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Cat and Mouse Games
My friend Carter Conlon has ministered in New York City for more than two decades. Yet he spent many of his early years on a farm. He recalls a barnyard scene that illustrates the status of Satan. A f... -
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Knowing the Result in Advance
On several occasions I have known the name of the victor before the end of the contest. Being a pastor, I’m often unable to watch the Sunday football games. While I am preaching, the teams are playing... -
liturgy
1 Corinthians 15:55-58, "O death, where is your victory?"
"O death, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved br... -
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Work and let him give the fruits therefore! Rule, and let him prosper it! Battle, and let him give victory! Preach, and let him make hearts devout!” -
liturgy
Adapted from Psalm 126 (ESV)
When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, “The LORD ha... -
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When a man's pride is subdued it's like the sides of Mount Aetna. It was terrible during the eruption, but when that is over and the lava is turned into soil, there are vineyards and olive tre... -
liturgy
Adapted from Psalm 126 (Modern day Context)
When the LORD restored the fortunes of _______, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the people, "The ... -
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Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose. -
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Spiritual Battles on the Journey of Faith
While I am not one to see a demon behind every bush or spiritual warfare in every difficulty, the fact is that we are regularly engaged in the struggle against good and evil—whether we know it or not.... -
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If our identity is in our work, rather than Christ, success will go to our heads, and failure will go to our hearts. -
liturgy
A General Thanksgiving
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery ... -
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Study Your Own Failures
Studying your own failures as well can make them seem less earth-shattering. One researcher suggested in a 2010 article in Nature that people maintain a “CV of failures,” a written list of the things ... -
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Embracing Failure
A common trait of human beings is a fear of failure. Most of us find ways of coping with it, but whenever failure rears its ugly head, it’s difficult not to experience the sting of feeling like we are... -
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The Dart-Board
The Benedictine nun Joan Chittister recounts a story she once heard by a communications professor, which she said fundamentally changed the way she thought about success and failure: A young boy was... -
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In the early fifth century, even as Rome
In the early fifth century, even as Rome had officially embraced Christianity, the brutal spectacle of gladiatorial combat continued in the Colosseum, drawing massive crowds. One day, a Christian herm... -
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The Cost of Success
J.B. Phillips was a successful pastor and prolific author in the mid-twentieth century. He was a colleague and friend of C. S. Lewis’s, and it was Lewis who personally endorsed Phillips’s translation ... -
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Acknowledging the Pain: Thoughts From the Founders Desk
This past week I have been at a reunion with college friends (this is the main reason I missed last week's update). It's been significant for a number of reasons. I hope to unpack a few other ... -
liturgy
God of grace and glory, compassion and
God of grace and glory, compassion and power—Father, Son and Holy Spirit: You meet us right where we are at—not asking us to put on any masks, false fronts or airs. You love us just as we are while a... -
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God uses the nobodies to show himself to be somebody. God uses the nothings to show himself to be something. And maybe you feel like a nobody, a nothing. My friend, you're the one God's chosen... -
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Using Repetition to Make a Point
In the second century before Christ the great rival to Roman power in the Mediterranean world was Carthage, the Phoenician city-state located on the north African coast. It had been founded in 822 B.C... -
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Thus the vocation of the baptized person is a simple thing: it is to live from day to day, whatever the day brings, in this extraordinary unity, in this reconciliation with all people and all things, ... -
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Since failure is our unforgivable sin, we are willing to ignore all forms of deviance in people if they just achieve the success symbols which we worship. -
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Clearing the Path to Grace
To help us in our confession we may want to picture a path littered with many rocks. Some are small pebbles, others are quite large, and still others are almost completely buried so that we cannot kno... -
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Authority exercised with humility, and obedience accepted with delight are the very lines along which our spirits live. -
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In spite of sorrow, loss, and pain, our course be onward still; we sow on Burmah's barren plain, we reap on Zion's hill. -
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Why a Colt and Not a War Horse?
I heard a woman named Veda Gill who is the Executive Director, Presbyterian Education Board in Pakistan preach on a Palm Sunday. Perhaps you’ve heard this story before, but it is so powerful that I th... -
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The President Vouches for Us
Max Lucado tells a true story showing that God's determination to shape His followers proves stronger than Satan's most persistent efforts to discourage them. What the enemy plans for destruc... -
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As we keep or break the Sabbath day, we nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope by which man rises. -
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Changing Portraits
Writer Philip Yancey notes that toward the end of his life, Albert Einstein removed the portraits of two scientists–Newton and Maxwell–from his wall. He replaced those with portraits of Gandhi and Sch... -
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How to Face Massive Challenges: Advice from John Wesley
On February 24, 1791, Christian revivalist and pastor John Wesley penned a letter to encourage a Christian walking through some faith challenges: Unless the divine power has raised you up . . . I...
