Christian Living on Conversation

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Who Determines Your Behavior?

Author

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Scripture

Romans 12:1, Matthew 5:44, Proverbs 15:1, 1 Peter 3:9, Luke 6:31, Galatians 6:9, Colossians 3:12-13, 1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Genesis 50:20, Philippians 2:3-4, James 1:19-20, 1 Samuel 24:17

Some years ago, the syndicated newspaper columnist Sidney J. Harris shared an interesting anecdote from one of his friends. Each evening, this friend would stop at the same newsstand to buy a newspape...

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Author

Bob Goff

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Scripture

Philippians 2:3-4, Galatians 2:20, James 1:19-20, Romans 12:3, Proverbs 15:1, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Matthew 11:28

Arguments won’t change people. Simply giving away kindness won’t either. Only Jesus has the power to change people, and it will be harder for them to see Jesus if their view of Him is blocked by our b...

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The Reason He Never Shared His Vision

Author

William H. Willimon

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Scripture

John 3:19-20, Luke 5:8, Isaiah 6:5, Hebrews 4:13, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Hebrews 12:29, James 1:22

I am still haunted by a long conversation I had with a man who was a member of one of my early congregations. . . . He had a stunning vision of the presence of the risen Christ . . . [and] had never t...

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5 Steps to Handling Strife Within the Church

Author

Mike Kenyon

Keywords

Scripture

James 4:1, Philippians 2:14, 1 Corinthians 14:33, James 1:5

Conflict in Ministry Have you ever whispered to yourself, “I didn’t sign up for this?” I confess those words have passed through my mind more than once over the years. When I started out in ministry...

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Wrestling with the Devil or God?

Author

Ronald Rohlheiser

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 32:24-28, Genesis 32:30, Hosea 12:3-4, Hebrews 5:12-14, 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-4, Luke 9:23-24, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Maturation is a lifelong journey with different phases, human and spiritual. And it has many setbacks. What can be helpful is to have a grasp of the natural seasons of our lives and how these interfac...

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Certainty vs. Vulnerability

Author

Austin Fischer

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Scripture

Galatians 5:6, John 20:27, Mark 9:24, 2 Corinthians 4:18, Romans 8:24-25, James 1:5-6

In this excerpt from his book Faith in the Shadows, pastor and author Austin Fischer shares a surprising truth about the need to be vulnerable with our own faith if we are likely to have a positive im...

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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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The Art of Remembering

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:17, Ephesians 4:null

The Necessity of Memory Memory—or, more actively, remembering , plays an all-important role in our lives. Our culture likes us to focus on the now, "looking forward rather than looking back&q...

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The Christmas Gift

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 61:3, John 11:32-35, Romans 8:28, Genesis 37:50, James 1:17, Romans 6:23 , 1 Corinthians 12:28

A preaching professor at Harvard University tells the story of the year his 5-year-old son was working on an art project in his kindergarten class. It was made of plaster, resembled nothing in particu...

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Author

Fred Craddock

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 10:25-37, Luke 10:38-42, James 1:19-25, Mark 1:35-38, Ecclesiastes 3:1

There is a time to go and do; there is a time to listen and reflect. Knowing which is a matter of spiritual discernment. If we were to ask Jesus which example applies to us, the Samaritan or Mary, his...

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How To Keep Your Kids From Talking All the Time (Unfortunately, Through Lying)

Author

Steve May

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 10:19, James 1:19, Matthew 12:36, Colossians 4:6, Amos 5:13, 1 Samuel 3:

My friend Joi told me that when she was growing up, her parents invented a ploy to keep her from talking all of the time. They told her that people are allowed only so many words in one lifetime, and ...

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The Principle to Persuasive Christian Communication

Author

Willowbank Report

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 10:1, Ephesians 4:2-3, Romans 12:3, Colossians 4:6, Matthew 23:11-12, Proverbs 11:2, James 1:19

In a statement created by Christian leaders across the world, the Lausanne Willowbank Report calls for church leaders to return to the humility and servanthood that Jesus manifested in His earthly min...

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Listen to your Life

Author

Frederick Buechner

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 118:24, Colossians 3:17, Matthew 6:34, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Proverbs 3:6, James 1:17

Listen to your life. All moments are key moments. I discovered that if you really keep your eye peeled to it and your ears open, if you really pay attention to it…Taking your children to school and ki...

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Father God, you come to us in the

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:22-25, Isaiah 30:21, Proverbs 2:1, Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 7:24-25, Romans 10:17, 1 Samuel 3:, Isaiah 55:3, Matthew 11:15, Acts 16:14

Father God, you come to us in the everyday. You give us your Word and your Spirit that we might hear your voice, and follow your ways. We confess that we have neglected your words to us and pretended ...

