Thought Exercise on Trials

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Surface Winds and Deep Ocean Currents

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 19:21, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, Psalm 42:7-8, Romans 8:28, Isaiah 55:8-9

In the frigid waters around Greenland are countless icebergs, some little and some gigantic. If you’d observe them carefully, you’d notice that sometimes the small ice floes move in one direction whil...

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Fire Renews Life

Author

Mia Levetan

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 43:2, Malachi 3:2-3, 1 Peter 1:6-7, Hebrews 12:11, Isaiah 48:12

According to Bill Tripp, a member of the Karuk tribe in Northern California and a forest manager, Fire is that which renews life. A lot of people have been conditioned to look at it as a threat and...

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The Witness of the Ten Boom Sisters

Author

Rachel Clark

Keywords

Sisters Corrie and Betsie ten Boom were ultimately sent to the Ravensbrück after being arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 for hiding Jewish people and members of the Dutch resistance from the Nazis. In ...

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Journeying: Finding the True Value of Life

Author

Brad E. Kelle

Keywords

“Follow the yellow brick road.” In L. Frank Baum’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (later made famous by the 1939 film adaptation, The Wizard of Oz ), these words provide the directions given to Doro...

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Jesus’ Trial

Author

John Stott

Keywords

Trials

In his seminal work, The Cross of Christ , British pastor and author John Stott describes the unique, upside-down kingdom instituted on the cross: One of the fascinating features of the Gospel writ...

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Case Closed?

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Daniel 3:16-18, Esther 7:3-6, Jeremiah 32:17, Psalm 2:1-6, John 20:19-20

During the infamous Dreyfus trial in France, Jewish army officer Captain Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused of treason, sparking a national scandal marked by anti-Semitism and injustice. Among Dreyfus...

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The Jury Finds the Defendant…[Cough] Guilty

Author

Peter Kennedy

Keywords

On April 14, 1999, 32-year-old Alan Rashid stood in a Cardiff, Wales’ courtroom. He was charged with the crime of threatening to kill. Just as the foreman of the jury read the verdict, a throat-cleari...

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Afraid of Myself

Author

Timothy Keller

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 10:12, Romans 7:24-25, Ecclesiastes 7:20, 1 John 1:8, Mark 7:21-23, Romans 7:18-19

Adolf Eichmann was one of the Nazi architects of the Holocaust who escaped after World War II to South America, where he was caught in 1960 and taken back to Israel for a trial. He was tried, found gu...

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This Butterfly Thrives in Fire

Author

Mia Levetan

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 43:2, Malachi 3:2-3, 1 Peter 1:6-7, Isaiah 48:10, Hebrews 12:11

The St. Francis Satyr is a tiny butterfly on the endangered species list. This butterfly only lives on the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina. Before heavy conservation efforts took place, the...

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The Cellist of Sarajevo

Author

James Bryan Smith

Keywords

Scripture

Habakkuk 3:17-18, John 16:33, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, Romans 12:17-21, Psalm 57:

From 1992 to 1995 the world witnessed one of the worst civil conflicts, the Bosnian War. Three factions, each tied to a religion (Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats, and Muslim Bosniaks), began attacking...

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Who cannot relate in the digital age

Author

Jonathan Haidt

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 2:18 , 1 Kings 19:9-13 , Job 2:11-13, John 16:32, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Psalm 25:16-17

Who cannot relate in the digital age to the irony of being overconnected and lonely all at once? Yet Chief Justice John Roberts, speaking at his son’s middle school graduation, exhorted the young grad...

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Consolation Defined

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Romans 12:15, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 34:18, Matthew 5:4, Psalm 46:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Ruth 1:16-18, John 11:32-35, John 14:1-4

The etymology of certain words can profoundly enrich our understanding and experience of life. Consider the word “consolation.” Its roots lie in the Latin words “con-” meaning “ “to be ” and “solus,...

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St. Anthony, the Great Desert Monk

Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 19:21, Isaiah 30:15, Mark 1:35, Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13

St. Anthony, the “father of monks,” is the best guide in our attempt to understand the role of solitude in ministry. Born around 251, Anthony was the son of Egyptian peasants. When he was about eighte...

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Skin is Meant to be Touched

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 9:21-22, James 5:14-15, Jeremiah 17:14, Isaiah 53:5, Psalm 147:3

Brenda Peterson is an author whose work crosses multiple genres, including fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books. In an essay entitled In Praise of Skin, Peterson shares a true story from her own ...

