Neuroscientists tell us that when we give, it stimulates the same dopamine release in the brain as when you win a game, eat a really good meal, listen to a favorite song, have sex, or win an award. Generosity causes your body to overflow with feelings of happiness.
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During one particularly challenging season with one of our kids, I felt exasperated. It’s one thing to think I’ve taught all I was supposed to teach, but it’s another thing to realize that what was taught might not have been caught. In my frustration, I reached out to a friend for help.
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What’s confusing about this is that there aren’t any specific laws against census-taking. With many of the other sins in David’s life, we can point to chapter and verse to say why it was wrong. But counting his people? Where’s the law against that?
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When it comes to demons, I’ve found that most Christians believe there are only two categories in which the demonic operate: oppression, where bad things happen around us; and possession, where a demon completely takes over someone’s body. (Of course, some Christians ignore the presence of the demonic altogether, which—as C.S. Lewis pointed out in The Screwtape Letters—pleases the devil just as much as fascination with him.)
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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. Elijah served as a prophet during the reign of one of Israel’s worst kings, King Ahab. After years and years of unfaithfulness, Elijah confronted the king face to face, telling Ahab that as a sign of God’s wrath, God was going to withhold rain—not even a ...
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Tim Keller once said that our society determines what is right and wrong based on two questions: 1. Do I want to do it? and 2. Does it hurt anybody? And if the answer to the first question is “yes,” and the answer to the second is “no,” then it can’t possibly be wrong.
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Our church planters often ask me, “What’s the one secret to building a great church?” They look at me eagerly, notebooks in hand, ready for my answer. I know they want a technique, a plan, or a guarantee. But this is what I give them: Put your hope for success in God’s mercy and not your ability.
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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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