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Does God Want Me To Be A Patriot? Thoughts On Independence Day

sunset-flag-america-fields-large via pexels - labeled for reuse on google images

Independence Day

It’s 3:30 in the afternoon, at the time of this writing, on the 4th of July, Independence Day. And I’m thinking about patriotism. I wonder about it sometimes, patriotism, because sometimes it can lead to decisions that hurt another human being simply because someone isn’t from our own particular country. So I get that there are problems with patriotism. Those problems make me wonder what God wants from us. They make me wonder if he wants me, and you, to be patriotic.

What Does The Bible Say? Read More

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 Posted on July 5, 2016 by

 Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young

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Is Believing In Jesus All That’s Required? (Because after all, Jesus gave us commands)–John 6:22-40

Marriage via pixabay - Public Domain

We left off in our study of the book of John with Jesus allowing his disciples to be battered about by a storm. There may have been a good reason for that. If you’re interested you can read the last post from the Gospel of John here: What It Takes To Be Glad About Jesus: John 6:16-21.

The Work Of God

The morning after the storm, what the crowd saw was that Jesus sent his disciples over to the other side of the sea of Galilee in a boat, and then he himself hiked up a mountain to pray. What they didn’t see was Read More

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 Posted on July 2, 2016 by

 Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young, John

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Things I Heard In Church: “I had picked my wheelchair. It was bright, like my shoes.”

Wheelchair and stairs“For nine months I was in bed without moving, at all, just my head. And every single doctor told me, I would never walk again, ever. I had picked my wheelchair. It was bright, like my shoes. I had decided I was going to go to Special Olympics… with that wheelchair because it had the [kind of] wheels for that. I was literally rooted to my bed, and I could not move, and everybody told me that I would never move again. And then one day, while reading the scriptures for only the first or second time… I came across this passage: Luke 17:5-6”

From Gaby Viesca’s excellent teaching on 06/26/2016, Growing Together, Luke 17:1-6

Image via Christos Doulkeridis – Creative Commons

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 Posted on July 1, 2016 by

 Bible Study, Things I Heard In Church

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The Article About Anger That Might Make You Angry

Josep_Vergara,_Caïm_i_Abel (1)

Cain and Abel by Josep Vergara, 18th Century

The Article About Anger That Might Make You Angry

I have to confess, I was reluctant to write and publish this article about anger, because I’m concerned it will make people angry. But maybe in spite of my better judgment . . .

Jesus Nerd

If you follow my Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ accounts you know I put up scripture on these almost every day. More than one person has criticized me for it, but what can I say — I’m a Jesus nerd. I’m completely fascinated by this ancient Jewish Rabbi, so much so that I just can’t help myself. I want to learn all that I can about him, and I want to share him with others. Anyway, recently, on Facebook, I posted the words from Jesus, “. . . I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…” (Matthew 5:22) And a friend of mine, Danny, asked in the comment section, “What do you think is meant by ‘brother’?” Read More

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 Posted on June 25, 2016 by

 Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young, Marriage, Suffering

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Things I Heard In Church: Where The Dishonest Manager Placed His Bet

Paying Bills by Robbie Wagner-CCThings I Heard In Church: Where The Dishonest Manager Placed His Bet

Jesus tells the story of this manger who was about to be judged by his master, his boss, because he was wasting his master’s possessions.

The master calls him in and says, “What’s this I hear about you? Turn in your stuff. You can no longer be my manager.”

And the manager Read More

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 Posted on June 24, 2016 by

 Bible Study, Things I Heard In Church

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What It Takes To Be Glad About Jesus: John 6:16-21

rowing-a-boat-on-rough-seas-pv“I AM” Walking On Water

In our last post from the book of John we left off with Jesus withdrawing into the mountains to escape the crowd of 5,000 who wanted to make him king by force, after he fed them. And around this time, Jesus tells his disciples to take a boat to Capernaum. So that’s what happens. Jesus heads to the mountain and the disciples jump into a boat and start to row across the Sea of Galilee toward Capernaum. I don’t know if you’ve ever rowed a boat before, but if you have you know Read More

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 Posted on June 18, 2016 by

 Bible Study, John, Suffering

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Orlando Shooting: The Hard Part Most Are Missing

Shooting_at_Pulse_Nightclub-Wikimedia Commons

Emergency vehicles on scene at the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando

I just want to share a few thoughts on the Orlando Shooting. Thought number three in particular is the most difficult and it applies to you, and to me.

1) It’s a horrible tragedy. This was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Fifty died, and fifty-three were injured. My heart breaks for the victims and their families. They’re in my prayers and I hope they’re in your prayers too.

2) We need to guard against acts of terror in the most sensible and effective way possible. This is where everybody wants to go when they discuss the Orlando tragedy. This is the part that’s most popular in the media and in the blogosphere. I have my own opinions, but the purpose of this blog isn’t to offer up the actions I believe we should take to prevent attacks like this one. The purpose of this blog post is to focus on something more difficult.

3) The hard part, the most difficult thing we need to guard against, is this: Read More

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 Posted on June 13, 2016 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young, News

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Forcing Jesus: John 6:14-15

 

Control by runran-CC

The Crowd That Decided To Force Jesus Read More

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 Posted on June 11, 2016 by

 Bible Study, John

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Things I Heard In Church: You’re A Slave

You’re A Slave

From my notes on Rick Stark’s excellent Bible study at Life Collective, Wednesday, 6/8/2016.

Whatever you Read More

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 Posted on June 10, 2016 by

 Bible Study, Things I Heard In Church

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Things You Should Know About The Author Of This Blog: I Drive A 1998 Lincoln Continental With A Torn Headliner

Lincoln Headliner Cropped.JPG

Things You Should Know About The Author Of This Blog: I drive a 1998 Lincoln Continental with a torn headliner–and I like it.

And here’s why… Read More

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 Posted on June 9, 2016 by

 Things You Should Know About The Author Of This Blog

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What To Do When You Have Little To Offer: John 6:1-13

Fish in Hand by WorldFish-CCA Lack Of Bread (and Fish)

After the healing on the Sabbath at the pool of Bethesda, and after Jesus’ amazing and elegant response to the hatred of the Pharisees, Jesus heads to the other side of the Sea of Galilee where he sits down with his disciples. And because of the miracles he was performing, a large crowd follows him. Read More

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 Posted on June 4, 2016 by

 Bible Study, John

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2 Approaches That Attract 2 Different Kinds Of People, My Way and Jesus’ Way: Things I Heard In Church

(Let me just say right off the top, this is for me as much as (or more than) it is for anyone else.) From Matt Bowen’s excellent teaching: 05/22/2016, Sheep and Coins, Luke 15:1-10.

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.'” (Luke 15:1-2)

Who’s drawing near to Jesus?

“Who’s drawing near to Jesus?” That question causes me to take pause, and to ask, “Who’s drawing near to me?” It’s a good question to ask because if sinners are attracted to me as they are to Jesus, then I’m more conformed to his likeness. But if sinners avoid me…

Here are two different approaches to relationships that explain the why behind what kind of people are attracted to you, and to me. Read More

 1 Comment

 Posted on June 3, 2016 by

 Bible Study, Things I Heard In Church

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