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God On Your Side
Sunday School Chronicles Me: Before we go back and do a full recap Joseph’s life, let’s start with a mini recap. Y’all ready! Class: Yeah! Let’s do it! Me: Who was Joseph? Kid 1: The favorite! Me: Why? Kid 2: Because he came from his dad’s favorite wife. Me: Were his sibs cool with this? Class: No! Me: So what happened? Kid 3: They sold him and then he got in a lot of trouble in Egypt! Me: Yes! And this brothers come crawling back but they don’t know it’s Joseph. So Joseph treats them. And do they pass? Class: Yes! Me: So after Joseph realizes his brothers aren’t the…
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The Beautiful Attitudes – Part II: Blessed are those who Mourn
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4 NET)
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What is better than Shirley Temple goodness?
Do you know who Shirley Temple was? For any of you over fifty, you probably associate that name with a child star of the 1930s movie screens. This cute little blonde girl could sing and dance as well as act. She charmed American movie goers during the very dark years of the Great Depression. Shirley Temple played characters ranging from pampered princess to mistreated orphan. Her onscreen image was that of an everyday kind of girl who brings joy to the lives of others. Every movie in some way communicated her character as a symbol of “goodness.” That had an influence on my early life in the 1950s. Did it…
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Writing for Ministry: Ten Tips
Also, part of loving others and reaching the widest-possible audience is using gender-inclusive language. The following statement, with which I heartily agree, is adapted from the syllabus of one of my colleagues: “All written submissions should strive to use male/female-inclusive language. As a gospel-shaped, gospel-centered community of learning, we have compelling reasons to think, write, and speak in such a way as to ensure that none are either intentionally or inadvertently excluded by our use of language. Consider using ‘humans,’ ‘persons,’ ‘humanity,’ or ‘humankind”’ rather than ‘man’ or ‘men’ when referring to humans in general. Consider alternating between the use of ‘he’ and ‘she’ as generic pronouns or substituting…
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Will Change Ever Get Easier?
“I have decided to accept the offer in Spain,” my colleague announced. Here we go again, my heart cried. Even though I rejoiced that God had answered her prayers for direction, I still balked. After all these years will change ever get easier? I think back to my childhood in Papua New Guinea and the classmates who came and went, the rhythm of home assignment, the moving of my belongings from home to children’s hostel every three months. Then I consider my 12 years in Indonesia. My team and leadership configuration morphed at least 15 times until my family also returned to our passport country. My senior worker and team mentor…
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Is 1 Timothy 2:12 a Clear, or Obscure, Text?
Is 1 Timothy 2:12 a clear, or obscure, text? The scripture says, “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. She must remain quiet.” Before addressing the “clear or obscure?” question, it’s interesting that the one Bible verse that speaks of preventing a woman from teaching is 1 Timothy 2:12. Consequently, the overarching question for interpreters must be, “What is the divine meaning of 1 Timothy 2:12 in the context of the church?
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Why I Love to Learn I’m Wrong
As the webmistress for Probe.org, I love getting emails alerting me to typos, either in the content of our articles or the coding that keeps people from seeing or hearing what they are looking for. I love being able to fix mistakes; there’s a deeply satisfying sense of, “Ohhhh that’s better!” I want to get things right. I want to set things right. I want to BE right. That could certainly be about sinful pride, but there’s another side to it. I love truth, that which corresponds to reality. If I am mistaken—or worse, misled—about something, I love learning about it so I can shift, bringing my beliefs or my…
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A Prayer for the Hostages in the Dark. And for Us.
A nephew of one of the released Hamas hostages said his aunt “’had to adjust to the sunlight’ because she had been in darkness for weeks. ‘She was in complete darkness,…completely cut off from the outside world.’” Imagine living in total darkness, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 7 weeks—50 days for the now-released hostages, 102 days and counting for those still in captivity. Think what you were doing on October 7th. Now think of erasing all you’ve done since then. All that work, vacation, time with family and friends, church fellowship, football, Thanksgiving, Christmas prep–all those moments you’ve held dear. Imagine instead sitting and sleeping in plastic…
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The Beautiful Attitudes – Part I: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
How should we daily live in a world that seems to be teetering on the brink of destruction?
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Coming to God
Children have fascinating minds that offer a window into their soul. They question much, trust much but also fear much. The Psalmist wrote his prayer to God in Psalm 6 and 7. In it he reveals why he can trust and have no fear. Many have the mistaken idea that we can only come to God when we are on good behavior, but the Psalmist shows us that we can come boldly before the throne of grace at any time. The religious leaders, the political leaders, and the followers of Jesus were asking, “Who is he?” The Psalmist knew the answer! He is “my” God, the One who is immutable;…