Current Affairs and Causes on Motivations

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Progress, the Secret of Success

Author

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:58, Philippians 3:12-16, Isaiah 43:19, James 1:2-4, Proverbs 16:3

The Double Helix, James Watson’s 1968 memoir about discovering the structure of DNA, describes the roller coaster of emotions he and Francis Crick experienced through the progress and setbacks of the ...

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Confess Your Mixed Motives

Author

Kent Annan

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, James 1:27, Isaiah 1:17, Romans 12:2, Galatians 6:9-10

In U2’s song “One,” Bono sings, “Have you come here to play Jesus / To the lepers in your head?”2 Yes, if you are involved in justice work, you probably have. So have I. This isn’t bad. Just honest. W...

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Struggling with Charity

Author

Kent Annan

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 13:16, Micah 6:8, Luke 6:38, Proverbs 19:17, James 1:27

On the fifteenth of each month, Alicia has thirty dollars withdrawn from her checking account to sponsor Belyse, a beautiful, brown-eyed girl from Kenya, who then gets school and a hot meal each day. ...

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The Importance of Selective Change

Author

Jared Diamond

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 3:1, Romans 12:2, Isaiah 43:19, Hebrews 12:27, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, James 1:2-4

Crises, and pressures for change, confront individuals and their groups at all levels, ranging from single people, to teams, to businesses, to nations, to the whole world. Crises may arise from extern...

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Manipulating Justice

Author

Gary A.Haugen

Keywords

Justice

Scripture

Romans 12:17-21, Matthew 23:23, Amos 5:24, Zechariah 7:9-10, James 1:19-20

As any parent of small children will tell you, children have an amazingly acute sense of justice. Even the most fractional disparity in the distribution of the most trivial family good will be met wit...

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Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:40, Hebrews 12:1-2, Galatians 6:9, James 1:12, Romans 5:3-4, Amos 5:24

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated indi...

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Blurring the Lines

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

1 Kings 3:16-28, Micah 6:8, Proverbs 3:5-7, Matthew 22:15-22 , James 1:5 , Psalm 119:105

Richard Mouw, the former president of Fuller Seminary and a professor of philosophy, shares an amusing anecdote from a lecture by the esteemed Catholic ethicist Charles Curran. During his talk, Curran...

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God, the fact that we feel

Author

Mark D. Roberts

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 24:1, Genesis 1:26, James 1:27, Matthew 25:40, Amos 5:24, Isaiah 1:17

God, the fact that we feel uncomfortable is evidence that we perceive the injustices in our world. We don’t ask you to help us hear the cries of injustice, but rather to give us courage to act against...

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Heather and Mark: Justice Doers

Author

Timothy Keller

Keywords

Justice

Scripture

Luke 4:18-19, James 1:27, Amos 5:24, Jeremiah 22:3, Matthew 25:35-40

I recently met with Heather, a woman who attends my church in New York City. After graduating from Harvard Law School she landed a lucrative job with a major law firm in Manhattan. It was a dream come...

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Author

A Franciscan Blessing

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 1:27, Romans 12:15, Luke 4:18-19, Psalm 34:18, James 1:27

God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts. God bless us with righteous anger at injustice, oppression, and exp...

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Home: A Desire for Permanence

Author

Jen Pollock Michel

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 10:23, James 1:9-12, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Jeremiah 17:7-8, Colossians 2:6-7

Before Seattle resident Edith Macefield died at age eighty-six in 2008, she refused to sell her house to developers for the $1 million they had purportedly offered. Macefield wanted to die at home. Se...

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Caring For Them is What We’re on this Earth For

Author

Thomas G. Long

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 1:17, Colossians 3:12, Romans 12:10, Proverbs 31:8-9, Galatians 6:2, Matthew 25:40, James 1:27

In this beautiful illustration from Tom Long’s well-known preaching guide, The Witness of Preaching , a pastor shares a true story of what valuing human life can look like when God’s Kingdom takes ro...

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Everyday Pain

Author

Alan Noble

Keywords

Scripture

Job 2:11-13, Ecclesiastes 9:11-12, Lamentations 3:19-26, Luke 16:19-31, James 1:2-4, Psalm 34:17-18

I’ve known a lot of people who have lived painful, tragic lives. When I was young, I assumed these people were abnormal. Their suffering was the exception that proved the rule that a well-lived life i...

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Precious Lord, take our hand, Lead us

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

James 1:5, John 14:27, Psalm 34:18, Philippians 3:6-7, Matthew 6:31-33

Precious Lord, take our hand, Lead us on, help us stand; We’re tired, we’re weak, we’re worn; Thru the storm, thru the night, Lead us on to the light, Take our hand, precious Lord, Lead us home. The o...

