Relationships and Community on Alcohol

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Romans 12:2, Isaiah 55:8-9, Psalm 42:4, Exodus 23:2, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, Hebrews 13:4, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Classically, there are three ways in which humans try to find transcendence--religious meaning--apart from God as revealed through the cross of Jesus: through the ecstasy of alcohol and drugs, through...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

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Isaiah 55:7, 1 John 1:9, 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, Romans 6:23, Galatians 6:7-8, Proverbs 14:12

And of some sinful pleasure they say "Let me have but this and I'll take the consequences": little dreaming how damnation will spread back and back into their past and contaminate the pl...

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Waking People up to Christ

Author

Bruce Larson

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Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Jonah 4:1-11, Numbers 22:21-34, Matthew 9:10-13, Mark 2:23-28, Psalm 19:12-14

It takes a great deal of freedom and love to be therapeutic with a group. Many years ago when Emil Brunner, the great Swiss theologian, was lecturing in this country, it was reported that when he prea...

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Gracious God, We build walls to protect

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

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Scripture

Psalm 73:25-26, John 15:15, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 3:8-9, Isaiah 55:8-9, Psalm 37:5

Gracious God, We build walls to protect ourselves, but it leads to isolation. We make independence the highest value, instead of complete dependence on You. Forgive us for our inability to surrender e...

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When we allow darkness to overcome the

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John 1:5, Ephesians 5:18, Isaiah 55:2, Luke 12:15, Ezekiel 36:26

When we allow darkness to overcome the light, forgive us, Lord. When we reduce Christmas to plastic and tinsel, have mercy on us, Father. When hardness of heart keeps us from seeing and hearing an...

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Author

Isaac Asimov

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Assumptions

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2 Corinthians 10:5, Proverbs 3:5-6, James 1:5, Psalm 139:23-24, Matthew 7:3-5, Isaiah 55:8-9, Colossians 3:2

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.

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God welcomes all who come to him

Author

Jacob Traeger

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Scripture

Isaiah 55:6

God welcomes all who come to him. In weakness or strength. With much, or with little. Seek the Lord, while he can be found Call on him while he is near And be confident that Jesus will look upon you w...

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The Word of the LORD is true and

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Scripture

Psalm 19:9-10, Luke 4:16-21, Acts 8:26-39, Nehemiah 8:1-12, Isaiah 55:10-11, 1 Corinthians 2:10-12, John 14:26

The Word of the LORD is true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb. As we turn to your Scripture, s...

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Gracious Father, too often we base our

Author

Laura B. Murray

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Scripture

Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:10, Romans 8:38-39, Titus 3:4-5, Isaiah 55:1, Psalm 103:10-12, John 15:9

Gracious Father, too often we base our worth on our performance. We believe if we do well, your love grows, and if we falter, your love lessens. Our God, how far this is from the truth. We confess our...

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The Kingdom is Not a Mad Scramble for “Enough”

Author

Mia Levetan

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Scripture

Exodus 16:1–36 , Isaiah 55:1–2, 1 Kings 17:8–16, Matthew 14:13–21, 2 Corinthians 9:6–11, Psalm 23:1–5

I was recently at a eight-year-old’s birthday party, and at this birthday party there was a piñata. All of the kids took turns whacking a paper mache shark with a PVC pipe until eventually the shark b...

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The Gift of an Invitation

Author

Ruth Haley Barton

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Scripture

Isaiah 55:1–3, Exodus 3:1–12, Proverbs 9:1–6, Matthew 11:28–30, John 1:35–39, Psalm 3:4:8

One of the reasons I love a good invitation is that I get tired of being told what to do. As the very responsible oldest daughter of a pastor and someone who entered vocational ministry at a young age...

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The Prodigal Daughter

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Scripture

Ephesians 2:4-5, Luke 19:1-10, Genesis 37:50, Isaiah 55:7, Psalm 103:8-12, Jeremiah 31:3

In What’s So Amazing about Grace?, Philip Yancey offers an updated version of the parable of the prodigal son. Growing up in the countryside in Michigan, a young girl rebels against her old-fashioned...

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God in the Dock

Author

C. S. Lewis

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Scripture

Job 40:2, Isaiah 45:9, Daniel 4:35, Isaiah 55:8-9

The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge...

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Writing out our Faith

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12-13, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 24:35

We all desire to learn from our role models, but some take this ambition to the next level. The writer Hunter S. Thompson was so obsessed with the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and specifically his...

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The Power of Invitations

Author

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

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Scripture

Genesis 12:1-3, Exodus 3:10-12, Isaiah 55:1-3 , Luke 14:16-24, Matthew 11:28-30 , Psalm 23:5

Invitations are powerful. Like tides, they ebb and flow, shaping the contours of our existence. Some invitations we desperately want but never get—“Will you marry me?” or “Would you consider a promoti...

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Why?

Author

John C. Maxwell

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Scripture

Exodus 3:11–12, 1 Kings 19:9–12, Isaiah 55:8–9, Luke 1:34–38 , John 20:24–29, Psalm 13:1–2

Larry King, who has made his living speaking to people as a television talk show host, believes that asking questions is the secret of good conversation. He says, "I'm curious about everythin...

