Life on Planet Earth on Skin

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Skin is Meant to be Touched

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 9:21-22, James 5:14-15, Jeremiah 17:14, Isaiah 53:5, Psalm 147:3

Brenda Peterson is an author whose work crosses multiple genres, including fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books. In an essay entitled In Praise of Skin, Peterson shares a true story from her own ...

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One of the Major Functions of the Skin

Author

Sam Jarrett

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 139:13-14, 1 Timothy 4:4-5, Ephesians 5:29, Job 10:11, Genesis 1:27, 1 Corinthians 6:19

My wife was grading a science test at home that she had given to her elementary-school class and was reading some of the results to me. The subject was “The Human Body,” and the first question was: “N...

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Defining Habits

Author

Paul Williams and Tracey Jackson

Keywords

The definition of the word habit, according to Merriam-Webster, is “a usual way of behaving: something that a person does often in a regular and repeated way.” In the American Journal of Psychology it...

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Leprosy in Fourteenth Century England

Author

Ian Mortimer

Keywords

Before 1348 leprosy is the most terrifying illness which people can imagine. Leprosy is known to us as Hansen’s disease but in the fourteenth century it can include all manner of skin ailments, includ...

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The Witness of Father Damien

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Father Damien was a priest who became famous for his willingness to serve lepers. He moved to Kalawao, a village on the island of Molokai in Hawaii that had been quarantined to serve as a leper colony...

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Science And Race

Author

Ken Wytsma

Keywords

The concept of humanity’s being divisible into different races has no scientific validity. This has always been the case, even before the advent of rapid global travel enabled the further mixing of pe...

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Beauty & Culture

Author

Matt Chandler

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 3:3-4, 2 Samuel 11:, 2 Samuel 12:, 1 Kings 1:, Proverbs 31:30, 1 Samuel 16:7, Genesis 26:7

My sister and her husband have lived in Asia for close to eight years. Whenever I visit, I notice the ideal for beauty is different there from where I live in Texas. For instance, women in Asia seemin...

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The Growing Awareness of our Bodies

Author

Liuan Huska

Keywords

The Body

Scripture

Philippians 3:20-21, 2 Corinthians 4:16, Romans 8:22-23, Romans 8:11, Ecclesiastes 12:7, Isaiah 46:4

We come into this world blissfully unaware of these fragile, beautiful things we call our bodies. In our mother’s womb, we bathe in continuous warmth and nourishment, changing shadows and muffled voic...

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Stronger on the Inside

Author

Alisha Illian

Keywords

I was listening to a show on the National Geographic channel. Two deep-sea diving experts were discussing the physics of a submarine. I found it fascinating that every square inch of a submarine’s hul...

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For years, Bible scholars have danced around

Author

Bryan C. Loritts

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 21:16 , Deuteronomy 15:12-15, Isaiah 58:6, Philemon 1:8-16 , Galatians 3:28, Psalm 146:7

For years, Bible scholars have danced around the matter by saying slavery in Rome was far different from slavery in the first few centuries of American history. No doubt their observations carry a mea...

liturgy

Adapted from Ezekiel 37:5, 6, 9

Keywords

Scripture

Ezekiel 37:5-6, Ezekiel 37:9

Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and...

liturgy

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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The Search for Satisfaction

Author

Ginny Owens

Keywords

In this excerpt, musician and author Ginny Owens shares a childhood exercise that only makes specific what all of us as human beings struggle with, the desire for wholeness: I wish you could know my ...

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Author

Oscar A. Romero

Keywords

A church that doesn't provoke any crisis, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a word of God that doesn't get under anyone's skin, a word of God that doesn't touch the real sin of the s...

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A Tender Conscience is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Author

Kevin DeYoung

Keywords

Temptation

I’m not a big movie buff. I’ve seen my fair share, but if I have an evening free I’d rather read a book, play a game, or watch sports than take in a movie. My wife, on the other hand, likes movies, mo...

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Purification by Fire

Author

Max Lucado

Keywords

Fire is a purifying force. My mom, a nurse, taught us this principle when we were very young. She used a needle on our skin to remove a thorn or lance a sore. She did so after she had twirled the shar...

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Something Permanent: Sermon Illustration Tuesday

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

In his book Flesh: Bringing the Incarnation Down to Earth , Hugh Halter opens with an unlikely scenario: taking his teenage daughter to get her first tattoo. While watching his daughter get “inked...

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Author

Margery Williams

Keywords

“What is real?” “What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day . . . “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you . . .” “Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit. “Sometimes...

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Author

Angela Doll Carlson

Keywords

When I am away from Liturgy for too long, I find I burn for it now, for the steadiness of the calendar, the words" that ring out in repetition, the heavy scented air. When I return each week, I a...

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Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Keywords

Dreams

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this...

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Incarnational Ministry: The Life of Father Damien

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:24, Romans 8:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 53:4, John 1:14, Philippians 2:6-8

Father Damien was a priest who became famous for his willingness to serve lepers. He moved to Kalawao, a village on the island of Molokai in Hawaii that had been quarantined to serve as a leper colony...

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Something Permanent

Author

Hugh Halter

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:26, Hebrews 8:10, 2 Corinthians 3:3, Isaiah 49:16, Romans 8:38-39, Psalm 119:11

In his book Flesh: Bringing the Incarnation Down to Earth , Hugh Halter opens with an unlikely scenario: taking his teenage daughter to get her first tattoo. While watching his daughter get “inked...

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The Bible has its Own Garden Path

Author

Murray Andrew Pura

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 2:8, Genesis 3:23-24, Exodus 15:27, Song of Solomon 4:12-15, John 18:1, Matthew 26:36

The Bible has its own garden path. It runs from Genesis to Revelation. In fact, some of the most important events in the Christian faith take place in Biblical gardens, evens around which Christianity...

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Tearing the Leech Off

Author

Gary Preston

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:14-15, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:13, Romans 12:17-21, 1 Peter 3:9, Proverbs 19:11, Luke 17:3-4

There’s a story about a traveler making his way with a guide through the jungles of Burma. They came to a shallow but wide river and waded through it to the other side. When the traveler came out of t...

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Not Heeding the Call

Author

Jeff Volkmer

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Hebrews 13:16, Galatians 6:9-10, Proverbs 3:27, 1 John 3:17-18, James 2:14-17

Just the other day, I was out on a bike ride for some exercise. Because I work for a high-end cycling company, I had the opportunity to test ride one the bikes we make – a bike that comes with a price...

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The Importance of Tattoo Removal

Author

Jill Carattini

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 5:10, Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 4:4-7, Philippians 3:7-14

Father Greg Boyle, founder and director of Homeboy Industries in East Los Angeles, has put together a team of physicians trained to remove the tattoos of ex-gang members. The Service is crucial for th...

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The Fire Within

Author

Jean Edward Smith

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:31-32, Romans 12:21, Proverbs 15:1, 2 Timothy 1:7, Ecclesiastes 7:9

One Halloween evening, when he was about ten, Eisenhower’s older brothers received permission to go out trick-or-treating, a more adventurous activity in those days than it is now. Ike wanted to go wi...

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Author

Chuck DeGroat

Keywords

When I started doing psychological assessments for pastors and church planters, I saw that narcissistic traits were often presented as strengths. Narcissism can be interpreted as confidence, strong le...

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Author

Mark Twain

Keywords

Humor

What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin.

Quote

Author

Paul Roberts

Keywords

Food

Raw materials such as No. 2 yellow corn or BSCB (boneless, skinless chicken breasts) are now handled like any other commodity : produced wherever costs are lowest, shipped to wherever demand is highes...

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