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Eternal and Glorious God, Your grace

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:2-4, Colossians 3:23-24, 1 John 3:1-3, 2 Timothy 4:7-8, Romans 12:1-2, Psalm 51:10-12, Hebrews 12:1-2

Eternal and Glorious God, Your grace calls us toward growth and service in You. Yet today we acknowledge the many times we have forgotten Your mercy and rejected Your love. Forgive us when we sin agai...

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God of grace and God of glory on your

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Amos 5:24, Psalm 85:6, Psalm 46:1, Isaiah 40:29, Psalm 147:3, James 1:5

God of grace and God of glory on your people pour your power...Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the facing of this hour. Lord—we need You...today, tomorrow and forever. We need you to heal those ...

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God of Wonder and Majesty–You are the

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Psalm 46:1, Micah 6:8, Isaiah 40:31, Philippians 4:6-7, James 1:17, Hebrews 13:8, Revelation 1:8

God of Wonder and Majesty–You are the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and End... our past, present and future. You’ve come in the past ...You’re here with us now ...and You’ll come again in power and g...

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Calling into Question the Status Quo

Author

Os Guinness

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:5, Matthew 16:15, Jeremiah 6:16, Psalm 11:3, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Lamentations 3:40, Isaiah 6:5

All crises are judgments of history that call into question an existing state of affairs. They sift and sort the character and condition of a nation and its capacity to respond. The deeper the crisis,...

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Author

Dr. Caroline Leaf

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 4:7, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 , Isaiah 40:28-31, Luke 10:38-42, James 1:5-8 , Psalm 1:1-3

Everything in our society seems to convey the message of “now!” It’s almost as if we’ve entered an era where we have sacrificed the processing of knowledge for the gathering of data.

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Deepening Our Attention

Author

Kent Annan

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 4:2, Amos 5:24, James 1:5, Philippians 4:6-7, Micah 6:8, Matthew 6:10

Simone Weil, a French philosopher, theologian and activist around the time of World War II, wrote a remarkable essay in which she connects the discipline of schoolwork with that of prayer. She argues ...

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Crisis Intensifies our Search for Wisdom

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:28, Ecclesiastes 7:12, Psalm 46:1, Isaiah 30:21, Proverbs 3:5-6, James 1:5

A life-threatening crisis came to my home when I was only 25. My wife suffered a near-fatal stroke and was rushed to the hospital, where doctors scrambled to keep her alive. Within hours, we were maki...

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The Dark Side of the Web

Author

Andy Crouch

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:40, Romans 12:21, Luke 4:18-19, James 1:27, Micah 6:8, Isaiah 1:17

In October 2014 Wired magazine reported on the dirty work every social media company must somehow handle: moderating the deluge of exploitative, degrading content posted in unimaginable quantities aro...

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Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 3:11, Philippians 4:8, Romans 12:18, Micah 6:8, Psalm 34:18, James 1:27, Isaiah 61:1-2

When God wants to sort out the world, as the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount make clear, he doesn’t send in the tanks. He sends in the meek, the broken, the justice hungry, the peacemakers, the ...

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Fear of the Lord: Comfort in Uncertain Times

Author

Eugene Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

John 10:27, Psalm 143:10, James 1:5, Isaiah 42:16, Proverbs 2:6, Psalm 32:8, Colossians 3:15

We’re afraid when we’re suddenly caught off our guard and don’t know what to do. We’re afraid when our presuppositions and assumptions no longer account for what we’re up against, and we don’t know wh...

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Author

George Herbert

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 3:1, Romans 8:22, Job 14:1, James 1:2-4, Psalm 130:1-2

I cried when I was born and every day shows why.

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Lord Jesus: knowing that you are good

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, Romans 12:15, Psalm 30:2, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Ephesians 4:15, James 1:5, Psalm 145:9

Lord Jesus: knowing that you are good and strong, loving, wise, holy and faithful, we come to you today in prayer for all the needs and concerns in our minds and hearts. Lord, we pray for Your whole c...

Quote

Author

Clement of Alexandria

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 1:9, 2 Timothy 2:22, Romans 12:2, Isaiah 1:16-17, Proverbs 1:7, James 1:5

Therefore let us repent and pass from ignorance to knowledge, from foolishness to wisdom, from licentiousness to self-control, from injustice to righteousness, from godlessness to God.

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Lord God, let us keep your Scriptures

Author

Origen of Alexandria

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 1:2-3, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Luke 18:1-8, James 1:22, Ephesians 1:17-18

Lord God, let us keep your Scriptures in mind and meditate on them day and night, persevering in prayer, always on the watch. We beg you, Lord, to give us real knowledge of what we read and to show us...

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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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God of Grace and Power—our Friend, who

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 1 Peter 5:7, Philippians 4:19, Romans 15:13, James 1:27

God of Grace and Power—our Friend, who sticks closer than a brother: You know when we screw up ...and You know when we manage to get it right. You know when we forget you ... but You never forget us. ...

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