© 2023 kiwihug. All Rights Reserved. Unsplash. Used by permission

Have you ever sat on a jury? I know it makes some people cringe, and they will work with diligence to find a way to get out of serving. I have found jury duty to be a fascinating experience. I got called to the jury pool three times in one year. One of them was…

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This past week, I was engaged in a lively Twitter discussion that revolved around the importance of, effect of, and motivation for obedience – specifically, obedience to the commands of Christ. Obedience is not optional, but neither is it the end in itself. Jesus never said, “Obey me, and here’s the outcome of that,” but…

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© 2019 Jewel Mitchell. All Rights Reserved. Unsplash Used by permission.

Donning a look of deep concern, my counselor fixed his eyes on mine and said, “With everything you have been through over the past two years, I am amazed that you are still sane.” Sometimes life astonishes us with its ability to inflict pain. During a keynote address at the 2019 West Coast Christian Writers…

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© 2017 Aenigmatis-3D Rights Reserved. Pixabay Used by Permission.

My first year in full-time ministry, I worked with a small church in Ruston, Louisiana. I still recall one Sunday morning, walking into the church building and overhearing a lively discussion going on in one of the adult classrooms. With a loud slap of his hand on the table, a frustrated man shouted, “Dammit! I’m…

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© 2017 Priscilla Du Preez. All Rights Reserved. Unsplash. Used by permission.

Faith is neither static nor instantaneous. It is not something we stumble upon and immediately understand. Neither is faith a one-size-fits-all proposition. In saying this, I am not rejecting the idea of truth and error, but rather acknowledging that faith grows as we grow. The faith that sustains me in my walk as a disciple…

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© 2017 Ayo Ogunseinde. All Rights Reserved. Unsplash. Used by permission.

The beginning of Psalm 46 reads, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” (Psalm 46:1-3, NIV-1984) That would make for an interesting…

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Just recently I ran across the all-too-familiar, lazy refrain from those who wish to dismiss the faith of a Christ-follower, calling it blind faith. As a follower after Christ, is your faith a blind faith? Is there even a difference between faith and blind faith? Perhaps the phrase blind faith is really just a redundancy. Maybe my head is…

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© 2016 MORGUEFILE. All Rights Reserved. lauramusikanski. Used by permission.

I recently received a private note from a Shades of Gray reader who is going through a particularly challenging time. When such times are introduced into our lives, we can easily feel overwhelmed, bewildered, devoid of answers to an overflow of questions. We may doubt God, scream at God, cry out to God, or maybe…

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I’m a slow adopter of things the new and improved. I’m not sure why I am that way, but that’s certainly how I’m wired up. I stayed with DOS until Windows 95 was phasing out and Windows 98 was in Beta. I tend to drive a car till it has two balding tires in the…

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