Christian Living on Struggles

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Scripture

Ephesians 2:8-9, Isaiah 57:15, 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, Romans 5:8, Galatians 3:28, James 2:5, Matthew 11:28

The kingdom is not an exclusive, well-trimmed suburb with snobbish rules about who can live there. No, it is for a far larger, homelier, less self-conscious caste of people who understand they are sin...

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Putting the Saints into Circulation

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

Matthew 5:16, James 2:17, 2 Corinthians 4:7

There's an intriguing story about Oliver Cromwell, who, while serving as Lord Protector of England, faced a tricky cash flow issue. When he found himself short on precious metal for coins, he sent...

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Almighty God, too often we settle for

Author

Laura B. Murray

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Scripture

Romans 12:18, Psalm 51:10, Isaiah 1:17, James 2:13, Micah 6:8, Matthew 5:6

Almighty God, too often we settle for brokenness in our lives. Rather than offering forgiveness, we hold onto offense. Rather than pursuing justice, we turn away . Rather than offering mercy, we c...

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Not Heeding the Call

Author

Jeff Volkmer

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Scripture

Micah 6:8, Hebrews 13:16, Galatians 6:9-10, Proverbs 3:27, 1 John 3:17-18, James 2:14-17

Just the other day, I was out on a bike ride for some exercise. Because I work for a high-end cycling company, I had the opportunity to test ride one the bikes we make – a bike that comes with a price...

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Author

James A. Baldwin

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Beliefs

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Romans 7:19, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 139:23-24, 2 Corinthians 13:5, James 2:17

We have all had the experience of finding that our reactions and perhaps even our deeds have denied beliefs we thought were ours.

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Labor Day Prayer

Author

Walter Rauschenbush

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Matthew 25:40, Isaiah 58:10, Colossians 3:23-24, Proverbs 31:8-9, Micah 6:8, Galatians 6:9-10, James 2:45-17

O God, Father of us all, we praise you for so binding humanity together that we must each lean upon the strength and labor of others. We ask your blessing on all men and women who have worked to build...

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The Problem with Apologetics

Author

Joshua Chatraw and Jack Carson

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:2, James 2:19-20, 1 Corinthians 8:1-2, Ecclesiastes 1:18, 1 Corinthians 2:5, Philippians 3:10, Matthew 7:21, 24-27, James 1:22

The Oxford scholar and apologist C. S. Lewis... once closed a lecture to a group of apologists like this: I have found that nothing is more dangerous to one’s own faith than the work of an apologis...

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Author

Francois de La Rochefoucauld

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Scripture

Genesis 4:3-10 , 1 Samuel 15:13-24 , Isaiah 29:13-15 , Luke 18:9-14, James 2:10-13 , Psalm 32:3-5

We readily confess our little faults in order to suggest that we have no big ones.

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Reflecting on Shusaku Endo’s Novel and Film, Silence

Author

Nikki Toyama-Szeto

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Scripture

1 Peter 2:12, Galatians 3:26-28, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, John 13:34-35, Acts 2:42-47, Matthew 28:19-20, James 2:17-18

In Silence, Shusaku Endo writes of the journey of Portuguese Jesuits journeying to Japan. It is a conversation about those who intend to take the path of Jesus, only to find they are on the path of Ju...

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When the Humble and Powerless become our Teachers

Author

Rachel Clark

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Scripture

Matthew 18:3-4, 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, James 2:5, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Luke 18:17

Henri Nouwen is a well-loved writer and theologian who taught for decades at some of the most prestigious institutions in the country, but he left behind the academy to serve among the disabled popula...

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Be a Catalyst for Change

Author

David Peterson

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Scripture

Exodus 3:7-8, James 2:15-17, Luke 10:25-37, Proverbs 3:27, Micah 6:8, Matthew 5:16

At the 5-mile mark in the Old Kent Riverbank Run a guy passing me said, “Hey buddy, you dropped your key.” There was no getting home without my key. Like a salmon swimming upstream I headed back into ...

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Incarnation Essential to Reconciliation

Author

Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:9-10, Proverbs 19:17, Hebrews 13:2, 1 John 3:17-18, James 2:15-16

In their thoughtful book on reconciliation, Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice share how Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement showed up in the lives of the working poor, which ultimately enable...

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This-Sidedness and Other-Sidedness

Author

Thomas Kelly

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Colossians 3:2, Isaiah 58:10, John 6:27, James 2:15-17, Matthew 6:33

In his excellent little book, A Testament of Devotion , written almost a hundred years ago, Thomas Kelly describes the tension that all ministries must live in; the focus on this world or the wor...

