Relationships and Community on Existence

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God Dislikes Uniformity

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Scripture

Genesis 1:20, 22, 24, Deuteronomy 10:17–19, Isaiah 56:6–7 , Acts 10:34–35, Galatians 3:28, Psalm 104:24

The South African politician Nic Diederichs—a prominent leader during the apartheid era—once made a rather provocative observation: God, he said, dislikes deadly uniformity. I hate to admit that I lik...

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Author

Peter L. Berger

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A few years ago, a priest working in a slum section of a European city was asked why he was doing it, and replied, 'So that the rumor of God may not completely disappear.”

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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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Making the Devil Pay for It

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

1 Kings 17:8-16, Exodus 16:4-35, Genesis 50:20, Matthew 6:25-34, Philippians 4:19, Psalm 37:25

Once, there was a devout woman who prayed every day in her small apartment, expressing her faith loudly and fervently. Her neighbor, an atheist, often overheard her prayers, which drove her nuts. When...

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The Village Atheist

Author

Dallas Willard

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You may remember the old “village atheist” trick of putting a watch on the podium and saying, “Now, if there is a God, in five minutes he must strike me dead.” Not a single person who has given that c...

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Author

Albert Einstein

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Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing...

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The Empty Bench

Author

Arthur Miller

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The character Quentin from Henry Miller’s Play, After the Fall explains a life without God: For many years I looked at life like a case at law. It was a series of proofs. When you’re young you prove ...

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Author

Michelle V. Lee

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[Paying attention to those suffering most in a community] is a fundamental and paradoxical principle that goes to the heart of the gospel and the nature of eschatological existence.

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Author

Jan van Baal

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True giving is participating, participating in the life and work of the donee, participating in one’s universe as a sympathizing member. No one can participate without giving first. Giving is essentia...

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Mother's Day Sermon Ideas: Four Verses That Find Motherhood in the Heart of God

Author

Ryan Bundrick

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Mother’s Day is complicated for a pastor. Among the happy families that are celebrating, there are children who were abused by mothers, mothers who lost lost a child, and women suffering from inferti...

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The Politics of Ministry Book Review & Quotes

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Philippians 2:21

Picture this: you are just about a year into your first call as a minister. Everything seems to be going swimmingly. You caught up with a seminary friend over the weekend and you slightly brag about h...

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We cannot have true justice unless

Author

John M. Perkins

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Scripture

Micah 6:8, Exodus 22:21-22 , Isaiah 58:6-7 , Matthew 22:37-39, James 2:1-9 , Psalm 103:6

We cannot have true justice unless it is motivated by love, just as God’s greatest act of justice, sending Jesus to die for us, was motivated by love. Years ago, before the emancipation of slaves, Fre...

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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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The Bruderhof: A Radical Christian Community

Author

Fleming Rutledge

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Scripture

Exodus 16:1-36 , Isaiah 58:6-12, Micah 4:1-4, Acts 4:32-37, Matthew 5:7, Psalm 72:

The Bruderhof is one such Christian community with many locations around the world. Unlike most such attempts to build radical communities, the Bruderhof has not only survived, it is thriving. In 2021...

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The Company of Kings

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

1 Samuel 16:7, Proverbs 11:3, Matthew 5:8 , Philippians 4:8, Psalm 15:1-2

Bernard de Fontenelle (1657–1757), was a French author and philosopher, and was once engaged in conversation with the “Sun King”, Louis XIV. Louis began expressing his skepticism about the existence...

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Gracious and faithful God–our Creator,

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Psalm 25:4-5, Matthew 1:23, James 5:14-15, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Luke 2:10-11, Isaiah 9:6, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 25:35-36, Proverbs 21:1, Matthew 5:14-16, Matthew 28:19-20, John 14:13, Luke 2:1-20, Mark 5:25-34, John 11:17-44

Gracious and faithful God–our Creator, Redeemer and Comforter: When we don’t know the way–You show us the way; and when we can’t find a way–You make a way. Thank you! Thank you for Your gift of a Sav...

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About Anti-Asian Racism in America (And What Your Church Can Do About)

Author

Jin Cho

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Scripture

Revelation 7:9

The following article was originally written for the author’s denominational newsletter as part of the celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. It is meant to provide some insights into t...

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The Greatest Threat to the Church?

Author

Tim Muehlhoff and Richard Langer

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What is the greatest threat to the church of Jesus Christ today? There are so many threats to choose from. Some Christians would identify hazards like postmodern relativism working to unravel notions ...

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Author

T. F. Torrance

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While the incarnation does not mean that God is limited by space and time, he asserts the reality of space and time for God in the actuality of His relations with us, and at the same time binds us to ...

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Author

Erwin W. Lutzer

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Sociologist Robert Wuthnow suggests that whether or not you believe that the devil has objective existence often depends upon your social class. “Look at the parking lot outside any church,” he says. ...

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The Original Sin of Racism

Author

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

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Racism

The original sin of racism in America began with a deeply flawed and demonic notion that shaped this nations development. Bad science claimed that black bodies were biologically deficient, then extrap...

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Author

Lindsey Coffman

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Grief

Almost a year after our infant son was born dead, a woman at church talked about him, using his name in a conversation, and I almost wept with gratitude! I didn’t realize how much it hurt that everyon...

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Author

James Howard Kunstler

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The idea of a modest dwelling all our own, isolated from the problems of other people, has been our reigning metaphor of the good life for a long time. It must now be seen for what it really is: an an...

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Haters of Humanity?

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 8:1-3, 2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Peter 4:12-16, Matthew 5:10-12, Luke 6:41-42, Genesis 3:8-19, Genesis 39:6-20, Job 2:11-13, Job 42:7-9

Most of us are aware of various persecutions that took place during the first few centuries of the church’s existence. One particularly brutal local persecution took place during the reign of Nero, wh...

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Our Need for Forgiveness: Our Search for Wholeness

Author

Annemarie S. Kidder

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 3:23, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Hebrews 10:22, Romans 3:23-24, Psalm 32:5, Acts 3:19, Proverbs 28:13

The practice of confession in the context of a liturgy or in a private ecclesiastical setting has declined drastically over the past fifty years, and in particular since the Protestant Reformation in ...

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Author

C. Baxter Kruger

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The doctrine of the Trinity means that relationship, that fellowship, that togetherness and sharing, that self-giving and other-centeredness are not afterthoughts with God, but the deepest truth about...

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The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth

Author

John R. W. Stott

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Scripture

Matthew 5:5, James 4:6-10, Matthew 23:12, Luke 14:11, Judges 7:

These ‘meek’ people, Jesus added, ‘shall inherit the earth’. One would have expected the opposite. One would think that ‘meek’ people get nowhere because everybody ignores them or else rides roughshod...

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Shalom & Shalvah

Author

Eugene Peterson

Keywords

Peace

Shalom, “peace,” is one of the richest words in the Bible. You can no more define it by looking in the dictionary than you can define a person by his or her social security number. It gathers all aspe...

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The Unmaking of the Ungodly

Author

Fleming Rutledge

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 11:null, Romans 4:17

In this excerpt from a sermon preached at Trinity Church, Boston, the Episcopalian Priest Fleming Rutledge describes the amazing work of Will Campbell: The last time I was here, your rector Sam Lloy...

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WALL-E and Work

Author

Tom Nelson

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The animated movie WALL-E is a cute story of a curious robot whose job is to clean up a trashed earth. While humans once inhabited the earth, we soon discover they have been evacuated from earth with ...

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