What do you think of when you hear the words “work out”? You probably think of gymnasiums, weights, and all sorts of fitness equipment. Hard work, commitment, time, and resources are necessary to grow and strengthen our physical bodies. While exercise is popular in America today, it’s certainly nothing new.
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Forgiveness is Christianity at its highest level. It reflects God’s immense forgiveness through Christ, and no human expression of forgiveness could ever surpass what Christ has done for us. But extending forgiveness to others also brings with it great blessings upon the Christian life. Let’s conclude this series by considering some of those tremendous blessings.
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For a Christian to be willfully unforgiving is unthinkable. We who have been forgiven by God Himself have no right to withhold forgiveness from our fellow sinners. In fact, Scripture plainly commands us to forgive in the same manner as we have received forgiveness: “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).
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How would you assess the current state of the church? Many believers would deliver a despairing report. Cowardice, compromise, and heresy abound in the guise of church growth strategies and contextualization. Religious broadcasting is overrun with charlatans and salesmen. And the political correctness juggernaut continues to infiltrate congregations.
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There’s nothing subtle about alarms. All potential distractions melt into oblivion when a blaring siren commands our focus. By design, they drown out all other noises and demand our attention. In the same way, when the apostle John heard the voice of the glorified Christ on Patmos, it was startling, arresting, and commanding.
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True reconciliation requires God’s forgiveness; it can occur only if the offended party is willing to forgive and remove the barrier sin creates. The sinner cannot remove that barrier, and so cannot reconcile himself to God. Only the Lord can effect reconciliation by choosing not to count our trespasses against us.
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Years ago, a mundane event turned into one of the more interesting and memorable moments of my life. I was flying from Los Angeles to El Paso, Texas, to speak at a men’s conference. I was seated in the dreaded middle seat, slowly progressing toward El Paso. The man in the window seat next to me was a Muslim from the Middle East. His presence was distinguished and palpable—he was ...
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How are you doing serving in the mission field under your own roof? For those of us with children, we have a solemn biblical responsibility to evangelize them—“to train up a child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6).
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Servanthood isn’t typically synonymous with leadership. In the political and secular realms, leaders are generally people who spend their lives being served rather than serving others. The most visible segments of religion seem to reflect the same attitude as well. Popes and prosperity preachers spend their lives surrounded by an entourage of minions waiting upon their every whim.
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False and superficial religion fills this world. But we who love Christ dare not accommodate our worship to the styles and preferences of an unbelieving world. Instead, we must make it our business to look to Scripture alone to direct our church practices.
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