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Are You Over-preaching?
Last week, I wrote about knowing who is saved. Not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, though everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. If both are true, then from what do we need to be saved? Acts 27:31 has another story of being saved:…
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Who Will Be Saved?
In this twenty-first century, with all the knowledge and collective understanding of mankind, preaching simply, “Repent and be baptized,” will only be effective for the few who are ready to do so. Preachers who give this message often accompany it with something like, “The road is narrow that leads to life, and the road is…
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Calling All Church Leaders
Anyone who calls themself a Christian has a responsibility to be like Jesus. But nearly nobody is really like Jesus. To become like Jesus, one must suffer in life, learning humility, selflessness, and sacrificial love. Yet Jesus had a life full of joy, seen as a party guy who dined with “sinners.” In the first…
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Jesus Loves Gisèle Pelicot
How could a loving God allow a woman to be raped by her own husband, and then raped by dozens of men, only to be shocked by police who revealed to her how those men ravaged her body while she was unconscious? The New York Times Magazine published Mme Gisèle Pelicot’s horrid story told in…
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Is the Bible Perfect?
“…but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away.” – 1 Corinthians 13:10 (BSB) Some people believe that 1 Corinthians 13:10 refers to the Bible. Some say it refers to Jesus. But the writers of the letter, Paul and Sosthenes, don’t specify what “the perfect” is exactly. A clue about what they meant is in…
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A Psalm for Our Battle
Oh Lord, You created me for your purpose, Yet this burden is too heavy for me to bear alone. Where are Your servants? I am ambushed by forces not seen by the naked eye; But you protect me and keep them from harming me. Strengthen my mind, my subconscious, to thwart it by your Word.…
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Charlie Kirk
Charlie Kirk is all over the news and worldliness is making it even worse. The shooting is a demonstration of the state of the world. Lack of love prevents us from listening to each other. Nobody is good. Who are we to judge one another? Psalm 15 (Berean Standard Bible, emphasis added) 1 O LORD,…
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Psalm 10:15 – Remembering Katrina
Psalm 10 suits the 20th anniversary of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, when the world got to see what racism can accomplish. On the news we saw Black people “looting” whereas a few White people were just helping themselves. The media was still unaware of their implicit biases, with some exceptions. And many are still…
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The Beginning of the World (Genesis 4:25-26)
The world of humans When I think of the world, I think of it as the Greek word κόσμου (“kosmou”), which differentiates it from any word referring to the earth or the universe. This world of the cosmos, containing the thoughts and feelings of mankind and the spiritual realm, which most people cannot see, is…
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What is Love
Jesus showed us a love that is deeper than the love among family, a love that leads us to be willing to die for each other. When we practice the love described in 1 Corinthians 13, we practice the kind of love Jesus gave.