Thought Exercise on Needy

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The King and the Beggar

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 19:17, Acts 20:35, Matthew 6:19-21, Proverbs 11:25, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, Luke 6:38

There is an old story of a king who went into the village streets to greet his subjects. A beggar sitting by the roadside eagerly held up his alms bowl, sure that the king would give handsomely. Inste...

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Putting Ourselves in the Way of Sick and Needy Sinners

Author

John Starke

Keywords

Heart

Here is the first step of prayer in a universe where God has put on flesh to be with us: we must put ourselves in the way of his friendship to sick and needy sinners. The heart naturally resists this ...

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What Do You Need Most?

Author

Jim Reapsome

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 21:13, Matthew 25:40, Luke 4:18, James 1:27

Teenage prostitutes, during interviews in a San Francisco study, were asked: “Is there anything you needed most and couldn’t get?” Their response, invariably preceded by sadness and tears was unanimou...

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Vulnerability vs. Fauxnerability

Author

Chuck DeGroat

Keywords

Twenty-five years ago, when I was just getting started, vulnerability was not a high value. Things have changed. But with a higher value on transparency, authenticity, and vulnerability in the church,...

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The Global Church Stewarding Resources Together

Author

Brian Fikkert & Russell Mask

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 11:29 – 30, Romans 15:23 – 33; 1 , 1 Corinthians 16:1 – 4; 2 , 2 Corinthians 8:9, Romans 15:30 – 31, 2 Corinthians 8:13 – 15

The Bible envisions the global church as one body with no national or geographic boundaries. This one body is called to steward all of its resources — spiritual, human, technological, theological, org...

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Kindness and the Character of God

Author

Christopher H. J. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 34:6–7, Genesis 39:21, Micah 6:8, Titus 3:4–5, Luke 6:35–36, Psalm 136:1

In the Old Testament, God is often praised for his kindness. There is a beautiful word in Hebrew— hesed —which is so rich in meaning that it gets translated in many ways. Very often it is translat...

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Defining the Soul is Difficult

Author

James Bryan Smith

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 2:7, 1 Kings 19:4-8 , Ecclesiastes 12:7 , Matthew 11:28-30, 3 John 1:2, Psalm 43:5, Psalm 42:5

The soul can be difficult to define. The great theologian Karl Barth confessed, “We shall search the Old and New Testaments in vain for a theory of the relation between the soul and body.” Your soul i...

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A Scriptural Backing for Pursuing Justice

Author

Justin Giboney

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 59:14-17, Micah 6:8, 2 Chronicles 19:6–7, Romans 13:1, Luke 4:18–19, Psalm 72:4, Romans 13:4, Amos 5:15

The prophet Isaiah describes God as a purveyor of righteousness and justice continually, and speaks to God’s expectation that his children will bring about righteousness and justice as well. Justice i...

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Pursuing the Common Good Throughout History

Author

Don Everts

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 22:39, Philippians 2:3-4, 1 Corinthians 10:24, Romans 15:1-2, Galatians 6:10, Romans 12:10, Acts 20:35, Matthew 25:35-40, Isaiah 58:6-7, Proverbs 19:17, Luke 10:30-37, James 2:15-16, 1 John 3:17, Proverbs 31:8-9, Matthew 25:40, Acts 11:29-30, 2 Corinthians 8:13-15, Acts 2:44-45, Acts 4:32-35, 1 Corinthians 12:25-26

Pursuing the common good has been a strong marker of the Christian church from the very beginning. The early church had many habits that they became known for, of course—including meeting frequently, ...

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The Giving Society

Author

Randy Alcorn

Keywords

Generosity

Scripture

2 Corinthians 9:7

I attended a gathering of givers where we took turns telling our stories. The words fun, joy, exciting, and wonderful kept surfacing. There were lots of smiles, laughter, and tears of joy. One older c...

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A Little Girl and The Founding of World Vision

Author

Soong-Chan Rah

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:35-40, James 1:19-27, Luke 10:33-37, John 21:15-17, 1 John 3:17-18, Ruth 2:8-12, Acts 9:36-42, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Luke 6:38

In 1947 huge crowds came to hear a thirty-two-year-old Californian preach at mass evangelistic rallies throughout China. Although Bob Pierce had no knowledge of Chinese language or culture, his messag...

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How Tithing Could Change the World

Author

Ron Sider

Keywords

In Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don't Give Away More Money, the authors point out that if Americans who professed to be "strong" or "very strong" Christians tit...

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These Impious Galileans

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 22:37-39, Matthew 25:35-40, Luke 3:11, Ephesians 5:2, Acts 2:42-47, James 2:14-17, Galatians 2:10, Psalm 72:12-14

A passage often referred to in order to describe the sacrificial, countercultural quality of the early church comes to us interestingly enough, from one of its strongest critics, known later to histor...

