Life on Planet Earth on Chaos

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Chaos Theory and God’s Design

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Several years ago, a friend of ours read a book on chaos theory and shared some of the ideas with our family. We were fascinated as he described to us the incredible concept of fractals—patterns withi...

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The Mind Tends Towards Chaos

Author

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

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The Clinical psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi describes how our minds, without stimuli, tends to quickly turn towards negative thoughts, our dissatisfaction. Contrary to what we tend to assume, ...

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A Shift into Chaos

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

Micah 5:2, Luke 2:4-7, Matthew 2:16-18, John 1:46, Isaiah 61:3, Matthew 5:1-20, Isaiah 5:20

It is remarkable that a word like ‘Bethlehem’, forever connected to the birth of our savior, could be transformed into a symbol of confusion and chaos. Yet, this is precisely what happened. St. Mary o...

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Author

W. B. Yeats

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Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.

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Confusion and Chaos go with Evil, Goodness comes from an Ordered Reality

Author

Dallas Willard

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 14:33

The man who prosecuted the infamous Manson family for their murders later wrote a book titled Helter Skelter. This phrase was taken from a song performed by a well-known rock music group. Manson...

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Do Not Fear Death

Author

John Chrysostom

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Scripture

Isaiah 14:9

Do not fear death; the Savior’s death has brought freedom. He endured death and thus destroyed it. He descended into Hell and destroyed it. Even as Hell tasted his flesh he threw it into chaos. Al...

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Author

Frederick Buechner

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It is a world of magic and mystery, of deep darkness and flickering starlight. It is a world where terrible things happen and wonderful things too. It is a world where goodness is pitted against evil,...

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Abba – Father: Because of Your love and

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, Psalm 23:1-4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 4:6-7, Jeremiah 29:11

Abba – Father: Because of Your love and strength, we trust You … believing You are faithful, true and gracious. Thank You for coming into our world when we could not and would not come to You. You wal...

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God of grace and truth—Father, Son, and

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Matthew 5:14-16, Ephesians 4:15, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 46:1, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, John 14:27, Psalm 145:8

God of grace and truth—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Thank You. Thank You for being there even when we don’t feel it. Thank You for keeping Your eyes on us, even when we lose sight of You. Thank You f...

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Inspired by Psalm 46

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Psalm 46:null

God is our safe space, our hiding place, a very present help in times of trouble. God is our safety, we will not fear! The mountains shake, the oceans roar, the nations rage, the world changes. ...

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God of our hearts, we come to You

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

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Scripture

Luke 19:10, Ephesians 2:1-5, Ephesians 2:8-9, Isaiah 53:6, 1 John 1:9, Proverbs 3:5-6

God of our hearts, we come to You admitting that we are lost. In our lives of chaos, we have lost our peace. In our selfishness, we have lost our ability to care for others. In our self-reliance, we h...

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Faithful God, our Father, Lord and

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Psalm 139:13-16, John 16:33, Ephesians 4:3-6, Isaiah 40:29-31, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Jeremiah 1:4-10, Matthew 5:9

Faithful God, our Father, Lord and Counselor: By your grace you know our names before we are even born. By your grace you call us your own sons and daughters. By your grace you give us an eternal purp...

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Author

Eric Schmidt

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The Internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand, the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had.

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Father God: It is sometimes hard for us

Author

Richard Herman

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Father God: It is sometimes hard for us to understand what You do. We are in trouble. We want You to come rescue us right now, like the cavalry riding over a hill or the Lone Ranger appearing out of n...

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A Lot Can Happen a Year from Now

Author

Bernard M. Baruch

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Scripture

James 4:14, Ecclesiastes 9:12

A man sentenced to death obtained a reprieve by assuring the king he would teach his majesty’s horse to fly within the year–on the condition that if he didn’t succeed, he would be put to death at the ...

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Abusing a Very Small Amount of Power

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Matthew 23:13, Matthew 23:3, Proverbs 16:18, Luke 14:11, Romans 12:3, Mark 10:42-45, 1 Peter 5:2-3, Ecclesiastes 10:1

My wife is a big fan of an advice column called “Ask a Manager.” The articles offer a variety of subjects, many of which are serious, but some are downright hilarious. They often capture the absurditi...

