Month: October 2023
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“Teach Me Lord to Wait”
Simply singing a song doesn’t do anything if we do not know what we are singing. This is the truth expressed by Paul in I Cor. 14:15: “What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will…
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Winning and Keeping
“What you win them with, is what you keep them with.” A dear widow-lady I worshipped with for a number of years told me that. It is a simple statement, but has profound meaning. What are we “winning” people with? If you win people with fleshly things, you have to keep satisfying their fleshly desires…
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“Through Him…”
What are you looking for? I can’t even ask that question without the words of Bono ringing in my ear… “And I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” I didn’t know, however, while the song was ringing in my ears, that it is somewhat rooted in Judea-Christian thinking. The third and final verse is…
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Put in the Work
Martin Niemöller once stated that instead of study, he trusted the Spirit for his sermons. An older colleague commented: “as for me, the Holy Ghost never spoke to me in the pulpit. Yes, I remember, he did speak to me once. When I was going down the pulpit steps after a poor sort of sermon,…
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Mark’s Purpose
Mark is a great place to start if you want a somewhat abbreviated introduction to the gospel of Jesus Christ. As the shortest gospel account, it functions like a rapid-fire of faith-building information. Luke and Matthew both give so much attention to things that happened before the start of Jesus’ ministry (nearly all of Luke…
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Thoughts on Matthew
The beginning of Matthew’s gospel carries special OT connotations that are designed to catch our attention. “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Mt. 1:1). Matthew just connected the dots for the reader that Jesus is not just another somebody. Jesus is THE somebody. A…
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Name, After Name, After Name
Reading through the gospels and Acts this week conjured up fresh thoughts of dependability. We cannot afford to casually read through this ancient document and dismiss the people specifically named by the authors. This certainly does not discount the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which I believe is present in every Biblical document. But,…
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Thoughts from Luke
As Luke’s account opens he informs us about his approach: 1 Since many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 it seemed fitting to me as well, having…
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Be Discerning
Mt. 7:15-20 15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good…
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Bible by the Book
The Bible is made up of 66 individual books, and that oftentimes makes it intimidating to start reading. What is each book about? Where does it fit in the narrative of Biblical history? Maybe a short synopsis of each book would be helpful! This brief article, by no means plumbs the depths of each book,…
The Preacher's Desk 