How do you respond to being hurt by the church It has been said the church is the only army that shoots its wounded. It is a serious condemnation. I’ve been there and felt the truth of it. If anyone ever begins a conversation with the words, “Can I share something in Christian love?” you […]
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How Christians can face temptation. There is no escaping temptation. To think otherwise is to give into the temptation that leads to the sin of pride. Jesus, as the letter to the Hebrews tells us, was human in every way as we are, yet without sin. The synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke each
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Spiritual Growth 9 But, beloved, we are convinced of better things regarding you, and things that [j]accompany salvation, even though we are speaking in this way. 10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, by having served and by still serving the
The faithful remnant and the coming revival The Remnant Today I lead worship for a faithful remnant of a dying congregation. There were 17 in attendance in a worship space that could hold at least 100, maybe 150. The youngest were about 55; the oldest early 80s. Most recent extra services have been funerals. I
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How can the presence of God be described? There is a ministry for teens called Happening. It is a very effective program of spiritual renewal supervised by adults but lead by teens, for teens. At the beginning of the weekend experience the leader asks the participants to with hold their judgment until the end.
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Five foundations of a Christian Worldview What are Five foundations of a Christian Worldview? “World view” is a collection of beliefs, understandings, and concepts about the nature of the universe as a whole and what people know, more or less, about the planet earth, its history and inhabitants. While what is believed doesn’t change what
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Foundational Christian Beliefs about Jesus Then early church There are many different branches on the tree of the Christian Church. We read how the church began in the Biblical book called The Acts of the Apostles, or just Acts for short. In chapter 2 we read about the coming of the Holy Spirit and the
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Faith and Personal Responsibility Someone has said, we should pray like it all depends on God and work like it all depends on us. As with all such sayings this view may be somewhat simplistic. None the less, it is a good place to begin when considering the balance of faith and responsibility. The gift
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Does God Help Those Who Help Themselves. God helps those who help themselves. Hezikiah 35: 3. Of course there is no such, book, chapter, or verse in the Bible. The quotation is from Benjamin Franklin’s Booklet, Poor Richard’s Almanac. It goes together with other sayings by the American Philosopher, Politician, and Inventor. You might remember,
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Christians Can Have Fun There are some people who have a lot of rules. It can feel very restrictive. It can ruin our sense of fun and play. Jesus was not one of those people. He had a great sense of humor and he liked to party. The very first miracle we read about is
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