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Tara Storch Experiences a Heart Transplant

Author

Max Lucado

Keywords

In the spring of 2010 a skiing accident took the life of her (Tara Storch) thirteen-year-old daughter, Taylor. What followed for Tara and her husband, Todd, was every parent’s worst nightmare: a funer...

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The Biggest Misconception about Giving

Author

Randy Alcorn

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 10:29-30, Proverbs 3:9-10, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, Luke 6:38, Matthew 6:19-21

What’s the biggest misconception Christians have about giving? That when we give money away to a church or ministry, or to help the needy, it’s gone. While we hope others will benefit from it, we’re q...

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The Path of Explaining

Author

Emily P. Freeman

Keywords

Decision-Making

Scripture

John 14:26, Romans 12:1-2, James 1:6, Psalm 119:105, Isaiah 55:8-9, Proverbs 3:5-6

In her book, The Next Right Thing, Emily Freeman describes the difficulty in making decisions, including the decision that would eventually lead to her enrollment in Graduate school. After a prolonged...

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Desire is something no child has to be taught

Author

Curt Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 21:8-21, 1 Samuel 1:9-20 , Proverbs 22:6, Psalm 37:4, Matthew 18:1-5, Luke 11:9-13

Desire is something no child has to be taught. Early in the developmental process, most of a child’s desires center around physical needs being met or objects that attract interest. If a child is secu...

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Needs Can Be Good

Author

A. J. Swoboda

Keywords

Needs are not bad. If God is sovereign and the “first good” comes before sin invades the world, then why did God wait to create the woman until later? In my mind, there can be only one rationale: God ...

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Desperate for Attention

Author

Ashley Hales

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 16:13, Exodus 33:14, Isaiah 49:15–16, Matthew 18:3–4, Luke 15:20–24, Psalm 139:1–3

We’re little children wandering the aisles of the internet because we’ve lost the presence of our loving parent. We are desperate for the attention of a good Father who sees us. We have no idea how to...

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Your Biggest Need

Author

Paul David Tripp

Keywords

Needs

What is it that you need most? No, it’s not that girl or that new car that you’ve had your eyes on. It’s not that promotion you’ve worked so hard for or that vacation you’ve dreamed of. No, it’s not t...

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Habit Loops

Author

Shelly Miller

Keywords

According to the groundbreaking book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, his research tells us that cravings drive our “habit loops.” Some of us crave escape or relaxation through the habit of a g...

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The Meaning of Entitlement

Author

Kristen Welch

Keywords

Selfishness

Entitlement is a hot topic today. The root word entitled means exactly what it says—to give someone a title or a right. It used to be reserved for the wealthy and the privileged, based upon economics ...

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Mine! Mine!

Author

Clay Scroggins

Keywords

Selfishness

Do you remember those birds in Finding Nemo? They get me every time. As they fight for what’s on the ground, they are flying around screaming, “Mine! Mine! Mine!” Never has Disney nailed a picture of ...

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A Different Perspective on the Narcissus Myth

Author

Chuck DeGroat

Keywords

In his important book When Narcissism Comes to Church, professor and therapist Chuck DeGroat makes an important connection between shame, narcissism and addiction by looking at the myth of Narcissus. ...

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Suspicion Towards the Poor

Author

Kevin Blue

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:42, Luke 6:30, Proverbs 19:17, Matthew 25:35-36, Deuteronomy 15:7-8

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Therefore, don’t give a man a fish.” This is the cultural mantra of many in the middle and upper ...

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Coveting Yesterday and Today

Author

Wayne Stiles

Keywords

Remember how you felt that Christmas when your sister opened the gift you wanted? Or when your brother got a T-bird for graduation and you got stuck with the family Nova? Fast-forward to today and ask...

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The Idol of Niceness

Author

Sharon Hodde Miller

Keywords

Being Nice

The idol of niceness refers to the ways we make ourselves pleasant, agreeable, acceptable, or likable in order to get something. We use niceness to achieve belonging or avoid conflict, but we also use...

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Getting Your Deepest Desire Isn’t Always a Good Thing

Author

Timothy Keller

Keywords

My wife and I once knew a single woman, Anna, who wanted desperately to have children. She eventually married, and contrary to the expectations of her doctors, was able to bear two healthy children de...

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Desire is part of what it means to be a child

Author

Curt Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 2:18-25, Exodus 16:2-12 , Proverbs 3:11-12, Psalm 1:4, Matthew 18:1-4, Luke 15:11-32, Matthew 18:3

Desire is part of what it means to be a child, as implied in Jesus’ words to his disciples when he tells them, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never ente...

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Looking to Be Filled In All the Wrong Places

Author

Ashley Hales

Keywords

The more I use stuff to fill up my hungers, the more distance I put between God and myself. And as I continue to fill up my infinite hungers with finite things (when I run through the Starbucks drive-...

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