I used to preach fairly regularly at an Orlando church with seven identical services over a weekend, the final one on Monday night. (I still sometimes preach there, but they have a larger sanctuary and fewer services.) If the first sermon was bad and unfixable, I knew...
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My heart ached with hunger for some reason to beat. I dreamed of success that led to peace. It’s probably why I went into ministry. Besides the religious expectation that anyone showing a serious interest in Christianity must be destined to be a pastor, I wanted meaning. The problem was that once I had a meaningful calling, I started asking myself if it was meaningful enough.
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A mysterious word at the center of the Lord’s Prayer has stumped biblical scholars for centuries. It’s the word epiousios in verse 11 of Matthew 6, which is translated daily. The trouble with the word is that no one can seem to trace where it came from. Epiousios was so uncommon in the ancient world that the third-century theologian Origen concluded that the Gospel writers had invented it!
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I didn’t pick the text. My pastor assigned it as a part of his series on the Sermon on the Mount. And he gave me Matthew 5:21-26, where Jesus is teaching on anger. I love my pastor, but I do wonder if, in his pastoral concern for me, he assigned the text, hoping to fix me. I know, I know. That’s paranoid, but just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean my ...
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It carved out a sense of belonging and identity for me. But my hope is not in belonging to a fleeting moment within a movement, but to my Savior who is eternally at work, by his Spirit, despite outward appearances.
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Let me tell you about our time. We missed the reception for the new graduates because of construction at Samford. The commencement could have won an award for its length and tediousness. Getting the family together in one place for meals made climbing Mt. Everest look easy.
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"Who will deliver me from this body of death?" If you've been there, then you can feel the pain in Paul's words. But as Steve explains, his hope then is the same one we have now.
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(That’s only the working title. I suspect the publisher will change that, plus many other things in the book. Someone—it may have been John Steinbeck—said to his editor, “Where the h___ were you when the page was blank?” I get that.)
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Is God an impersonal blob, distant and disinterested in the world except for figuring out who the good and bad people are? Is “god” a karma vibe making sure everyone gets what they deserve? Is God a myth that weak, stupid, or oppressive people use to console themselves or dominate other people? Is God a cosmic cheerleader who is concerned mainly with helping you achieve immediate happiness and self-actualization? Or ...
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He survived and called all his friends to see the result of his pecking prowess. That’s woodpecker arrogance on steroids. Many Christians face the opposite—humility on steroids. They don’t even peck.
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