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We all experience trials in this life, at least to some extent. Some people seem to have more than their fair share of them, though, while others appear to be relatively trouble free. But appearances can be deceiving. We don’t really know what goes on in other people’s lives unless we know them...
This phrase, “the walking wounded” came into my mind one day, and it stayed with me for a while. I had some idea of what it meant, but not entirely, so I Googled it to find its meaning. And I found these definitions:
• “People who have been injured in a battle or major accident but who are...
Let’s have a show of hands. How many of us, when we go through tough trials, immediately count it all joy? How many of us delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, and in difficulties? How many of us, when people hate us, when they exclude us and insult us and reject our...
A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord...
“And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he...
Confronting Distinguished Bigots
WHILE GROWING UP as an American Protestant with intellectual pretensions, I always wondered why Catholics made such a fuss over Columbus Day. Didn’t they see the irony in the fact that although Columbus was a Catholic, his voyage of discovery was accomplished...
“And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Do you see anything?’ And he looked up and said...
After reading the story told by Jesus of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32):
What I hold the most dear on this earth,
among those things we would count as providential blessings,
would I begrudge my bitterest enemy receiving any of them, even if it meant that the gift to him was a sign of God’s...
LISTEN, FOLKS, TO WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS! THIS COMES FROM
THE BOOK OF LUKE:*
As He [Jesus] entered a village, there met Him ten men who were lepers,
who stood at a distance. They lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus,
Master, have pity on us!” When He saw them, He said to them,
“Go, show...
Now the disciples “had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, ‘Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.’ And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus...
After reading this from Psalm 22:26 (MEV):
…They who seek the Lord will praise him - may
your hearts live forever!
And also thinking about that street phrase,
"Don't be so heavenly-minded that you're no
earthly good"
Just how grounded is untethered faith?
Is it “no earthly-good” to be...
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is...
“Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man...
“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.
“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will...
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you...
“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
“‘I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where...
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.
“‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are...