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Author

Eugene H. Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:28, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, James 1:2-4, Philippians 4:11-12, Colossians 3:23-24, Proverbs 3:5-6

The only opportunity you will ever have to live by faith is in the circumstances you are provided this very day: this house you live in, this family you find yourself in, this job you have been given,...

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Gracious God, as we turn to your Word

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Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Acts 17:10-12, Acts 8:26-40, Romans 10:17, James 1:22, Hebrews 4:12

Gracious God, as we turn to your Word for us, may the Spirit of God rest upon us. Help us to be steadfast in our hearing, in our speaking, in our believing, and in our living. Amen.

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Author

Benedicta Ward

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 3:18, John 13:1-17, Luke 10:25-37, Matthew 4:18-22, James 1:22, Romans 12:1, Mark 10:15

It is possible also to come at Christianity from a rather different point of view as well, seeing it as something not too difficult but too simple for us, too basic, something to be apprehended theref...

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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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Prayer of Confession for Transfiguration Sunday

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Scripture

Proverbs 3:5-6, Micah 6:8, Matthew 6:33, James 1:5, Philippians 2:3-4

Save us, Glorious Christ, from every false understanding and motivation Save us from the temptation to just stay on the mountain Save us from the temptation to never engage Save us from the temptation...

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Author

Mark Buchanan

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:23-24, Philippians 2:14-15, Psalm 90:17, James 1:26, Ephesians 4:29, Hebrews 13:15

Next time you’re tempted to complain about your work, praise God for it instead. Next time you open your mouth to gossip about people you work with or smear those you work for, stop yourself and turn ...

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Adapted from James 1:19, Ephesians 4:29, Proverbs 18:21, Psalm 19:14

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:19, Ephesians 4:29, Proverbs 18:21, Psalm 19:14

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only wha...

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Daring to Glance

Author

Terry Linhart

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 12:15, 1 Corinthians 13:12, James 1:22-25, Psalm 19:12, Proverbs 14:12, Jeremiah 17:9, 1 Corinthians 3:18-19

One helpful, practical tool to understand our blind spot is what’s called the Johari Window, an image developed as a counseling tool in the 1950s. Subjects were given a list of fifty-six adjectives, a...

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Being Careful Not to Commit

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 10:38, James 1:6-8, Matthew 6:24, Romans 7:19, 1 John 2:15-17, Psalm 139:23-24, Luke 9:62

I say my prayers, I read a book of devotion, I prepare for, or receive, the Sacrament. But while I do these things there is, so to speak, a voice inside me that urges caution. It tells me to be carefu...

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“He Was Against It”

Author

Paul Tan Lee

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 5:11, Galatians 5:19-21, Proverbs 6:16-19, 1 John 1:8-9, James 1:14-15, Isaiah 59:2

President Calvin Coolidge returned home from attending church early one Sunday afternoon. His wife had been unable to attend, but she was interested in what the minister spoke on in the service. Cooli...

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Heavenly Father, we confess that we see difficult

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 12:1-2, Acts 16:16-34, 1 Kings 17:8-16, James 1:2-4, Romans 8:28, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Philippians 4:12-13

Heavenly Father, we confess that we often see difficult circumstances and discouragement as barriers to doing the work you have called us to do. Rather than rejoicing in what you have provided, we lam...

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Lord Jesus, Master of both the light

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 4:12-17, John 1:1-14, Genesis 1:3-4, John 8:12-20, James 1:1-18, Ephesians 5:8-9, 1 John 1:5-10

Lord Jesus, Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas. We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day. We who are an...

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Kingdom-Based Coffee

Author

Jonathan Walton

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:23-24, Galatians 6:9-10, Philippians 2:4, Matthew 5:16, Proverbs 31:8-9, James 1:27

Brandon and Faith Lee, who started Bird and Branch Coffee, are what faithful witnesses look like. When they sat down across from my wife and me, they had a dream to start a coffee shop that would serv...

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Author

Thomas Merton

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:2-3, Matthew 5:9, Proverbs 15:1, 2 Timothy 2:24-25, Philippians 2:3-4, James 1:19-20, Colossians 4:6

The mission of Christian humility in social life is not merely to edify, but to keep minds open to many alternatives. The rigidity of a certain type of Christian thought has seriously impaired this ca...

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Draw us close, Holy Spirit, as the

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Acts 17:10-12, Romans 10:17, James 1:22, Hebrews 4:12

Draw us close, Holy Spirit, as the Scriptures are read and the Word is proclaimed. Let the word of faith be on our lips and in our hearts, and let all other words slip away. May there be one voice we ...

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Author

Terry Tempest Williams

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 2:5, Romans 8:24-25, James 1:5-6, Romans 10:17, Isaiah 40:31, Proverbs 3:5-6

Faith is the centerpiece of a connected life. It allows us to live by the grace of invisible strands. It is a belief in a wisdom superior to our own. Faith becomes a teacher in the absence of fact.

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