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Blessed: I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means
Ever since I studied the life of Mary of Nazareth, Jesus’s mother, and wrote a 31-day devotional study, I choose my words with care around the concept of blessing. I think twice now before using the phrase “I am blessed” or the hashtag “blessed.” In the western world, blessings typically refer to our good fortune or whatever makes our lives comfortable. We feel blessed when a new countertop graces our cabinetry, the trip goes without delay, our children make us look good, or the Wi-Fi is strong. However, problems arise when we equate material blessing with God’s favor. If we are blessed because we possess physical comforts and live in…
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The New Leaven of the Kingdom of Heaven
The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) teaches believers to add the New Leaven of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is faith in Jesus and His word, to their lives, their dough, so that Jesus, the true bread from Heaven, would grow and multiply other Firstfruits unto God our Father as we share the Gospel of Peace!
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Toasters, Faith and Remembering
This post was originally posted in June of 2019 as Thanksgiving nears in 2020 I thought it may do us all well to reflect and remember. It has been quite the year since this post first circulated. Yet even with all of the upheaval and strangeness that 2020 has brought our way-when we pause to remember we see that God is still good! A toaster was all it took to throw me into a crisis of faith yesterday. I love toast as much as the next person, but it wasn’t the actual toaster that triggered my downward spiral, but what the toaster represented. About a year ago, my family took…
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The Son’s Transfiguration
Title: The Son’s Transfiguration Aim: To assess how our devotion to the Savior can strengthen our understanding of His teachings. Scripture: Mark 9:2–13 The mountaintop experience, Mark 9:2–4 Sometime during the last year of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He told His disciples that He would be executed and then rise from the dead (Mark 8:31-32). Not even Peter, one of Jesus’ closest followers, could prevent this series of events from happening (v. 33). The Messiah stated that those who give Him complete control of their lives are His genuine followers and would be eternally blessed. In contrast, those who reject Him would experience eternal loss (vv. 34–38). Mark 9:1 records…
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What Did the Philosophers Know and When Did They Know it? Part 2
Jesus told Pilate, “For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world – to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37). “Therefore see to it that the light in you is not darkness” – Jesus (Luke 11:35). While skimming a book I’d previously read entitled “The Great Philosophers: From Socrates to Foucault”, a quick summary of influential philosophers, I was sometimes struck by the darkness and futility of their ideas. Yet I was open to seeing truths that might be found within the shadows so to speak. I gleaned what truthful ideas I could from…
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A House Divided
“If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand” (Mark 3:25). The headlines recently, in America, were certainly unsettling for a news and commentary junkie like myself. The United States seemed to be imploding, committing suicide on live television. For some time now I have believed that we are witnessing the self-destruction of the United States. I often think of the words of Abraham Lincoln, who said, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” History will show whether this proves true or not. On Friday morning July 8th, many…