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Cooling Down Discourse
Whew–my mouth burns today after a survey of my facebook feed. I need a sip of something cool to drink after some of the heated rhetoric I took in. Social media sizzles with conflict these days. These conflicts overflow into relationships, families and churches. A pandemic, racial unrest, elections in the U.S., disrupted governments in other countries all turn up the heat in conversations. I have witnessed un-civil discourse among families, friends and members of the body of Christ. John 17 records Jesus’s prayer for all believers. In John 17:20-23, the Savior prays for the unity of all believers. Why? Because their unity testifies to the world that the Father…
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World on Fire: When a Gunman Attacked in My Hometown
Some days the world feels aflame. Saturday, August 3rd, 2019, the news gripped me. People fled out of a mall where I worked during college summers. Police surrounded the area less than one mile from my childhood home where I played hide and seek and marbles. Blood puddled at a store built where I used to trudge through the desert catching lizards and finding rocks. And the gunman—he hailed from the area where I now live. So, this terror feels more personal. And when I hear his actions flowed from racism and anti-immigrant anger, I shake my head at the lies and brokenness behind this horror. I can’t escape the…