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Contending
“I want you to know how hard I am contending for you…” (Col. 2:1). Paul is referring to a great struggle. This has been brought home more to me this week and I need to wake up even more in my prayer life. There is a generation to contend for in our lives. My two younger sons are in high…
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Important New Study on Islam
This report relates findings from an in-depth study done on Islam around the world. Statistics show that almost 1 in 4 on the planet are Muslim. It also shows what has been true for decades: Islam is not predominantly Arabic. The largest Muslim nations are not in the Middle East. I write on this because I have a heart for…
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Belief as Dementia, Evangelicals as Wimps, and HOW ABOUT THOSE TWINS
Leave it to The New York Times to equate religious belief with mild dementia. Check that. What they are really offended at is the thought of an intellectual having a Christian worldview. This must drive them nuts. We live in a day when David Letterman can confess on air to having multiple affairs with staff women and there isn’t one…
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The Terrorism Without… and Within
It is rare that I interact politically on this blog. I’ve done it, I’m sure, but most of the time when I make a political comment, it’s on my Facebook page or somewhere else. However, I cannot leave a couple of news items alone. The first is the terrorism without. Thomas Friedman wrote a column that is scary. Friedman is…
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Apprehended by God
My teaching has focused on the Book of Acts and Philippians due to my teaching schedule at college and my ministry at the church. This week I brought together Saul’s conversion and the beautiful passage out of Philippians 3 where Paul cries out: “I want to know Christ!” I will not do justice to the Philippians 3 passage in my…
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American Christianity, Patriotism, and Misused Bible Verses
I struggle with stories like this one where it seems so silly to ban Bible verses. Yet, when I read how they used a verse, I get frustrated as well: One of the signs that was banned from the football field was a “run-through” banner displayed before a game on Sept. 18. It read: “I press on toward the goal…
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Dan Brown and His Love for Spiritualism
I have yet to read Dan Brown’s latest. It’s not that I won’t. When The Davinci Code became so hot, I read it. I loved the pace, keeping in mind it was fiction. However, people were drawn into the conversation about Church History and the discussions went beyond the style of the book. Dan Brown also opened himself up to…
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This Just In… THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END!
We interrupt this blog for an important breaking news bulletin: Starbucks is going INSTANT. Yes, you heard that right. They are going to peddle (I shudder at the thought) instant coffee. When I first got into “real” coffee years ago I read Howard Schultz’s book on the founding of Starbucks. He was such a purist. Now, he’s a corporate hypocrite.…
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Peace in the Middle East
I am a political person to the core. I can talk politics all day long. So… I avoid it. There are just too many other things going on, so I want to focus more on theology, spiritual formation, etc. Theologically, the whole realm of “end times theology” is a massive heap of varied opinions. So, when I see statements issued…
