Bible and Theology on Encounter

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The Love of God Wrapped About Him

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Scripture

Psalm 4:1-3, Psalm 30:5, Romans 8:28, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 43:2, Psalm 23:4, Job 1:, Job 2:, Job 42:, 2 Samuel 11:, 2 Samuel 12:, Genesis 37:12-36, 1 Kings 17:8-24, Daniel 6:, Psalm 34:18

The sense of Presence! I have spoken of it as stealing on one unawares. It is recorded of John Wilhelm Rowntree that as he left a great physician’s office, where he had just been told that his advanci...

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Author

George Bernard Shaw

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The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for him there.

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Author

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.

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Author

Rick Lambert

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"Everything we encounter today is used by God to prepare us for tomorrow. he wastes no trials, withholds no blessings, nor does he hold back on the discipline of his soldiers. All He does prepare...

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Author

Timothy Keller

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One of the main ways we move from abstract knowledge about God to a personal encounter with him as a living reality is through the furnace of affliction.

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The Great Temptation

Author

Alan Fadling

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 26:3, Mark 6:31, Habakkuk 2:3, Psalm 27:14, Genesis 8:22

In his excellent book, An Unhurried Life, Alan Fadling describes one of our greatest temptations in the modern age—hurry: Hurry is a great temptation. Hurry looks like impulsive, knee-jerk reactions...

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The Privileged Site of God’s Comfort

Author

Robert Barry Leal

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Scripture

Exodus 3:1-2, Deuteronomy 8:2, 1 Kings 19:4-5, Psalm 63:1, Isaiah 40:3

Especially in the Hebrew Bible, wilderness is the privileged site where God comforts the Hebrew people or their representatives at times of crisis in their lives. In the wilderness God calls and leads...

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Sixth Sunday of Easter

Author

Eunice McGarrahan

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 3:13-22

Summary The Text: 1 Peter 3:13-22 In the first chapter of this letter, Peter sets out the reason for writing. He affirms the eternal state of the believer: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lo...

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Third Sunday of Easter

Author

Paul Koptak

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Scripture

1 Peter 1:17-23, Isaiah 40:6-8

(Scripture quotations below are from ESV unless noted otherwise.) Liturgical Context On this Third Sunday of Easter, the Revised Common Lectionary texts harmonize with the epistle’s praise of Jesus...

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The Old Testament: The Real World

Author

Phillip Yancey

Keywords

Scripture

Judges 16:1-31, Job 1:6-22, 2 Samuel 13:1-22, Matthew 14:1-12, Luke 23:13-25, Psalm 22:1-31

The Old Testament portrays the world as it is, no holds barred. In its pages you will find passionate stories of love and hate, blood-chilling stories of rape and dismemberment, matter-of-fact account...

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The Gift of Scripture

Author

Alan Fadling

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"Rub Some Bible" on It? My wife Gem and I were discussing a podcast she’d heard in which the host talked about quoting the Bible “for those who feel the need for that sort of authority.” ...

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Author

Marianne Meye Thompson

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Scripture

John 20:19-31

Many of the disciples have seen the risen Lord…. Thomas simply wants what the others have been granted: an encounter with the risen Jesus. No doubt he gives voice to the desires, the longings of many ...

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Psalm 22 | Feeling Forsaken by God

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 22:, Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34, Hebrews 2:12

Ancient lens What’s the historical context? A Structured Complaint The Psalmist organizes his complaint against God in three sections. The first two sections dramatize the complaint (vv. 1-11 and...

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Based on John 4 (2)

Author

Ellen R. Dawson

Keywords

Scripture

John 4:null

Living God, our souls thirst for living water. Open our hearts and minds to your Word this day, so that, like the Samaritan woman, we may have a grace-filled encounter with you, the Living Water.

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Lord Jesus—the same yesterday, today

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Matthew 5:9, Ephesians 4:32, James 5:15-16, John 14:27, Psalm 34:18

Lord Jesus—the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, and the author of change, who’s constantly doing “a new thing,” which makes us sit up and take notice. We admit, we’d be more comfortable with a pred...

