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How to get God “back in our schools”
It’s not like he ever left… but at any rate… We have a great relationship with our schools where our church is located. It started when we decided to bless instead of curse. When I first arrived at the church as pastor I went all around town and introduced myself. City hall, police department, fire department, schools, businesses… I just…
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Can we let up in prayer?
We have had some BIG things happen in prayer this year. As a church, we have prayed intensely for great needs. Missionary friends in extreme need. World situations. We cannot let up. Three requests guarding cancer, and one is personal. Would you intercede for my dad who is going through some tests? We would LOVE to hear that there is…
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To “live dead” is to walk in new life
Philipp Jakob Spener was a great Lutheran pietist. He followed on the heels of Luther’s Reformation and fully believed in the education of the Christian. It is important to be taught the way of Christ. People can be trained to respond to the gospel. Wilhoit’s book, Spiritual Formation as If the Church Mattered, gives a synopsis of Spener’s philosophy. He thoroughly believed in the…
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Can we “break” prayer?
I am in and out of a book by James C. Wihoit called, Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered: Growing in Christ through Community. He gives some challenging thoughts on prayer that are good reminders for me. Prayer is an experiment in partnership with God. Prayer is such a powerful tool that I need to remember I can’t “break” it. Even…
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The motivation of the kingdoms of this world
“The kingdoms of our world, including many religious kingdoms, run on doctrinal fear the way the kingdom of God runs on grace.” (Gary Black and Dallas Willard) We need a new radical call. It is a call to a revolution of loving-kindness.
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Live Dead Challenge: Good News isn’t “Self Help”
We are just into a series on “LIVE DEAD” at our church. This week’s reflection is on Romans 12. Next Sunday we reflect on Romans 13:8-14. The process of “LIVE DEAD” begins with Paul’s urging in Romans 12: So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy…
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LIVE DEAD SCRIPTURE
Through the fall I will be preaching through a series called “LIVE DEAD.” Live Dead is a call to missions in our movement, but I also believe it is a call our church needs to hear as well. As we move through the fall, these are the texts we will reflect on and the dates I will be preaching: Sept.…
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Idol worship in the American church
I was in college in the days of the PTL scandal and Jimmy Swaggart’s failings. In the years since I honestly thought we could have learned our lessons from those debacles. Clearly, we have not. We continue to seek out evangelical superstars and the huge crowds and then we are shocked all over again when big failures happen. Roger Olson…
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A new “Live Dead” challenge
In our denomination, one of the most exciting movements I have seen being raised right now is the “Live Dead” movement. It is a radical commitment to reaching the unreached in some of the hardest places in the world. Something we are not very good at as American Christians is “living dead.” We are a saturated culture when it comes…
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I guess I don’t pay too much attention to where I live
Actually, I pay a LOT of attention to where I live. I love where I live and I want to love the people right where I live. This is what is kind of disappointing when it comes to church leaders/pastors. I was talking to a leader new to town and he had been warned off an area near my church…
