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Book Review — Ride On by Joseph Fehlen
This is a LONG overdue review of a book sent to me by friend Joseph, who, by the way, looks a LOT like Seth Rogen, which is extremely unfortunate. Joe is a MUCH better man to know. Ride On is his journey into the world of motorcycles. Joe and his wife have a family, a church, and live in northern Wisconsin.…
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The Presence of God is NOT a Good Luck Charm
1 Samuel 4 When Israel was pummeled by the Philistines yet again, they turned to the ark of the covenant. They didn’t turn there to seek God. They turned to it as a good luck charm. They thought if they took it into battle it would bring them the luck they needed to defeat the Philistines. When the ark came…
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Holding back what is best
1 Samuel 15 Saul was commanded to take out the Amalekites and give ALL over to sacrifice. They were to keep nothing for themselves. Everything needed to be destroyed. Instead, they kept out the best spoils for themselves and burned the rest. Saul’s downfall was disobedience as a leader. He was commanded by God to do something and he thought…
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What’s an Ebenezer?
I too often get a picture of Scrooge in my head when I read in 1 Samuel about the Ebenezer. One of my favorite hymns is “Come Thou Fount” and it refers to the Ebenezer: Here I raise my Ebenezer Hither by Thy help I come And I hope by Thy good pleasure Safely to arrive at home Jesus, sought…
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The Willingness to Hear
In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. (1 Sam. 3:1) The word of the Lord was rare in Israel in those days because no one was listening. Everyone was into their life. It’s not a matter of God “not speaking” in our world. It is a matter of us not listening.
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The Fallacy of 100 Percent Security
As an American, we are going through the embarrassment of a government that is actively violating our privacy and then saying things like, “If you’re not doing anything illegal, you shouldn’t be worried.” The president then offered the explanation the other day that Americans can’t have 100 percent security and 100 percent privacy. That’s true. But here’s the thing: you can’t…
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WE are the immigrants
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (1 Peter 2:11-12, NIV) Our allegiance is not here. Not TRUE allegiance. We are to…
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Taste the goodness of the kingdom
2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 2:2-3, NIV) If there is anything I could invite you to in understanding my deep passion for the King and his Kingdom it is this: just taste. Taste the incredible goodness of the Kingdom…
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Gideon — Lost vision
Gideon is a great example of what happens when the people of God lose the vision of who they are in God. They were called to take out the inhabitants of the land. That was the command from God. They simply did not obey. Oppressed, we find Gideon hiding out. To grind grain, he was using a winepress to fool…
