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The baptism of Jesus and the winnowing power of the Kingdom of God
This is the Sunday commemorating the baptism of Jesus. The reading for our church is from Luke 3:
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American Christianity and the crash and burn style of exalting youthful leaders far too early
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast series took a week away from the Mars Hill story and focused on another aspect of what has happened in the last few decades in white American evangelicalism through the story of Joshua Harris. If you are not familiar with I Kissed Dating Goodbye and that saga, it gets explained in the…
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Choosing real rest
I’m choosing to ask, “If I really believed the Spirit of the living God is at home in me, making me a child of God right now, how would I live?” Can we handle the kind of intimacy described in Scripture? Our Western preference for safe distance and individual freedom keeps us from receiving what Jesus is actually offering us,…
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We lack serious discipleship
I am working my way through “On Fraternity and Social Friendship” by Pope Francis. An early section is an exposition of the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is heart wrenching to read this section in light of what happened a week ago at the Capitol and what is going on today in the House chamber. We have lost sight…
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Unicorns and Puppy Dogs
16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be…
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The steep cost of following Jesus
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. (John 6:66) There has to be a willingness to enter in. There has to be a willingness to follow NOT for my own convenience, or because I understand everything fully. I need to follow BECAUSE HE IS LIFE. I trust him, even if I don’t understand…
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Self examination in the time of coronavirus
Our New Testament reading for this past Sunday was from Ephesians 5:1-14. I have found this passage to be fundamental in my life. It is a passage that calls me to prayerfully self-examine my spiritual walk.
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“If they stop they’ll die…”
A friend recommended the book The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero. It as a book influencing his life so he recommended it to me. I am grateful. There is a chapter on Sabbath in the book that coincided with a podcast I finished on the same day. The podcast is an interview with A J Swoboda and it is…
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The way to greatness
43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. (Mark 10:43-44) We look for ways to greatness. Christ shows us the way of service.
Category: Discipleship/Spiritual Formation