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Please give us mercy, Oh Lord, for how

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

John 17:17, Micah 6:8, Psalm 51:10-12, Hebrews 4:12, James 1:22, Isaiah 66:2

Please give us mercy, Oh Lord, for how we have misused your word. We ignore it, discredit it, weaponize it, and commandeer it to prop ourselves up. Instead, please make us humble, bring us low, so tha...

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Faithful and Good God–our Father,

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Psalm 46:1, Matthew 11:28-30, Philippians 4:6-7, James 1:5, 1 Peter 5:7, Isaiah 41:10

Faithful and Good God–our Father, Redeemer and Companion. You know all about us–and love us anyhow; nothing we are or do surprises you or puts you off. Therefore, we turn to you with assurance and tru...

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Prayer of Adoration Lord, our Lord –

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Scripture

Psalm 8:1, Isaiah 6:1-8, Luke 19:1-10, John 8:1-11, Micah 7:18-19

Prayer of Adoration Lord, our Lord – How excellent is your name in all the earth. Because of who you are – we praise You. Because of what you’ve done – we thank You. You are a Father to the fathe...

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Why Humility is Essential to Christian Leadership

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:null

A Rude Awakening Just as I began my seminary education, filled with a love of learning and a hunger to serve God, I attended a lecture. It was given at a nearby think tank, and the presenter was an a...

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Mountains: 1, 1 Kings 18:22-39

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

1 Kings 18:22-39, Psalm 121:1-2, Genesis 12:8, Psalm 42:null, Psalm 121:null

Why Start with Mountains? When we join the story, Elijah has been in conflict with King Ahab and Queen Jezebel over the turning of the nation and the people toward Baal. Meanwhile, a drought has s...

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The Thrill of Truth in a Time of Fads and Fashions by Trevin Wax

Author

Trevin Wax

Keywords

Theology

"Just Believe..." “It doesn’t matter what you believe, just as long as you believe something.” That’s the sentiment once expressed by President Dwight Eisenhower. America would be stro...

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Author

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Keywords

The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the resu...

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Packing for Passage on the Mayflower

Author

Bill Bryson

Keywords

Many of us struggle to know exactly what to pack when we go on our various travels. The Pilgrims in their voyage to the new world were no different. As Bill Bryson describes in his book Made in Americ...

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Pilgrimage and Progression

Author

Christian George

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Pilgrimage is centered around one thing—progression. God does not call us to be static saints, even if we cannot move physically. We are constantly on the move spiritually, evolving in our understandi...

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Author

Robert Barry Leal

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Especially in the Hebrew Bible, wilderness is the privileged site where God comforts the Hebrew people or their representatives at times of crisis in their lives. In the wilderness God calls and leads...

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Author

Richard Hendrix

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Second only to suffering, waiting may be the greatest teacher and trainer in godliness, maturity, and genuine spirituality most of us ever encounter.

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The Journey of Reconciliation is Grounded in the Practice of Lament

Author

Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice

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The first language of the church in a deeply broken world is not strategy, but prayer. The journey of reconciliation is grounded in a call to see and encounter the rupture of this world so truthfully ...

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The World of the Old Testament (Can Seem a Bit Edgy)

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Old Testament

The Old Testament portrays the world as it is, no holds barred. In its pages you will find passionate stories of love and hate, blood-chilling stories of rape and dismemberment, matter-of-fact account...

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Understanding Cultural Identity

Author

Daniel Hill

Keywords

No writer has had a greater impact on my understanding of cultural identity than Dr. Beverly Tatum. …When introducing cultural identity (or racial identity, a term she uses synonymously), Tatum tells...

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To Remember & Observe: Sabbath in a Jewish Home

Author

A. J. Swoboda

Keywords

We must begin by remembering. If you journey into a contemporary Jewish home prepared for Sabbath, you will likely encounter two candles lit by (more often than not) the woman of the home. On Friday e...

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