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Why So Afraid?
Bob Newhart, in his classic comedy sketch, “Stop It!“, plays a psychologist who offers unusual therapy to his patients. The patient in this particular sketch is a woman who expresses fear of being buried alive in a box. She laments that her fear is affecting her, even debilitating, in her day to day life –…
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The Word Snatchers
Among the more foolish and frustrating consequences of the cancel culture phenomena is the misuse and abuse of certain words – words which, of themselves, are perfectly good and useful, but which for any number of reasons are hijacked from their actual meanings and used as weapons of cultural warfare. My old friend, Randy Nabors,…
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Those Blasted Presbyterians
“I fix all the blame of these extraordinary proceedings upon the Presbyterians.” Around the same time, Horace Walpole spoke from the English House of Commons to report on these “extraordinary proceedings” in the colonies of the new world. “There is no good crying about the matter,” he said. “Cousin America has run off with the…
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A Prayer for the Fourth of July
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” ~ Galatians 5.1 Lord Jesus, it’s the Fourth of July – a holiday set aside to remember and revel in the freedom we enjoy as citizens of America. As…
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Trusting God in the Face of Death
Two heavyweight proponents of gospel, grace, and godliness – Michael Horton and Tim Keller – discuss suffering, forgiveness, Justification through Faith, Evangelicalism (and Fundamentalism), along with a number of other topics in this thoughtful conversation between old friends. (According to Horton, this conversation was his last with Tim Keller, before Keller’s death in Spring of…
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The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards Categorized
The resolutions of Jonathan Edwards is a treasure trove of thoughtful godliness. The earliest of these Resolutions were penned when Edwards was still a teenager – age 19. The list was completed as Edwards was finishing his formal education and beginning his ministerial life. For the rest of Edwards’ remarkable life, part of his regular…
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The Problem of Pretentious Piety
Brennan Manning, in his thoughtful book, Ruthless Trust, identifies a problem with the superficial spirituality of pretentious piety: In a world where the only plea is “Not Guilty”, what possibility is there of an honest encounter with Jesus, who “died for our sins”? We can only pretend that we are sinners, and thus only pretend…
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The Value of Ministries of Mercy
It seems that Micah 6.8 is quite clear and straight-forward in its summary of living as God’s People in this world: He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?To do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Yet, for some reason, many Christians, and too many churches,…
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The Spirituality I Want
“I want neither a terrorist spirituality that keeps me in a perpetual state of fright about being in a right relationship with my heavenly Father nor a sappy spirituality that portrays God as such a benign teddy bear that there is no aberrant behavior or desire of mine that he will not condone. I want…
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It’s Not An Escape Route
I have not looked up the social science data to back up my premise, but I strongly suspect that the pervasive perception of Evangelical Christianity – at least of American Evangelicals – is that we are far “more heavenly minded than of any earthly good.” That’s a caricature, I know. But it is an understandable…
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A Guide for Personal Prayers of Confession
Perhaps the most common expression of a prayer of confession is the following: Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our…
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Thoughts of God
I appreciate Justin Taylor for causing me to consider two seeming conflicting perspectives from two 20th Century giants of the Christian faith: A.W. Tozer and C.S. Lewis: A. W. Tozer, from The Knowledge of the Holy: What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind…
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Exposing Injustice & Creative Non-Violence
In light of the seeming incessant increase of social and political tension, acrimony, and even violence, I find this thought from the folks at The Bible Project on how Jesus wants his followers to respond to injustice and injustices – both real and perceived – to be a worthwhile reminder: “Jesus invites his followers to…
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Insights Into Ecclesiastes
As I read through and study Solomon’s Book of Ecclesiastes, for personal enlightenment rather than for preparation to teach, I appreciate the insights offered by Douglas Wilson, through his book Joy At the End of the Tether: The Inscrutable Wisdom of Ecclesiastes. First, I appreciate the “scaffolding” Wilson identifies – the two great refrains that…
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