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Politics and the Resurrection

Author

Rachel Clark

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:1-28, Romans 13:1, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, 1 Peter 1:3, Revelation 21:5

It seems that every four years, the American people come through another exhausting political season. No matter who “wins,” there are feelings of frustration and disgust on all sides as we observe the...

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God's Image: Our True Identity

Author

Chuck DeGroat

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Scripture

Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 3:1-7, Romans 7:14-25, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Psalm 51:10

God formed us in his image — a glorious thought! — but we all participate in the abandonment of that original identity…Does that mean that your precious little child is a dirty rotten sinner, as some ...

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Peace vs. Ease

Author

Alisha Illian

Keywords

Women

Most women feel as though they give, give, give all day long. We give to ministries, the neighbors, our jobs, and the local PTA. We fill the roles of taxi driver, chef, teacher, and lover. We run to t...

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Author

Nicholas Wolterstorff

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[I prayed to God,] “But why don’t you raise [my son] now? Why did you ever let him die? If creation took just six days, why does re-creation take so agonizingly long? If your conquest of primeval chao...

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Author

David Powlison

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Scripture

Luke 18:29

The Christian life is a great paradox. Those who die to self, find self. Those who die to their cravings will receive many times as much in this age, and, in the age to come, eternal life (Luke 18:29)...

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Goodness Stamped Into Us

Author

Jonathan K. Dodson

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In his thoughtful book, Our Good Crisis: Overcoming Moral Chaos with the Beatitudes , Jonathan K. Dodson provides a wonderful analogy of what happens when we cultivate the virtues in our lives: W...

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When Scandals Become Blasé

Author

Jonathan K. Dodson

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Scripture

Hebrews 13:4, Matthew 18:6-10

In his thoughtful book, Our Good Crisis: Overcoming Moral Chaos with the Beatitudes , Jonathan K. Dodson describes what has become a reality of modern-day life-scandals happen every day, and no-one...

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On the Side?

Author

Jonathan K. Dodson

Keywords

In his thoughtful book, Our Good Crisis: Overcoming Moral Chaos with the Beatitudes, Jonathan K. Dodson shares a funny, yet poingnant encounter with a man who wanted to keep religion private: I ...

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Different Times Everywhere

Author

Leonard Sweet

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William F. Allen, who in 1883 “pulled off a miracle.” What he did was to get not just an entire coast to pull in sync, but an entire nation. In [New Jersey Governor Tom] Kean’s words, Until high noo...

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Reducing People to the Madness of a Single Moment

Author

Jonathan K. Dodson

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 16:18, Proverbs 11:2, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5-6, Philippians 2:3-4, Luke 18:9-14, Matthew 23:1-12

In his thoughtful book, Our Good Crisis: Overcoming Moral Chaos with the Beatitudes , Jonathan K. Dodson points out our blind-spots with respect to pride: We rarely think of ourselves as proud. I...

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The Future Orientation of the Beatitudes

Author

Jonathan K. Dodson

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:53-58, Matthew 5:3-12, Luke 6:20-22, 1 Corinthians 15:53-58

In his thoughtful book, Our Good Crisis: Overcoming Moral Chaos with the Beatitudes , Jonathan K. Dodson describes one of the keys to understanding the beatitudes: live faithfully now, experience...

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Fear, not Bombs, Was the Killer

Author

Max Lucado

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At 8:17 on the evening of March 3, 1943, bomb-raid sirens bansheed through the air above London, England. Workers and shoppers stopped on sidewalks and boulevards and searched the skies. Buses came to...

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A Doctor, an Engineer, and a Politician

Author

Source Unknown

Keywords

Creation

Scripture

Psalm 104:24, Colossians 1:16, John 1:3, Isaiah 45:7, Proverbs 8:27-30, Job 38:4, Genesis 1:2

A doctor, an engineer, and a politician were arguing as to which profession was older. “Well,” argued the doctor, “without a physician mankind could not have survived, so I am sure that mine is the ol...

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Three Men Argue About the Oldest Profession in the World

Author

Source Unknown

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Scripture

Isaiah 45:18, Proverbs 3:19, Psalm 33:6, Genesis 2:21-22, Genesis 1:1-2

A physician, a civil engineer, and a politician were arguing about what was the oldest profession in the world. The physician remarked, “Well, in the Bible, it says that God created Eve from a rib tak...

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