As I entered the stairwell, I noticed someone under the stairs, almost like he was hiding. I remember thinking that that was strange.Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the person jump out of the shadows and swing what looked like a stick.
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Maybe you’ve been afraid to acknowledge that at times you’ve personally been confused by this relationship between the Old and the New Testaments too. You don’t like it when the two friends you set up on a blind date break up. But at least you understand the relationship.
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Martin Luther labeled these two as passive and active. Passive is the righteousness that we receive from God. We do nothing to receive it. Active righteousness is our good works, overflowing from a thankful heart, a new heart created in us by God through a new will empowered by God’s Holy Spirit.
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I’ll often say to people about the teaching, “If you know me, then you know this is an area where I struggle, so we’re going to learn together. I’m placing myself under the same authority as you, the Word of God.”When it comes to the devil’s trinity of fear, shame, and guilt, I really struggle.
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The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming,” which is a translation of the Greek word parousia. Scholars believe that during the 4th and 5th centuries in Spain and Gaul, Advent was a season of preparation for the baptism of new Christians at the January feast of Epiphany, the celebration of God’s incarnation represented by the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus (Matthew 2:1–2), his baptism in the ...
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I obviously didn’t understand everything happening but I did understand I lost something, more than that, someone that I really loved. It was a sad time, but there was also a sense of peace and closure once we buried my grandfather, shared memories, and consoled one another.
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We’re in good company. Everything God does is done in advance . . . way in advance. It’s another subject, but God even considers the prayers we pray before we are born. What? God isn’t bound by time and space. So, past, present, and future are irrelevant to God. He hears the prayers of Moses, Paul, you and your children, and your great-grandchildren before those prayers are ever prayed within ...
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He saved His best work for last. He made humans! When we look at people around the world, we see God’s creativity on display. We have different skin colors, various eye colors and nose shapes, and unique hair textures. We speak thousands of languages and have different accents. We even enjoy different kinds of food and clothes! All these amazing differences reflect God’s creativity, so we celebrate them.
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One of the most dramatic occurred some twenty years ago; I was about fifty years old. To the casual observer I was on top of the world. Our brand-new church sanctuary was bursting at the seams. We added new members every week. The congregation had very little debt and absolutely no doubt that their pastor was doing a great work.
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In Matthew 20:20-28 there is a telling incident about Mary. She went to Jesus and asked him if he would consider special treatment of her sons when he came into his kingdom—one to sit on his right and the other on his left. Jesus didn’t criticize Mary’s request, but when the other disciples heard it, they went ballistic with “Can you believe them?” and “How could they?”
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