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Jesus and Sinners
Recently, I’ve heard several people comment through various sources (interviews and articles) on how Jesus kept company with sinners, in particular the more “troublesome” sinners, such as prostitutes and thieves. The context of these interviews was to slam conservative Christians. I rarely write about politics on this blog, so this post is not about the slam towards Christians. I will talk about Jesus, however. It’s true. Jesus did keep company with sinners. He traveled with them. He ate dinner with them. He dwelt among them. Considering we’re all sinners, who else would He have kept company with? Once, when confronted by the Pharisees for eating dinner with tax collectors, He…
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My Faith – His Story
Shortly after my birth, my parents became Christians. As I’ve written here before, my mom played a pivotal role in shaping my faith. She taught me about God, Jesus, sin, redemption, and love. Though we weren’t regular church attenders as I grew up, there was still a focus on God that centered on following Him and His ways. At some point, though, my parents’ faith had to become mine. I had to “work out my salvation” and make the choice myself to either follow Him or disregard everything I was taught and follow the ways of this world. I reached this crossroad when I was 19. I had just completed…
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And Mightily, He Did Appear
As I scrolled through the comments on my Facebook memory from four years ago, I was reminded of the desperate, overwhelming feeling I had as I clung to the prayers offered by my friends. My original post asked for prayers for my mom. She had been in the hospital for at least a week, and her prognosis was not good. In fact, it seemed hopeless as we were running out of treatment options. She passed away the next day. One comment caught my attention. A precious friend prayed for the Lord to “show up mightily.” I’m sure when I first read the comment four years ago, I envisioned a miraculous…
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Grief for the Holidays
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Pruning the Heart
If you want a prayer answered quickly, then ask the LORD to show you your heart, that is, to reveal any hidden sins, false beliefs, unbelief, impurity, and so on. He is more than willing to answer that prayer quickly. I’ve prayed this prayer a few times in my life, and it’s always answered. In fact, I’m currently experiencing this now. To say this week has been a bit tough spiritually is an understatement. I’ve been shown through various ways how I could love others better, pray for loved ones more, trust in the LORD wholeheartedly, and give generously without fear. So, why do this? Why pray for God to…
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Grief for the Holidays
Three years ago I faced my first Christmas without my mom. She had passed away six months prior, so I was still in what I call my “year of firsts” – first celebration of my kids’ birthdays, first Thanksgiving, and now first Christmas. I will admit Thanksgiving wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be because we hadn’t spent it with her for the past two or three years. So this particular Thanksgiving, living happily in the land of denial, I was able to pretend all was okay. It wasn’t until a couple of days later, when we started decorating for Christmas, that reality and grief knocked me back…
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And Mightily, He Did Appear
