Christian Living on Building

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Shock-Proof

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:24-27, Isaiah 28:16, 1 Corinthians 3:11, Luke 6:47-49, Psalm 11:3, 2 Timothy 2:19, 1 Peter 2:4-6, Matthew 7:24

The great architect Frank Lloyd Wright was given the challenge of building the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, one of the most earthquake-prone cities in the world. Wright’s investigation showed that a solid...

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The Truth Will Set You Free

Author

Colleen Strachan

Keywords

Scripture

John 8:31-47, John 14:6, John 16:13, Luke 11:28, John 15:7, Matthew 7:24

Dallas Willard gave a series of lectures on the kingdom of God. In one, he discussed the popularity of the phrase, “The truth will set you free” by putting it in its proper kingdom context: The whole...

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Doing the Work Before the Work

Author

Stephen W. Smith

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 24:27, James 1:5, Matthew 7:24-25, Proverbs 21:5, Colossians 3:16-17, Isaiah 40:3-4

In his highly insightful work, Inside Job , Stephen W. Smith provides an important analogy about the importance of spiritually preparing ourselves for the adversity and challenges that come with su...

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Adapted from Psalm. 46; Matt. 7:21–29

Author

Kimberly Bracken Long

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 46:null, Matthew 7:21

God, our rock and refuge, there are plenty of things that we allow to erode our faith in you. When life gets stormy, we let our uncertainty cloud our trust in you. We think we know better and start re...

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Disconnected from the Vine

Author

Sharon Hodde Miller

Keywords

Abiding in Christ

Scripture

Matthew 23:1-12, Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 7:21-23

Christianity can be such a pretty faith. God calls us to wonderful things, to noble deeds, and to be a people of love. We are meant to be kind, joyful, brave, and good. These are attractive qualities ...

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Author

Stanley Hauerwas

Keywords

Scripture

John 15:4-5, 1 John 3:18-19, Matthew 7:21, Romans 10:9-10, Hebrews 11:1, Galatians 2:20

I do not put much stock in "believing in God." The grammar of "belief" invites a far too rationalistic account of what it means to be a Christian. "Belief" implies propos...

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Getting In The Wheelbarrow

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:21, Hebrews 11:6-8, 1 John 3:18, Hebrews 11:1, James 2:17

One of my favorite stories of revealing authentic belief is the story of Charles Blondin, the French tightrope walker. On June 30, 1859, he did his most famous act when he became the first person to c...

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Author

Tim Muehlhoff & Richard Langer

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 4:1-16, Micah 6:6-8, 1 Kings 19:9-18 , Romans 14:12-13, Matthew 7:3-5 , Psalm 139:23-24

The goal of our convictions is to guide our own conduct so that it is pleasing to Jesus, not to guide the conduct of others.

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Not Getting the Message

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:22-24, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Timothy 2:15, Philippians 4:9, Joshua 1:8, Matthew 7:24-25, Colossians 3:16

Reading the Bible without applying it to your life can be downright dangerous. On August 3, 1996, Melvin Hitchens, sat on his front porch and read the Bible. After his Bible reading, this 66 year old ...

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A Map & Our Beliefs

Author

Gregory Koukl

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 3:5-6, Micah 6:8, Matthew 7:13-14, James 1:5, Romans 12:2, Jeremiah 6:16, Psalm 119:105

A few years ago I was with my family in Washington, D.C., a wildly complex city laid out like a square wheel with broken spokes making an angular maze that is a nightmare to navigate. However, my fami...

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Weighing the Options

Author

Bits and Pieces

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 4:8, Romans 12:17-18, Ephesians 4:2, Matthew 7:3-4, James 1:19

Many years ago a senior executive of the then Standard Oil Company made a wrong decision that cost the company more than $2 million. John D. Rockefeller was then running the firm. On the day the news ...

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One False Assumption

Author

Simon Sinek

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 32:null, 1 Timothy 4:16, 1 John 4:1-4, 2 Corinthians 11:14-15, Proverbs 3:5-6, Matthew 7:1-2, James 1:19

On a cold January day, a forty-three-year-old man was sworn in as the chief executive of his country. By his side stood his predecessor, a famous general who, fifteen years earlier, had commanded his ...

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We hear you knocking, O God, as you

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 3:20, Matthew 7:7-8

We hear you knocking, O God, as you stand outside the locked doors of our hearts, waiting and wanting to enter. Help us to throw open those doors, that in this time of worship you may come in as a liv...

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Turning from Judgment to Compassion

Author

Gregory A. Boyd

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 10:5, Matthew 7:1-5, Luke 6:37-42, Romans 14:10, James 4:11-12, 1 Corinthians 4:5

Even for those of us who follow Jesus on a daily basis, the reality is, our sinful nature has infiltrated our minds, and we often find ourselves, either consciously or unconsciously, judging those aro...

