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Praying them in rather than out
When our two boys were very little, a mentor commented that fathers often pray when an adult child has made bad decisions or is in an unhealthy relationship. We should certainly pray then, but he commented, “How much wiser is it to pray earlier, for a young father to pray that the child will grow…
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My yoke is easy …
Jesus noted in Matthew 11: 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” It is commonly…
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Mary and Martha (Lk 10:38-42)
We all have heard sermons that Martha should have stopped cooking and sat down with Mary at the feet of Jesus. “Turn off the oven and sit down, Martha!” Not exactly. Someone needs to cook. When Jesus was finished talking, everyone expected to eat. So, why was Mary correct and Martha wrong? We need to…
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Crown of Righteousness
In my previous post, I quoted Paul’s verse from 2 Timothy: Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day (2 Tim. 4:8). When we hear “crown,” we often have a mental image of the crown of a king or…
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Lost her Battle with Cancer
“Aunt Betty lost her battle with cancer.” We often hear a phrase like this, commonly murmured respectfully in church. It meant this wonderful Christian woman, my wife’s Aunt Betty, died. I hate this expression. It suggests that we win the battle with cancer when we live (through some treatment) or the cancer is in remission…
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Faith that Moves Mountains
We all know well the statement by Jesus: For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matt. 17:20) Personally, I have never seen a mountain move.…
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The Antichrist
When we hear “antichrist,” we usually think of the Revelation, End-Times, multi-headed beasts and other weird stuff. Yet, John mentions there are many antichrists: Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.…
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The Widow’s Mites
Jesus’ teaching about the widow who gave two pennies* into the Temple offering is one of the most beloved stories of Jesus. Who among us hasn’t had his or her heart stirred by a sermon about the sacrifice of the widow who gave all she had to the Temple? No church building campaign would be…
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Complegalitarian
On the topic of “women in ministry,” we typically discuss two viewpoints: complementarian and egalitarian. Like a good Westerner, there are of course two options. Whenever I hear there are two options, it makes me nervous. I wonder if we are squeezing the topic into a western mold. Let me use a different example. In…
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Thanksgiving
Dr. Bernie Cueto preached a great sermon this past Sunday on Thanksgiving. He reminded us that we should be thankful whether we feel it or not. Our Thanksgiving is based on the facts of what God has done and is doing in our lives, not on whether I happen to feel thankful at this moment.…
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Biblical Thoughts
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