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A Professor’s Question

Author

Source Unknown

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Scripture

Micah 6:8, James 2:1-4, Matthew 25:40, Proverbs 17:17, 1 Corinthians 12:26

A college professor met his new class on the first day of school. He stood before the students and gave a nice introduction to the class and about himself. Upon completion of his monologue, he looked...

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What Do You Do?

Author

Steven Garber

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Matthew 25:35-40, Isaiah 58:6-7, Proverbs 24:11-12, James 2:15-17

I recently had lunch with a former British boarding school chaplain. He remembers being with the boys in his school the morning thirty years ago that the very first pictures of widespread starvation i...

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Inspired by James 2:1-17

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

James 2:1-17

Lord, help us to be a people known for the ways in which we live out our faith by loving and serving all people, even those who, in the world’s eyes, have little to offer us. By treating them with dig...

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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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The Showdown Between Ambrose & Theodosius

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 3:8, 1 Samuel 16:7, Isaiah 1:17, Micah 6:8, James 2:1

In the Christian faith, we frequently take for granted how radically Jesus evens the playing field. No matter your wealth, your position, let alone your race or gender, all of us are equal in God’s ey...

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Live out your faith this week by doing

Author

Bud Thoreen

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:16, 1 Peter 4:10, Matthew 5:16, James 2:17

Live out your faith this week by doing good deeds, God is with you.

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God of mercy, we ignore the needs of

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:35-36, James 2:15-17, Proverbs 19:17, 1 John 3:17-18, Isaiah 58:6-7

God of mercy, we ignore the needs of people around us all too often. We get caught up in our own issues and forget that there are millions of people who struggle for basic necessities on a daily basis...

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Holy God, we confess that we have been

Author

Cody Sandahl

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:1-2, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 5:22-23, James 2:17, Romans 12:1-2, Revelation 3:15-16

Holy God, we confess that we have been lukewarm about living our faith in Jesus each day. We put off to tomorrow what we know in our hearts you want to happen today. We go through the motions of relig...

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Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

James 2:17, Hebrews 6:10, Ephesians 2:10, Galatians 6:9, Matthew 5:16

What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neig...

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Author

Austin Fischer

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Scripture

Galatians 6:3-4, Titus 1:16, 2 Timothy 3:5, Revelation 3:15-16, 1 John 3:18, Matthew 23:27-28, James 2:14-17

Christianity has suffered more casualties from faux faith than from honest doubt.

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Hearing the Confessions of the Poor

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

John 13:14-15, James 2:13, Isaiah 58:7, Matthew 5:3, Psalm 34:18, Luke 7:47-48

Angela’s Ashes took the publishing world by storm when it was released in September 1996. It won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize in the category of Biography/Autobiography. It was also a...

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Through the grace of Christ Jesus who gave

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 72:12-13, Romans 5:10, Proverbs 19:17, 2 Corinthians 8:9, James 2:5, Matthew 25:40, Luke 4:18

Leader: Through the grace of Christ Jesus who gave His body and shed His blood for our forgiveness, hear and believe that “he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He h...

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Author

Steve Stockman

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Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:17, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 19:1-10, Luke 23:39-43, Titus 2:11-12, Philippians 2:12-13, James 2:17-18

Evangelicals believe they are saved by grace through faith but then add a man-made waiver that you have to work as hard as you can meet middle-class behavioral patterns to hang onto it.

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A Nice Theory

Author

Lynn Anderson

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 4:10, Matthew 5:16, James 2:17-18, Galatians 6:9, Proverbs 11:25, Luke 6:38

Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than receive.” “Well,” you say “that is a nice theory—but is it really true?” There is really only one way to find out: Give! Give generously and consistently, ...

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All: Gracious God, we have become

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:40, Matthew 25:31-46, Micah 6:8, James 2:15-17, Luke 6:27-36, Isaiah 58:6-7, 1 John 3:17, Zechariah 7:9-10, Colossians 3:12, Proverbs 21:13

All: Gracious God, we have become callous to those in need, holding back compassion yet unsparing with judgment. We defend our motivations, rather than using all you have given us to love and care for...

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The Hitchhiker Who Pulled a Gun on Me

Author

JR Woodward

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:20-21, Matthew 5:44, James 2:1, Proverbs 16:7, Ephesians 2:14-16

I was driving in Columbus, Ohio, when I came upon a hitchhiker who alternated between holding his thumb out and clasping his hands together as if he were praying. I picked him up. His name was Mike, a...

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Author

Viktor E. Frankl

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:10, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, James 2:15-17, Hebrews 13:3, Matthew 25:35-36, Philippians 4:12-13

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficie...

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