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Holy One, help us be still and know

Author

Kimberly Bracken Long

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 46:10, Matthew 7:26

Holy One, help us be still and know that you are God. Too often we move at such a hectic pace that we neglect our relationship with you. Our lives become full of distractions that are nothing but shif...

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The Confession Booth

Author

Donald Miller

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:1-5, Luke 6:37-42, Romans 14:10, James 4:11-12

In his book, Blue Like Jazz , Don Miller tells the story of his time as an evangelical Christian at the extremely liberal Reed College in Portland, Oregon. A part of the underlying theme of the boo...

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Why It can be So Hard to Express Christian Convictions Civilly

Author

Tim Muehlhoff & Richard Langer

Keywords

Scripture

Daniel 3:16-18, 1 Kings 18:21, Isaiah 55:8-9 , Romans 14:5-8, Psalm 119:105, Matthew 7:15-16

First, most Christians attach their convictions to Christ personally. In other words, we form our convictions in order to please Jesus, not ourselves. Convictions do not express what we think or feel ...

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Author

Alexander Pope

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:3, Proverbs 3:5-6, Galatians 6:3, James 3:17, 1 Corinthians 4:5, Matthew 7:1-2

’Tis with our judgments as our watches, none Go just alike, yet each believes his own.

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Just Ask

Author

Dave Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:7, Philippians 4:6, Jeremiah 33:3, 1 John 5:14, Luke 11:9-10, Mark 11:24, John 14:13-14

Steve Jobs was one of the biggest somebodies of our time. He said, "Most people never pick up the phone and ask, and that's what separates the people who do things from the people who just dr...

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Gracious God, give us humble,

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:24, Philippians 2:12-13, John 14:15, Isaiah 66:2, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, James 1:22, Micah 6:8

Gracious God, give us humble, teachable, and obedient hearts, that we may receive what you have revealed, and do what you have commanded. Amen.

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Judgment and Joy Don't Go Together

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:14-16, James 5:9, Numbers 14:27, 1 Corinthians 10:10, Luke 5:30, 1 Timothy 2:8, Exodus 15:24, Luke 6:37, Matthew 7:1-5, 1 Corinthians 5:12

Judgment and joy don’t go well together – no, judgment leads to grumbling. I’m sure you’ve met people in your life who are hard to please – maybe even your parents, or your boss. People for whom n...

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Gracious God, thank you for the gift of

Author

Mark D. Roberts

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 3:18, Matthew 7:16

Gracious God, thank you for the gift of work. There are times when we experience work along the lines of your intentions, when work is fulfilling and fruitful. For these moments we thank you. Yet, we...

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Sometimes Easy, Sometimes Hard

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 3:7-8, Galatians 2:20, Romans 12:1-2, John 12:24-25, Matthew 7:14, Luke 14:27, Matthew 11:28-30

You have noticed, I expect, that Christ Himself sometimes describes the Christian way as very hard, sometimes as very easy. He says, “Take up your Cross”—in other words, it is like going to be beaten ...

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Author

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 17:9, Proverbs 16:2, 1 John 1:8, James 1:22-24, Psalm 19:12, Matthew 7:3-5

You will never make yourself feel that you are a sinner, because there is a mechanism in you as a result of sin that will always be defending you against every accusation. We are all on very good term...

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Author

Martin Luther

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:12-13, John 14:21, Romans 2:13, 1 John 3:18, Luke 6:46, Matthew 7:21, James 1:22

The kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power, that is, in works and practice. God loves the 'doers of the word' in faith and love, and not the 'mere hearers,' who, like pa...

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Sermon Illustration Tuesday (3.26)

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 24:27, John 1:1, Matthew 7:24, John 5:39, John 6:35, John 15:5

In his wonderful book, God’s Big Picture , Vaughan Roberts gives readers an overview of the Bible, focusing on the importance of context for developing a deeper understanding of holy scripture. In ...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 3:23-24, Mark 10:17-22, Ephesians 2:8-9, Isaiah 64:6, Revelation 3:15-16, Matthew 7:21-23

A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world-and might be even more difficult...

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Heaven Getting Their Signals Crossed?

Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:7-8, Mark 11:24, Philippians 4:19, Jeremiah 32:27, Romans 8:28

Right before my freshman year of high school, I was hospitalized for a severe asthma attack that landed me in the intensive care unit. It was one of a dozen such hospitalizations during my younger yea...

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The Problem with Apologetics

Author

Joshua Chatraw and Jack Carson

Keywords

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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Ask, Seek, Knock

Author

Jenny Child

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 5:14, James 4:3, Matthew 13:45-46, Jeremiah 29:13, Matthew 6:33, Matthew 7:7-8, Romans 8:15-16, Mark 10:46-52

May we ask according to your will, not according to our desires, for you will give us what is right for us. May we seek you as the pearl of great price, not half-heartedly but with our whole being, fo...

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