© 2021 markzfilter. All Rights Reserved. Unsplash. Used by permission.

In an attempt to appear fair, the man suggested we flip a coin. “Heads I win, tails you lose,” he said as he tossed the coin into the air. Since I was only five years old, it took me a moment to catch on to his humorous deception. There was no way I could win,…

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© 2020 Gerd Altmann. All Rights Reserved. Pixabay. Used by permission.

While attending a speaker conference in Arizona, I made a request of a friend and in doing so, unknowingly put her in a difficult, awkward position. When I realized what I’d done, I pulled my friend aside and began apologizing, tears in my eyes, genuinely sorrowful for what I’d done. When my friend saw how…

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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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© 2020 Anastasia Vityukova. All Rights Reserved. Unsplash. Used by permission.

A Hypothetical Tom and Jack are co-workers on the swing shift at Dirk’s Doumafladgie Manufacturing. Two weeks ago, a horrible explosion at the plant left Jack trapped in an interior room with a wall of fire blocking his only exit. Further complicating the matter, the explosion caused sufficient injury to Jack’s legs that he was…

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© 2019 Chris Sowder. All Rights Reserved. Unsplash. Used by permission.

This week is our final look at the advent of Jesus and how he ushered in an era of forgiveness. Today, we will look at the idea of mandating bilateral activity for forgiveness to occur. There is a concept which holds that for person A to forgive person B, person B must repent, and perhaps…

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© 2019 Chris Sowder. All Rights Reserved. Unsplash. Used by permission.

Last week, we looked at the incarnation, the birth of Jesus, as a bold move on God’s part to spread forgiveness to humanity, and to reconcile the human race to himself. Last week’s assertion was that in our striving to be conformed to the image of Christ, forgiveness and reconciliation is integral to that striving.…

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© 2019 Chris Sowder. All Rights Reserved. Unsplash. Used by permission.

This week, we entered a time for Christ-followers that is traditionally referred to as “Advent,” a celebration of the arrival of Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. As with many holidays, this one has been commercialized and all but stripped of its meaning. Much of the populace has no idea that Christmas has anything at all…

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© 2019 Janeb13. All Rights Reserved. Pixabay. Used by permission.

One of the great difficulties for many to get beyond is the posture of viewing God as against us, accusing us, waiting in eager anticipation for our next stumble. God is viewed as endlessly shoving his finger in our faces, expressing his disappointment in (if not anger toward) how poorly we measure up. It is…

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© 2019 Felix Koutchinski. All Rights Reserved. Unsplash. Used by permission.

In the tenth chapter of Luke’s gospel, and the twenty-second chapter of Matthew’s gospel, we find Jesus speaking of the greatest and second-greatest commandments. The greatest commandment, of course, is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Luke’s rendering includes all your strength. The second…

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