Imagine there was a monitor attached to the side of your head. At any moment, it would display the exact thoughts—unfiltered—running through your mind. Does that seem cool to you? If so, you’re deluded. It would be a disaster.
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In seminary, I was inspired by the story of two early Moravian missionaries, Johann Dober and David Nitschmann. These men became burdened to reach the inhabitants of an island now known as St. Thomas with the gospel; most of these inhabitants were slaves on a plantation.
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Jim Cymbala, author of Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, once said, “The great battle of our spiritual lives is ‘Will you believe?’ It is not, ‘Will you try harder?’ or ‘Can you make yourself worthy?’ It is squarely a matter of believing that God will do what only he can do.”
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One of my favorite movie scenes of all time is Liam Neeson’s portrayal of the forgiveness of Jean Valjean in the movie rendition of Les Mis. The scene goes like this. (Um, spoiler alert? The book is more than a century old. And the movie came out before most of the people in my church were born. So this isn’t exactly new. But hey, I’m generous, so … spoilers ahead.)
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Prayer is the means by which God gets his work done on earth. Elijah’s prayers literally altered the weather. His story is pretty incredible.
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The story is told of a mother, two men, and a 14-year-old boy on a small plane. There was a malfunction and the plane began to spiral toward the ground. To their dismay, only three parachutes were on board.
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A few years ago, the car I was driving started to have an awful smell. It was absolutely repulsive. I thought it might have been some mildew from water damage, so I pulled it into my garage and used a fan to dry it out.
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When one of my daughters comes home with a broken heart after being betrayed by a friend, I could give her a lecture, some life lesson about how she should have protected herself, or how pain is just part of life. I could do that. But most of us would agree that it would make me a pretty crummy dad. I’d be ignoring the pain she’s experiencing at that moment and only ...
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In almost every trial, there will be a chance to take a short-cut, make a compromise, use a sinful stress-reliever. And while it might be easy to think that God is testing us, the Bible makes it clear that God himself tempts no one (James 1:13).
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“Bending history in the direction of a great yes.” Does that sound outlandish to you? I know I struggle to believe it. But what else does Jesus’ second coming mean, if not the full restoration of justice and peace and salvation? What else are we hoping for, if not the fulfillment of God’s promises, here on earth as they are in heaven?
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