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Choosing Peace
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (Jn. 14:27, NIV) Peace isn’t the absence of turmoil. It is the state of being that lacks nothing and has no fear of being troubled…
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Violence
Yet another mass killing in our nation. Near Milwaukee it was a Sikh temple. The question of my heart today isn’t about “gun control” or other legislation. The question of my heart is, “When will we finally get tired of this and DO something about it?” This is beyond legislation. These events open up the soul of our nation and…
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The Path to Holiness
We want “holiness” is a few easy steps. Holiness might be “possible” in a few steps, but they aren’t easy. Our affections have to be turned. Holiness comes when our affections are on Christ and not our own agendas. Our vision is full of Christ, and rid of this world’s agenda. We need the taste of the Kingdom in our…
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A Faith So Precious
Meditating on 1 Peter 1 I continue to be in awe of the precious faith delivered to us as believers. It simply calls for a response! Why… oh why… do we not respond? We have a faith so precious is simply given by the Father because of his great mercy. It is so precious it never fades. My body wastes before my eyes…
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Post “Chikin” Wars Thoughts
Okay, it won’t be “post” because this thing won’t go away for awhile. But these are my thoughts. As believers, we have gone from “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and us” to shouting so loudly at each other we can no longer hear the Holy Spirit, let alone each other. Not only are we not listening to each…
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1 Peter and Waging War
This isn’t a post about “just war theory” or pacificism. It is about a far more important war. Peter describes it as the war that is waged against our very lives as believers (1 Peter 2:11, CEB). We are good at waging real war. We are good at waging virtual war. This week we’re REALLY good at waging cultural war.…
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Hit and Run Prophecies
It doesn’t happen nearly as often these days, but it JUST happened, so I am thinking of what I call “hit and run” prophecies. Sometimes it’s an “anonymous” letter sent to the church. Occassionally, like this time, it’s a phone call left on the church voicemail. It’s called in at night when they know no one is there. They leave…
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The High Calling of Holiness
What images come to your mind when the word “holiness” is used? Have we, as believers, given up on “being holy?” 13 Therefore, once you have your minds ready for action and you are thinking clearly, place your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 Don’t be conformed to your former desires, those…
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Avoiding Bumper Sticker Christianity
I really wish to avoid any bumper sticker thinking of any kind. I know it’s not possible. We develop almost all of our political stances off of headlines attached to stories we don’t read, or bumper stickers we see and think, “Yeah… that makes sense.” That’s too bad, but it is what it is. We need to avoid it as…
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2 Peter and the Call to Spiritual Formation
The first chapter of 2 Peter (one of the letters we are reading this week) calls us walk in spiritual formation. We need to learn to build spiritual character in our lives. Spiritual disciplines aid us in this walk. QUESTION: What do you know… what have you learned… in the area of spiritual formation? For starters… what practices do you…
