Tag: faith
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Risky Business
It’s late. Maybe it’s still February 26th? Maybe it’s the early morning hours of February 27th. I can’t remember. But I’m awake. Jackson is snoring next to me. Megan is tossing and turning in the next bed over.
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The thread
“It’s like I’m hanging onto my faith by a thread. I just don’t know what to do anymore.” It’s a powerful image, isn’t it? A hand desperately clinging to a tiny thread connecting him to the Eternal. A weary hand outstretched, tearful eyes, and a gravitational pull towards a threadless life. When someone says that…
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A Fall to Grace
One day morning will dawn, your eyes will open, and you will awaken with the literal reality that the dream you had for yourself is over and it’s time to move on. I can think to specific days in 2000, 2003, 2008, and most recently in summer 2011 when I rolled out of bed with…
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The Community – Individual Continuum
Theologically, we all know that you can’t experience the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus without community. Jesus invites us not to merely partake in communion but to live in communion with one another. (A throwback to the Garden of Eden) Sociologically, we live in society built around the individual. We live in single family…
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If in Doubt… A Prayer for the Week
He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?” Genesis 3:1b O, the temptress. I hear you in the shadows. You slither into my lonely moments and whisper in my ear. And yet… despite you. To spite you. Stomping you out! Ignoring your…
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Lead us to the river bank
Can you imagine what was running through Moses’ head as he stood there on the bank of the Nile waiting for Pharoah to arrive? (Exodus 7) I’m doing what God told me to do. (Kept on Repeat.) Uh, why didn’t I write that down? Did God say today or was it next week? Why didn’t God…
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Stop learning and start acting
I’m surprised how much listening and reading we are expected to do as Christians. Listen to a sermon each week – 35-45 minutes Read from the Bible each day – 15-30 minutes Listen to people read Bible verses and sing songs at church – 60 minutes Attend a weekly mid-week service, small group, or youth…
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A faith that costs you nothing is worthless
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house…
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Freedom to Doubt
There is great integrity in a leader who fosters doubt in his congregation Humans possess curious natural instincts. Of all of creation, no creature is more curious than humans. God created us with this natural instinct. It’s as evident in the Garden as it is in your heart today. Great faith is produced within an…
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What Would Judas Do? Moralistic Therapeutic Deism and You
The youth ministry world is wrestling through the ramifications of what Christian Smith coined as Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. What is MTD? After interviewing 3,000 teenagers, the authors found that many young people believed in several moral statutes not exclusive to any of the major world religions: A god exists who created and ordered the world…