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A Savior Who Was a Spitter

Author

Steve Arterburn and Jack Felton

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Scripture

Genesis 2:21–23, Exodus 3:7–10, Isaiah 55:10–11, John 9:1–7 , Acts 10:34–35 , Psalm 19:3–4

Some time ago, I read about the work of a Wycliffe Bible translator in a remote village in Papua New Guinea. When the opening chapters of Genesis were first translated into the native language, the at...

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The Surprising Sale

Author

Robert B. Cialdini

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Scripture

Matthew 13:45–46 , 1 Peter 1:18–19, Psalm 19:9–10, Isaiah 55:1–2, 2 Kings 5:9–14, Exodus 16:2–5, 31

A while ago, I encountered such a finding when I read a study that gave volunteers an energy drink designed to increase mental abilities. Some volunteers were charged the retail price of the drink ($1...

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Author

Marshall McLuhan

Keywords

Assumptions

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John 7:24, Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 12:2, James 4:13-16, 1 Corinthians 1:19-20, Proverbs 14:12

Most of our assumptions have outlived their uselessness.

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Author

Thomas Watson

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Mercy

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Psalm 86:15, Nehemiah 9:17, Micah 7:18-19, Isaiah 55:7, Exodus 34:6-7

God is more willing to pardon than to punish. Mercy does more multiply in Him than sin in us. Mercy is His nature.

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What A Return to God’s Mercy Really Meant

Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

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Scripture

Luke 15:20-24, Psalm 51:1-2, Ephesians 2:4-5, Isaiah 55:7, Micah 7:18-19, Romans 5:8

Rembrandt painted the picture of the prodigal son between 1665 and 1667, at the end of his life. As a young painter, he was popular in Amsterdam and successful with commissions to do portraits of all ...

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Author

Frederick Buechner

Keywords

The Kingdom of God

Scripture

Revelation 21:2-4, Isaiah 25:6, Luke 13:18-19, Isaiah 55:1-2, Revelation 19:9

They are prepared for a God who strikes hard bargains but not for a God who gives as much for an hour's work as for a day's. They are prepared for a mustard-seed kingdom of God no bigger than ...

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An Atheist Pines for Eternity

Author

Theodore Dalrymple

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Scripture

Ecclesiastes 3:11, Isaiah 55:1-3, Job 14:13-14, John 4:13-14, Romans 1:20-21, Psalm 42:1-2

In an article entitled, What the New Atheists Don’t See , the British author Theodore Dalrymple shares his honest struggles with atheism. The subtitle of his article is fascinating, “To regret re...

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Settling Accounts

Author

William E. Brown

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 6:33-34, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 37:25-26, Ecclesiastes 3:1, Galatians 6:9

The story is told of a farmer in a Midwestern state who had a strong disdain for “religious” things. As he plowed his field on Sunday morning, he would shake his fist at the church people who passed b...

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Like the crowds who followed Jesus, we

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:28, Galatians 3:28, Isaiah 55:1-2, Matthew 5:6, Psalm 34:18, Mark 2:3-5, 2 Corinthians 12:9

Like the crowds who followed Jesus, we come today from different places. We’ve had different weeks, different challenges, and different joys. And yet we come united by the risen Lord Jesus, who meets ...

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The Uniqueness of Conversation (And why Technology Can’t Replace In-Person Communication)

Author

Megan Garber

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Scripture

Genesis 1:31, Psalm 19:1, Proverbs 18:4, Isaiah 55:11, John 1:3, Romans 1:20

In an interview with MIT psychologist Sherry Turkle, Megan Garber asks what makes in-person conversation unique, compared to all the other ways we communicate these days: Conversations, as they tend...

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Author

Gayle Somers

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Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Ephesians 3:20-21, Romans 5:8, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 103:10-12

All the cards in the deck of revelation about God’s mercy and kindness are stacked in favor of the unthinkable.

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Grace Upon Grace

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Scripture

Exodus 3:1–12 , 1 Kings 8:10–11, Isaiah 55:6–9 , John 1:16, Philippians 3:10–14, Psalm 84:5–7

A number of mature Christians have described the Christian journey as one in which the follower of Jesus experiences different levels of grace. Let us imagine . . . that there are many rooms in t...

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Rejecting Grace

Author

Brett McCracken

Keywords

Scripture

Jonah 4:2, Luke 23:39-43, Matthew 20:1-16, Luke 15:11-32, Isaiah 55:8-9

There’s a gut–wrenching scene in the Korean film Secret Sunshine that captures the scandal of grace better than any film I’ve ever seen. The scene takes place in a prison, as protagonist Shin-ae (Jeon...

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LORD, too often we live for ourselves

Author

Austin D. Hill

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Scripture

Philippians 2:13, Micah 6:8, Ephesians 4:22-24, Isaiah 55:7, Psalm 51:10-12, Matthew 6:33, Romans 12:2

LORD, too often we live for ourselves instead of how You have called us. Please forgive us for the times when we don’t strive to bring about Your kingdom here and now. Forgive us for the lack of imagi...

relationships and community on Alcohol

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