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Slay the hashtag!
The latest hashtag movement: #WeStandWithWDBJ Just like #bringbackourgirls and Kony and whatever else… it will fade away and people will go back to their normal routines and nothing will be done. (NOTE: Kony wasn’t brought down by a hashtag.) Here is how “journalists” can honor the two killed live on TV (and I’m not going to quit using quotes or…
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The shed
I finished mowing the lawn today and as I closed up the shed where I store the lawn mower, I looked at the little bolt at the top of the door. It is designed to keep the double doors flush to the frame. A clasp lock lower down puts the two doors together and that’s where the padlock keeps the…
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Resilience
I took this picture along Lake Superior on a hike. The Lord spoke strongly to me about resilience. We are to PRESS IN. Persevere! Don’t give up. Through the wind and the storms that tree has stood strong. It is time for the church to understand its roots… and to STAND. Be resilient in prayer. Be resilient in faith. Stand.…
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Jesus takes note
God doesn’t forget the ones who gave their all.
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No fear of the topic of hell
“Why should anyone be shattered by the thought of hell? It is not compulsory for anyone to go there. Those who do, do so by their own choice, and against the will of God, and they can only get into hell by defying and resisting all the work of Providence and grace.” — Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain
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Let us weep and mourn
This is what the Lord says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Jer. 31:15)
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Ignoring the cultural buffoonery — Psalm 101
We can’t ignore it. I realize that. It’s in your face whether you try to read news or just catch up on social media. But in the face of the current idiocy we find in our culture, Psalm 101 calls me back to something key: it’s about WHERE I choose to keep my thoughts and focus. The key is here:…
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When things go WELL in a city
It’s easy to get caught up in the stories of Baltimore, Ferguson, and so many more places and possibly think, “Wow… NOTHING seems to be going right.” What we don’t get to hear enough of is when things go WELL in a city. My city, where I pastor, is an inner ring suburb of the Twin Cities. In my time…
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When the large needs to learn from the small
In the church context, that’s another conversation. And, let’s be honest, probably one that won’t be had in the near future. But there IS a context it SHOULD happen… and SOON. There are two situations linked in a way I think it’s time to say, “The large could learn from the small.” One article posted by a couple of teachers…
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Faithful saints
With the flood of self-promotion, self-branding, social marketing, etc., craze we constantly battle, what gets missed are the true saints. Between the hollering online over any issue, Baltimore, gay marriage, war, etc., it’s hard to remember there are simply MILLIONS of good people living good lives doing good things… quietly. A saint has just left us. No one will know…