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Countdown of Gratitude
Did you miss the daily countdown in November with quotes and Bible verses on gratitude? You can find it on Facebook or Instagram. They are all pinned for you to save on Pinterest too. Or check out below! 💕
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The Golden Calf
Over the years I have had the opportunity to visit several countries in which I learned a bit about the various people groups and their religions. I have visited Hindu temples in England and India as well as a mosque and Buddhist temple and catholic churches in Chile, Mexico, and Costa Rica. My glimpse into the way other religions worship and endeavor to get to heaven was revealed in their worship by offering burning candles and incense, rice, fruit, and other things to various gods, saints, and prophets. It saddens me when we have the Truth, so returning home to America which was founded on the Christian faith brings me…
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“Easy” Church
During the last few months many of us have been relegated to “doing church” at home whether we have the convenience of watching our pastoral staff online or our family puts together our own time of worship and teaching of God’s Word. In our area we have slowly been able to start back to in-person services with acceptable physical distancing and sanitizing. My church has offered two morning service times to divide up the congregation so we can spread out as deemed necessary. When you have had to miss gathering with fellow believers for weeks, it has been exciting and revitalizing and brought peace and refreshment to my soul with…
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First Things First
Is God first place in your life? When you start your day, what do you do first? What is important in our lives is what will be first. What we think about, what we spend money on, and what we take time to do. Recently I was listening to a podcast that caused me to do a word study of the word “first.” It is used well over 500 times in the Bible, but my focus was on when we are commanded to do or put something “first” in our lives. What or who do we love FIRST? Jesus told us Who was to be first in Matthew 22:37-38, “Jesus…
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Losing Touch
I’m an analyzer by nature – of myself, others, and just life in general. With this season of life we are all in, I’ve been reflecting on my feelings with the goal to “keep captive my thoughts” (2 Corinthians 10:5). In other words I’m trying to ensure my emotions are not pinballing from fear to depression to anger but staying in control. (Read blog post “Who’s in Control?”) Life seems to have been put on hold for most of us, and many of our plans for the future have been cancelled. Thinking about some of these emotions – uncertainty and doubt about the future – I supposed they are probably…
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Scars Tell a Story
There is about a two inch scar on my left thigh that saved my life. In August 1999 I went for a routine annual visit at my dermatologist as I had done for probably the last five years or so. Having a lot of moles, my mom started taking me as a teenager to have them checked. On this particular visit however, one was removed that ended up being melanoma. Since then I have had four more melanomas, plus many other biopsies. I have several scars. I would bet everyone has at least one scar. In fact we all carry scars whether they are physical like mine or emotional. Some…
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Gleaning from the Garden
It is interesting to think two of the greatest spiritual battles on earth took place in gardens. Adam lost the battle to sin in the Garden of Eden giving in to temptation. He chose to disobey God. However, the “Second Adam” – Jesus Christ – chose to submit to His Father’s will in the Garden of Gethsemane. The fate of humanity spins on the axis of these two gardens. Jesus had just taken the last supper (see blog post “The Last Supper”) and washed the feet of His twelve disciples when they started toward the Garden of Gethsemane. Before the meal, Judas had already bargained with the chief priests to…
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The Last Supper
The Last Supper was the Passover Seder meal (Matthew 26:17-30, Mark 14:12-25, Luke 22:7-23) when Jesus chose to tell His twelve disciples about the betrayal that was to happen (Matthew 26:20-25) – how they would abandon Him, and in particular, Peter would deny Him altogether (Matthew 26:34-35). Sharing the bread and wine, He explained His coming death which would be the very next day. The disciples didn’t understand. Up until this point they had seen Jesus perform hundreds of miracles, they had heard His teachings and sermons, and they had traveled with Him and knew He was without sin, yet they still didn’t understand it all (Luke 18:34). Note: In…
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Three Weeks Away
I don’t know about your household, but repeatedly the phrase, “this is crazy!” is said around here. We could be referring to the change in the last two weeks in general, the state of the grocery store, or the way people aren’t taking the word “pandemic” seriously. However, despite all the crazy, life continues and having some normalcy and even things to celebrate are especially important right now. Case in point? Did you realize Easter is less than three weeks away? I’m not sure as Christians that we prepare and celebrate Easter as it should be. Like Christmas, the commercialism of all the bunnies and chicks has taken away its…