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A
- A Fresh Start
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B
- Balance
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C
- Cain and Abel
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D
- Danger
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E
- Earthiness
- Economics
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- Expectations of Children
- Experience
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- The Earth
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F
- Failure
- Faith
- Faith and Doubt
- Faith and Prayer
- Faith in Action
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- Faith vs. Works
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- Fallacies
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- Five Senses
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G
- Games
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- Genesis
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- Gladness
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- God
- God Cares For You
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- Going to Church
- Golf
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- Grace vs. Works
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H
- Habits
- Hands
- Happiness
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- Hunger
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I
- Ideas
- Identity
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- Illness
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- Infants
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J
L
- Labor
- Labor Day
- Lack of Control
- Lack of Forgiveness
- Lack of Leadership
- Law (Torah)
- Laziness
- Leaders
- Leadership
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- Loans
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- Loss
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- The Law
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- The Lord's Supper
- The Lordship of Christ
M
- Making a Difference
- Mammon
- Management
- Manna
- Marital Problems
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- Moses
- Motivations
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- The Meaning of Life
- The Military
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N
O
P
- Pain
- Palm Sunday
- Parenting
- Parents
- Passion
- Pastors
- Paths
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- Peace
- Peacemaking
- Penalty of Sin
- Perfection
- Perfectionism
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- Persistence
- Personal Agendas
- Perspective
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- Philosphy of Life
- Place
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- Pleasure
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- Poor
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- Preparation
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- Priorities
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- Products
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- Progress
- Promises
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- Provision
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- Psychology
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- Punishment
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- Purity
- Purpose
- Putting God in a Box
- The Passing of Time
- The People of God
R
- Rain
- Reading the Bible
- Real Estate
- Reality
- Reason
- Rebellion
- Receiving
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- Receiving Gifts
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- Resurrection of the Dead
- Retirement
- Retreat
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- Revelation
- Rewards
- Rhythms
- Rhythms of Rest
- Right and Wrong
- Right Relationships
- Righteous Indignation
- Righteousness
- Rock of Ages
- Role Models
- Roles
- Roles and Responsibilities
- Routines
- Rule of Life
- Running from Your Problems
- Running to God
- Rural Areas
- Ruthlessness
- The Resurrection and the Life
- The Rich
- The Risen Lord
S
- Sabbath
- Sacred vs. Secular
- Sacrifice
- Sacrificial Giving
- Salt and Light
- Salvation
- Salvation History
- Sanctification
