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Joy in the Mourning!
Vindicate me, O God! Fight for me against an ungodly nation! Deliver me from deceitful and evil men! For you are the God who shelters me. Why do you reject me? Why must I walk around mourning because my enemies oppress me? Reveal your light and your faithfulness! They will lead me, they will escort me back to your holy hill, and to the place where you live. Then I will go to the altar of God, to the God who gives me ecstatic joy, so that I express my thanks to you, O God, my God, with a harp. Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why are you…
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The Nearness of God
With clothes dripping, shoes soggy, and wet hair plastered to my face, I moved forward. I had mud spattered all over my legs and the storm was rolling in with a furry. Still far from my apartment, I did what anyone in my situation would do: smile. You see, although I had slipped in a deep puddle, tracked through a muddy ravine, and gotten thoroughly drenched by the summer rain, I was wonderstruck. My nine-week old lab mix, Juliette, and I were having a glorious time exploring the great outdoors. And if you’ve ever owned a lab, you know that they’re happiest in water. So when we saw those pools…
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Jesus Our Joy
“Most Christians are not joyful persons because they are not holy persons, and they are not holy persons because they are not filled with the Holy Spirit, and they are not filled with the Holy Spirit because they are not separated persons. The Spirit cannot fill whom He cannot separate, and whom He cannot fill, He cannot make holy, and whom He cannot make holy, He cannot make happy!”(3)
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Gun to Your Head. “Are you a Christian?” What would you say?
We can never know how we would respond to the ultimate threat. But a thoughtful heart check sheds light on what we treasure most. While our choices matter to God, he tells us our motives matter even more. God is always looking at our hearts. Thinking of what I would say to a shooter pointing a gun at my head was not nearly as revealing for me as pondering why I would say it. As you read these wildly different responses from the candid crew over on Reddit what values do you see at work? “Strong Catholic here. I can't deny God. No matter what; for me…
