Christians are exiles. That is, what Christians believe is becoming increasingly strange to the culture around us. We don’t need to fear this because God’s people have been here before. In the Bible, we are called ‘exiles,’ ‘strangers,’ and ‘foreigners,’ dozens of times. There’s plenty in the pages of Scripture to direct our thinking and…
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The perception religious people often have of salvation is that it’s a “get out of jail free card.” It’s an “insurance policy” we can cash in when we need it. One of the reasons I love to read and study the Bible is that it so frequently challenges my assumptions and makes me rethink my…
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Found all throughout life, including sports, there is story. A plot is established. There’s a sense of anticipation. Good stories create tension, dissonance, and mystery. There are moments where the story is not going the way you would like. There are even times when the story doesn’t end the way you’d like it to; but…
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New Year’s resolutions are upon us. Goal setting can be a good thing, and perhaps one goal you need to have in 2016 is to be less busy. Here’s one thought that may help fuel your motivation. Jesus was a busy man. He was in high demand. Crowds flocked to Him. Everybody wanted a piece…
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High school was challenging for me. I attended a large public high school in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with a graduating class of 460 students. Socially it was a nightmare. I had come from a very small, private middle school and as a result was clueless to what was and was not “cool.” Early in my…
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When talking about religion, sometimes you’ll hear someone say: “Basically, all religions teach the same thing.” The implication that person is probably drawing from this statement is that no religion is the one, true religion. There are a number of responses I might give to this claim, but one of them would certainly go like…
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So you say you have ‘faith’. Great! But is the faith you say you have the kind of faith that will save you? The Bible clearly elucidates a kind of faith that is fraudulent; one that will not hold up under the scrutiny of a holy God on the last day. Are you sure the faith you…
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This is the final installment to this short series on “Sloppy Christian Sayings.” The purpose in doing a series like this isn’t to be harsh or critical of what Christians say. The purpose is simply to encourage us to pay more careful attention to the details of Scripture. God bothered to put it there, so…
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We are all guilty, at times, of making statements that may ring true to our ears, but upon careful reflection may not be entirely accurate. I’m doing a short series of blog posts on “Sloppy Christian Sayings.” My previous post took up the statement: all sins are the same. Today: God loves everybody the same….
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We live in a “one-liner” world. Catchy, pithy statements go viral every day. With ever decreasing attention spans, many Westerners today do not have the capacity for extended, thoughtful reflection. As a result, the extent of our views on the issues are limited to 140 characters, or thereabouts. While there is a place for these…
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