Year’s Anchor of Hope

I wrote this post for New Year’s Day 2011. I’ve revisited it and revised it yet again for clarity because it continues to be read as people search for hope. I’ve left this one up so that if it turns up in a search, the link won’t lead to a page that says error, but […]

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The Context of Two Gifts

You may have wondered why, if Joy to the World is my favorite Christmas carol, I didn’t wait and post it on Christmas Day. I have several reasons. Joy is a major theme of Philippians, and I want to keep this theme in mind—because the topic of  Philippians 1:29 is one that is difficult for us […]

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Gratitude

Giving thanks frequently receives short shrift when we talk about it, because we tend to discuss it either superficially when we are at ease in our circumstances, or else in denial of the pain of difficulties.  We give moralizing lectures about it or sometimes present the idea of giving thanks to God as a sort […]

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