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A Wild Naked Man Running Towards Me Is A Very Scary Thing
The Summer Before Junior High School was filled with anticipation. I was excited to leave elementary school behind me. Junior high sounded so robust and adult. And I felt ready—with one caveat. Physic... -
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“But I Don’t Want to Die”
My friend Tim is a manager of a small company. Because he often hires people for their first full-time job, he gets to tell new employees about their benefits. One time, Tim was trying to explain to a... -
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When You Encounter a Snake…
When you encounter a snake… catch your breath, calm your heart, and watch it for a few seconds before it glides out of sight. If you do, you’ll see one of the most unexpected, and unnerving, spectacle... -
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God's Image: Our True Identity
God formed us in his image — a glorious thought! — but we all participate in the abandonment of that original identity…Does that mean that your precious little child is a dirty rotten sinner, as some ... -
Quote
Every person enjoys dignity and suffers from depravity. The structure of personality is a result of the interaction of these two dynamics. -
lectionary
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Preaching Commentary Pulling Back the Curtain The Revelation of Jesus Christ is a “pulling back of the curtain” to reveal both the unseen realities of the present (what is really going on in the wo... -
scripture guide
Scripture Guide, Revelation 21:10, 22:1-5
Pulling Back the Curtain The Revelation of Jesus Christ is a “pulling back of the curtain” to reveal both the unseen realities of the present (what is really going on in the world from God’s perspect... -
Quote
On the one side there is God in His glory as Creator and Lord. . . . And on the other side there is man, not merely the creature, but the sinner, the one who exists in the flesh and who in the flesh i... -
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The Fundamental Very-Goodness of Creation
After finishing a major project, have you ever stood back, taken in what you have accomplished, and said to yourself, “That’s pretty good”? I’ll admit that I have on numerous occasions, especially aft... -
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We Are Dust
At the beginning of this season of Lent, on this Ash Wednesday, we are reminded that we are dust and to dust we will return. We are reminded of human fragility and failure. We are reminded that we are... -
liturgy
Kindness flows from you, Lord, pure and
Kindness flows from you, Lord, pure and continual. You had cast us off, as was only just, but mercifully you forgave us; you hated us and you were reconciled to us, you cursed us and you blessed us; y... -
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Getting to the Bottom of the Problem
I love golf. If only it loved me in return. Alas, it is a one-sided romance. My golf swing is the stuff that keeps an instructor awake at night. One kindly compared it to an octopus falling from a tre... -
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Searching for a Screwdriver
The following story by professor and author A. J. Swoboda is a vivid example of how shame works in our lives, often causing us to hide and run away from the pain and embarrassment: One of the greate... -
lectionary
21st Sunday after Pentecost
Preaching Commentary Penitential Psalms When discussing the forgiveness of sins offered in Christ, John Calvin refers to Psalm 32:1 and says, “It is certain that David is not speaking concerning th... -
Quote
The fact [is] that original sin is really original. Not merely in theology but in history it is a thing rooted in the origins. Whatever else men have believed, they have all believed that there is som... -
scripture guide
Scripture Guide, Psalm 32:1-7
Penitential Psalms When discussing the forgiveness of sins offered in Christ, John Calvin refers to Psalm 32:1 and says, “It is certain that David is not speaking concerning the ungodly but of believ... -
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Transgression is Pushing Past Good Boundaries
After the fall of our first parents, boundaries were something to push past, to transgress. It’s worth pausing to note how we use the word transgression for “sin.” With its Latin roots, “across” and ... -
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Transgression, Defined
After the fall of our first parents, boundaries were something to push past, to transgress. It’s worth pausing to note how we use the word transgression for “sin.” With its Latin roots, “across” and ... -
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Mary & Eve
I first encountered Mary and Eve by Sister Grace Remington at my friend’s house in Atlanta. It was hanging as a decoration in their bathroom, and I was stunned by its message. My friends may have been... -
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Transgressing Boundaries After the Fall
After the fall of our first parents, boundaries were something to push past, to transgress. It’s worth pausing to note how we use the word transgression for “sin.” With its Latin roots, “across” and “... -
Quote
The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to ... -
Quote
The first attempt at a response: there must have been a fall, a decline, and the road to salvation can only be the return of the sensible finite into the intelligible infinite. -
Quote
I do not go to church because it is enjoyable (usually it’s not), or because it is never dull (usually it is). I do not go to church because it satisfies my private needs and wishes (it seldom does). ... -
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The genius of the biblical revelation is that it refuses to deny the dark side of things, but forgives failure and integrates falling to achieve its only promised wholeness. -
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Justifying our Sin
I just paid a parking ticket the other day. It was easy. I read the charge against me, flipped the ticket over, checked the box that said “I plead guilty to the charge,” filled out a check for $35 to ... -
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To be alive is to be addicted, and to be alive and addicted is to stand in need of grace. -
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The hope is held out [in Genesis] that one day the Son would be a second Adam, born to answer the first. . . . And this second Adam would give us a second family to belong to—God’s. -
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The most insidious deception in human history is the lie that says, “God is against you.” -
Quote
I wonder as I wander, out under the sky, How Jesus the Savior did come for to die. -
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Mutual Accusations
In the mid-1980s, I helped facilitate a series of conferences between top Soviet and American policy advisers on the question of how to prevent a nuclear war. The times were tense and the accusations ...
![The fact [is] that original sin is](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1416862291207-4ca732144d83?ixid=M3w1NzU0OTZ8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxMXx8bmF0dXJhbCUyMHxlbnwwfDB8fHwxNzM4MzM3MTUzfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&auto=compress&fit=crop&w=200&h=200)
![The hope is held out [in Genesis] that](https://a-us.storyblok.com/f/1016915/1200x800/7349bf221a/jesus-humanity.jpg/m/200x200/smart)
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