- Satan
- Satan's Lies
- Saved by Grace
- Saving Faith
- Savior
- Schedules
- School
- Science
- Science and Religion
- Screens
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- Search
- Searching for the Truth
- Seasons
- Secularism
- Security
- Seeds
- Seeking God
- Seeking Happiness
- Self-Acceptance
- Self-Achievement
- Self-Centeredness
- Self-Deception
- Self-Discovery
- Self-Expression
- Self-Glory
- Self-Importance
- Self-Improvement
- Self-Indulgence
- Self-Justification
- Self-Knowledge
- Self-Love
- Self-Promotion
- Self-Reliance
- Self-Worth
- Selfishness
- Sending
- Sense of Humor
- Sense of Smell
- Sermon on the Mount
- Servant Leadership
- Servanthood
- Service
- Sexual Immorality
- Sexual License
- Shalom
- Shame
- Sharing the Gospel
- Sickness
- Signs
- Sin Management
- Sin Nature
- Sinfulness
- Sinners
- Sinners and Saints
- Sins
- Sins of the Church
- Slavery
- Sleeping In
- Sloth
- Slowing Down
- Social Justice
- Societal Problems
- Society
- Soil
- Soldiers
- Solitude
- Solutions
- Solving Problems
- Sorrow
- Sounds
- Sowing and Reaping
- Sowing Seeds
- Speech
- Spiritual Disciplines
- Spiritual Formation
- Spiritual Growth
- Spiritual Leadership
- Spiritual Nurture
- Spiritual Practices
- Spiritual Problems
- Spiritual Transformation
- Spirituality
- Sports
- Spring (Season)
- Staying Humble
- Steadfast
- Steadfast Love
- Stewardship
- Stillness
- Storms
- Stranger
- Strength
- Stretching Experiences
- Stronghold
- Structures
- Struggles
- Struggles with Prayer
- Stuck
- Success
- Suffering
- Summer
- Sunday
- Surgery
- Surrender
- Sustainer
- The Saints
- The Sick
- The Soul
- The Spiritual Life
T
- Tabernacle
- Taking God for Granted
- Taking Stock
- Taking Up the Cross
- Targets
- Tasks
- Taste
- Taxes
- Teachers
- Teaching
- Team
- Teamwork
- Technology
- Temptation
- Ten Commandments
- Tenderness
- Terrorism
- Thankfulness
- Thanksgiving (General)
- Thanksgiving (Holiday)
- Theological Division
- Theology
- Theology of Work
- Thinking
- Thirst
- Thoughtfulness
- Thoughtlesness
- Throne of Grace
- Time
- TIme Management
- Timekeeping
- Tired
- Tithing
- Tongue
- Town
- Tradition
- Training
- Transformation
- Transgressions
- Transitions
- Translation
- Treasure
- Trees
- True Worship
- Trust
- Trust in God
- Truth
- Turning a Blind Eye
- Turning People Away from Jesus
U
W
- The Weak
- The Work of the Holy Spirit
- Wages of Sin
- Walls
- Wandering
- War
- Warning Signs
- Warnings
- Waste
- Wasting Time
- Weakness
- Weakness of Will
- Wealth
- Weariness
- Weather
- Weekend
- Weeping
- Welcoming
- Western Culture
- Wholeness
- Wickedness
- Wilderness
- Wine
- Wisdom
- Witnesses
- Wittiness
- Women
- Words
- Work
- Work and Rest
- Work-Life Balance
- Workaholism
- Workmanship
- Works-Righteousness
- World
- World Leaders
- World Peace
- Worldliness
- Worship
- Wrath
Y
Top_level_categories by Reference
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Deuteronomy
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Esther
Psalm
- Ps 1 (3)
- Ps 2 (3)
- Ps 8 (1)
- Ps 9 (2)
- Ps 13 (1)
- Ps 15 (4)
- Ps 16 (2)
- Ps 18 (1)
- Ps 19 (2)
- Ps 23 (5)
- Ps 25 (1)
- Ps 27 (4)
- Ps 30 (1)
- Ps 31 (1)
- Ps 32 (2)
- Ps 33 (1)
- Ps 34 (9)
- Ps 37 (4)
- Ps 41 (4)
- Ps 42 (5)
- Ps 46 (9)
- Ps 49 (2)
- Ps 51 (12)
- Ps 56 (1)
- Ps 60 (1)
- Ps 62 (2)
- Ps 63 (1)
- Ps 65 (2)
- Ps 67 (1)
- Ps 68 (1)
- Ps 72 (2)
- Ps 73 (5)
- Ps 78 (4)
- Ps 82 (2)
- Ps 85 (3)
- Ps 90 (11)
- Ps 91 (3)
- Ps 92 (1)
- Ps 95 (2)
- Ps 100 (5)
- Ps 103 (7)
- Ps 104 (3)
- Ps 106 (1)
- Ps 110 (1)
- Ps 115 (4)
- Ps 116 (2)
- Ps 118 (3)
- Ps 119 (12)
- Ps 121 (1)
- Ps 122 (2)
- Ps 126 (3)
- Ps 127 (9)
- Ps 128 (2)
- Ps 130 (2)
- Ps 131 (2)
- Ps 133 (4)
- Ps 136 (3)
- Ps 139 (16)
- Ps 141 (2)
- Ps 145 (1)
- Ps 146 (1)
- Ps 147 (2)
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
Ezekiel
Joel
Amos
Zephaniah
Zechariah
Matthew
- Matt 1 (1)
- Matt 2 (2)
- Matt 3 (1)
- Matt 4 (10)
- Matt 5 (19)
- Matt 6 (20)
- Matt 7 (7)
- Matt 8 (2)
- Matt 9 (3)
- Matt 10 (2)
- Matt 11 (2)
- Matt 12 (3)
- Matt 13 (5)
- Matt 14 (4)
- Matt 15 (1)
- Matt 16 (8)
- Matt 17 (2)
- Matt 18 (5)
- Matt 19 (5)
- Matt 20 (1)
- Matt 21 (2)
- Matt 22 (2)
- Matt 23 (7)
- Matt 24 (1)
- Matt 25 (18)
- Matt 26 (1)
- Matt 27 (1)
- Matt 28 (2)