Current Affairs and Causes on Being A Good Neighbor

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The Value of Relationships to our Health and Safety

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When we think about our health and safety, we tend to think first and foremost about our bodies. We may also consider our mental health. But have you ever considered how your relational health impacts...

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Author

Lesslie Newbigin

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Scripture

Micah 6:8, Isaiah 1:17, Amos 5:24, Proverbs 21:15, Psalm 33:5, Isaiah 61:8, Psalm 106:3, Zechariah 7:9-10, Psalm 82:3, Jeremiah 22:3, Hosea 12:6, Deuteronomy 16:20, Jeremiah 7:5-7, Matthew 23:23

If we acknowledge the God of the Bible, we are committed to struggle for justice in society. Justice means giving to each his due. Our problem, as seen in the light of the gospel, is that each of us o...

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The Gospel and the Other: Preaching in an Age of "Us vs. Them"

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Andrew DeCort

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Scripture

Luke 10:25-37

When conflict and division are driving both politics and media (including social media), the contrast between the way of the world and the way of Jesus stands out more than ever. How can pastors, task...

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Laundry Love

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Don Everts

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Greg and some of his friends from church were zealous to pursue the common good of their community, Ventura, California. Instead of coming up with their own ideas of how to do this, they started by li...

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Preaching for Change

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Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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The only person who likes change is a wet baby. –Mark Twain (Attributed) To Change or Not to Change, That is the Question When do we decide to change ? I’m not a Tony Robbins acolyte, but I do l...

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Praying for Demar Hamlin & Our Primal Desire to Pray

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Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Ephesians 4:null

Like many of you, I've been somewhat glued to the story of Damar Hamlin since Monday evening, when the defensive player for the Buffalo Bills collapsed on the field after making a tackle. In the ...

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Martin Luther

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As our heavenly Father has in Christ freely come to our aid, we also ought freely to help our neighbor . . . and each one should become . . . a Christ to the other.

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Michael Wear

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We do not love our neighbor for affirmation, but because we have been loved first. Now is not the time to withdraw, but to refine our intentions and pursue public faithfulness.

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Gracious God, in Christ Jesus, you

Gracious God, in Christ Jesus, you teach us to love our neighbors but instead we build dividing walls of hostility. You show us how to love one another as sisters and brothers but instead we hide from...

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John Stott

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Scripture

Hebrews 13:16, 1 Peter 4:10, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:14, 1 John 4:20, Matthew 22:37-40

Social responsibility becomes an aspect not of Christian mission only, but also of Christian conversion. It is impossible to be truly converted to God without being thereby converted to our neighbor.

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Living out the Words of Isaiah 58

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Kevin Blue

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Isaiah 58:null

Isaiah 58 tells us that the Lord wants us to share our bread with the hungry, bring the homeless poor into our homes, share our clothing with those who need some and not hide ourselves from the rest o...

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Wendell Berry

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Good farmers, who take seriously their duties as stewards of Creation and of their land's inheritors, contribute to the welfare of society in more ways than society usually acknowledges, or even k...

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Heather and Mark: Justice Doers

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Timothy Keller

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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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True Love

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

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Scripture

Romans 12:1, Isaiah 58:10, Philippians 2:3-4, Matthew 20:26-28, 1 Timothy 6:17-19, Luke 9:23

Merciful Jesus Give us courage to deny privilege to lay down favor and safety in order to take up the cross of opportunity and justice Too often we fail to do this Merciful Jesus Give us courage to d...

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The Mayor in the Projects

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Melinda Joy Mingo

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Scripture

Revelation 21:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 8:3, Isaiah 53:5, Hebrews 2:14-15, Matthew 1:23

During spring 1981, one of my favorite persons at the time, Chicago mayor Jane Byrne, made the announcement that she and her husband were going to move into my old neighborhood: the Cabrini-Green hous...

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Author

Wendell Berry

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Scripture

1 Peter 3:8, Philippians 2:3-4, Galatians 5:14, Romans 12:10, Ephesians 4:32, Luke 6:31, Matthew 7:12

Do unto those downstream as you would have those upstream do unto you.

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Broken Trees and Unbroken Hope: In the Path of Hurricane Helene

Author

Allen Thompson

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Landmarks Lost For those of us who have been in the path of Hurricane Helene—quite surprisingly, I might add, since the hurricane models even a few hours before landfall had it going about 100-200 mi...

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Sometimes Serving the Poor Can Be…Messy

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Kevin Blue

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Scripture

Philippians 2:5-7, Luke 14:12-14, Hebrews 13:2

Kevin Blue has spent much of his ministry career serving the poor in inner-city Los Angeles. In this excerpt he describes working with a war vet named Clarence: Richard, Tim, Caroline and Ellen move...

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Struggling with Charity

Author

Kent Annan

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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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Each of us, Lord, has failed to fully

Author

Charles Teixeira

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Scripture

Ephesians 4:32, Luke 19:1-10, Matthew 22:37-39, Philippians 2:3-4, 1 John 1:9, Romans 3:23

Each of us, Lord, has failed to fully observe your beauty. We fall in love with our own image and are left disappointed and alone. Please be faithful to us, Jesus, even when we turn from You. We...

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Author

Frederick Buechner

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Scripture

John 13:

Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.

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Confess Your Mixed Motives

Author

Kent Annan

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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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The Giving Path

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John M. Templeton Jr

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In More Give to Live, Dr. Douglas Lawson provides evidence that the urge toward generosity begins early in life. He describes a continuum that he calls the “Giving Path.” This path begins with parents...

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The Grateful, Injured, Dog

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The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

2 Samuel 9:1–13, Exodus 2:1–10 , Proverbs 19:17, Luke 10:25–37 , Matthew 18:21–35, Psalm 103:2–4

There’s a story (probably apocryphal) about a small dog that had been hit by a car and left injured by the side of the road. A passing nurse noticed the wounded animal, saw it was still alive, and sto...

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Fixing the Road

Author

Michelle Ferrigno Warren

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Scripture

Psalm 82:3-4, Amos 5:24, Jeremiah 22:3, Matthew 25:35-40, Proverbs 31:8-9, Isaiah 1:17, Micah 6:8

After several years of engagement in justice work Warren says in reflection on the story of the Good Samaritan, “I realized it’s not okay to have a road that perpetuates the beating, robbing, and pote...

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Location, Location, Location

Author

William W. Klein

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Scripture

Luke 10:25-37, Matthew 13:34-35, Acts 13:15, Mark 12:28-31, John 10:22-23

As in buying real estate, three principles are crucial to understanding a person’s words: location, location, and location. We cannot make sense of what someone says unless we understand the context i...

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The Persistent Census-Taker

Author

John Maxwell

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If we want to connect with people, we can be like the census taker who had driven many miles down a remote country road to reach a mountain cabin. As he pulled up, a woman sitting on the porch yelled ...

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Pursuing Truth Over Revenge

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Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Micah 6:8, Luke 23:34, Exodus 23:5, 1 Peter 3:9, Proverbs 24:17, Luke 6:35

During that time there was a pastor named Peter Miller, and all through his ministry in a small town in Lancaster County, he had a neighbor who took great pleasure in mocking and ridiculing Miller and...

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She Didn’t Want to Go

Author

N. T. Wright

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There is an old cliché from the Boy Scout movement in which three Scouts report that they had helped an old lady across the road. “Why did it take three of you?” asks the Scoutmaster. “Because,” they ...

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Holy God, We recognize that when crisis

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Holy God, We recognize that when crisis strikes, the natural impulse is to turn inward, to take care of ourselves above our neighbors. We hoard the essentials we think will keep us safe, even if that...

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