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Sleepwalking in a Dark Wood

Author

Dante Alighieri

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 119:105, 2 Corinthians 4:6, John 1:5, Isaiah 50:10, Psalm 23:4

For many of us, life can easily become disorienting and discouraging. Existential questions often emerge that never have before. As stressful as modern life can be, it is somewhat comforting to know t...

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Faith Like a Journey

Author

Samuel Rodriguez

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:31, Acts 20:24, Hebrews 12:1-2, James 1:2-4, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 37:23-24, Philippians 3:13-14

While global flights and online booking have made travel easier in many ways, other aspects, often related to safety and security, still create challenges. As often as I fly, I could tell you plenty o...

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Storms Defined in Scripture

Author

Tony Evans

Keywords

Storms

Scripture

John 16:33

For context, a storm in Scripture refers to an adverse set of circumstances. When the Bible speaks of a storm, the writer is conveying negative events entering into a life. A storm connotes trouble, t...

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Eric and Kate

Author

Andy Crouch

Keywords

Loss

Before I really talk with Eric and Kate for the first time, I can already make a rough guess of their status and occupations. Eric is athletic, handsome, in a suit with an open collar; Kate is dressed...

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It is Well

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:4, Psalm 147:null, Psalm 34:18, Revelation 21:1-8, 2 Corinthians 1:3-12, Romans 8:18-28, John 11:null, 2 Thessalonians 3:16, John 14:27, 1 Peter 5:7, Daniel 6:, Psalm 46:, Psalm 23:, Job 1:, Job 2:, 2 Samuel 11:, 2 Samuel 12:

If you ever travel to Jerusalem and are looking for sites to see, beyond all the ‘must-see’ sites related to Ancient Israel, the Temple Mount, and the sites associated with Jesus, you might venture to...

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Sour Grapes

Author

Mark Twain

Keywords

Remember Aesop’s Fox? Having spied some ripening grapes on a lofty branch, he tried with all his might to jump and take them. Once it dawned on him that he would not—could not—succeed, sulked away, sa...

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Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Author

Max Lucado

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 11:1, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 37:23-24, Isaiah 43:2-3

Bill Irwin was not the first person ever to walk the Appalachian Trail. He was not the only individual to begin in Springer Mountain, Georgia, and conclude on Mount Katahdin, Maine. Other adventuresom...

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The Danger of Discipleship

Author

Eugene H. Peterson

Keywords

Discipleship

Scripture

John 15:5, Matthew 7:24, Romans 12:1-2, Luke 6:46, James 1:22, Colossians 2:6-7

The great danger of Christian discipleship is that we should have two religions: a glorious, biblical Sunday gospel that sets us free from the world, that in the cross and resurrection of Christ makes...

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Don't Give the Enemy a Seat

Author

Louie Giglio

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 6:12, Psalm 23:null, James 1:19-20, Psalm 23:5, Ephesians 6:12

During an especially difficult season planting a church, pastor Louie Giglio was filled with the raw emotions that often accompany the messy side of pastoral ministry. Without going into much detail, ...

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Jesus’ Trial: A Failure of Justice

Author

John Stott

Keywords

Justice

Scripture

Romans 3:23-24, Acts 3:13-15, 1 Peter 2:22-23, Isaiah 53:7, John 18:38, Luke 23:13-15

One of the fascinating features of the Gospel writers’ accounts of the trial of Jesus is this blending of the legal and moral factors. They all indicate that in both Jewish and Roman courts a certain ...

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The Corinthian Judgment Seat

Author

Discover Revelation

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:10

The city of Corinth was famous for the Isthmian Games, a festival of athletic contests and events similar to the Olympic games. At the end of each contest or event, the athletes would appear before a ...

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A Reward Seat

Author

Source Unknown

Keywords

During the ancient Greek Olympics, the judge of the contest sat on an elevated seat. After the contest was over the competitors came before him to receive their rewards. This was not a judicial bench ...

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When Evil Is Dethroned

Author

Philip Yancey

Keywords

Sometimes evil can feel so strong, so powerful, that its damage seems permanent and the final word on the subject. In this short excerpt from Philip Yancey, we see a reversal, perhaps a foretaste of w...

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God in the Dock

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Job 40:2, Isaiah 45:9, Daniel 4:35, Isaiah 55:8-9

The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge...

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Surrounded by a Great Cloud of Witnesses

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

In his book Unshakeable Faith , Max Lucado shares a true story about a friend who competed in an Ironman Triathlon in Lake Placid, New York. You can compete in Ironman races around the world in p...

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The Road to Hope

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 5:3-5

On May 20, 1990, 42-year-old Georgene Johnson arrived 15 min early for her 10K race (6.2 mi) as part of the Revco-Cleveland Marathon and found runners already heading down the course. So, she jumped i...

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