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The Paradox of a Healing God and a Sick World
I believe that it is the paradox between serving a healing God and the persistence of illness and even death that ultimately lies behind most theological debates about divine healing in the Church. ... -
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Jesus Did This Too
A few years ago, a vicious stomach bug swept through our community. (When you live in a religious community and one person gets sick, it’s just a matter of time before everyone else does too.) And one... -
scripture guide
Scripture Guide, John 11:1-45
Ancient Lens What can we learn from the historical context? Back to Bethany The trans-Jordan village of Bethany was the place in which Jesus’ ministry began. It is now the place in which our text... -
liturgy
Good and Gracious God, Father, Son, and
Good and Gracious God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: we come to You as an impatient people filled with a multitude of desires and needs. We yearn for simple things--the arrival of warm weather, enough... -
illustration
Both Adams in Me
In this beautiful poem by the English Divine John Donne, our nature as both redeemed and still sinful is eloquently described: We think that Paradise and Calvary, Christ’s Cross and Adam’s Tree, ... -
Quote
This [brokenness] is what needs to be accepted. Unfortunately, this is what we tend to reject. Here the seeds of a corrosive self-hatred take root. This painful vulnerability is the characteristic fea... -
illustration
What is Wrong with Us?
What is the matter with us is a question as old as time. Many philosophers and prophets believe they have an answer, but so too does holy scripture. According to the Dutch-Canadian philosopher Al Wolt... -
Quote
[I]f we chose to project the human figure forward out of an unhuman world, we could only say that one of the animals had obviously gone mad. -
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Warped Wood & Crooked Timber
The recognition of humanity's flawed nature is not exclusive to Christianity. Aristotle, in his work Ethics , compares human nature to a warped piece of wood. To rectify this warp, a skilled ... -
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Total Depravity Explained: Humanity's Devolution
Some skeptics today speak about “evolving” from a primitive condition, but the Bible (Romans 1:18-32) sadly portrays a descent rather than an ascent. The result has been given the theological term “... -
Quote
[Speaking of crucifixion] It seems almost inevitable to me that Jesus should go through this kind of darkness. . . . If you think of Jesus as God disguised as a man, then this will have no meaning for... -
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Jesus’ Emotions
I am spellbound by the intensity of Jesus’ emotions: Not a twinge of pity, but heartbroken compassion; not a passing irritation, but terrifying anger; not a silent tear, but groans of anguish; not a w... -
Quote
Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made. -
Quote
When the sense of God is lost, the sense of man is also threatened and poisoned. -
Quote
The inevitability of the death of Jesus does not stem from God’s need but from humanity’s. There are only two roles to play in the tale of divine and human relationships, persecutor or persecuted. God... -
liturgy
Inspired by Psalm 55 (1)
Heavenly Father, we come to you as a sinful people. We are all too aware that our thoughts are not like your thoughts, nor are our ways like your ways. You are righteous and holy, We are fallen and i... -
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Distraction is the Greatest Threat to Churches
The journalist Andrew Sullivan has some strong words of advice for the modern church, If the churches came to understand that the greatest threat to faith today is not hedonism but distraction, p... -
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If we acknowledge that our inclination to sin is part of our natures, and that we will never wholly eradicate it, there is at least something for us to do in our lives that will not in the end seem ju... -
illustration
I am a Christian
I am a Christian because of that moment on the cross when Jesus, drinking the very dregs of human bitterness, cries out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? . . . The point is that he felt huma... -
liturgy
Let us pray. Almighty, powerful,
Let us pray. Almighty, powerful, creator God So often we think we know best. We confess to you our sin alongside the sin of all humanity. We have tried to master creation rather than care for it. We ... -
Quote
Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for. -
scripture guide
Scripture Guide 2 Corinthians 5:6-17
Eyes of Faith Verse 17 summarizes the Apostle Paul’s argument in this passage: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Throughou... -
illustration
How Can I Mess up Me?
This illustration can work well as communicators demonstrate how God made us to be unique with the purpose of living into our own unique personalities: Rick Burgess and Bill “Bubba” Bussey host the ... -
Quote
The deepest, the only theme of human history, compared to which all others are to subordinate importance, is the conflict of skepticism with faith. -
liturgy
Father God, you see us; you have
Father God, you see us; you have compassion; and you care for your greatest creation – people. You have also called us to notice, to listen, and to love others. Yet in our selfishness, we have ignored... -
Quote
The crux and crisis is that man found it natural to worship; even natural to worship unnatural things. . . . If man cannot pray, he is gagged; if he cannot kneel, he is in irons. -
liturgy
We Need to Linger, a Call to Worship for Holy Week
Before we get to Easter, we need to linger: in the vulnerability of the basin and the towel at the remembrance and promise of the table in the struggle and betrayal of the garden in the shadows and sh... -
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Inspiring the Breath of God
Our lives are meant to inspire with (or inhale) the breath of God, the glory of his presence, the brilliance and beauty of his creation, and to expire (or exhale) an echo of wonder—an “amen.” It shoul... -
illustration
Humanity’s Sinfulness & a Toll Experiment
There’s a somewhat naïve belief among some that, in general, most people are inherently good. While many Christians may not fully embrace John Calvin’s doctrine of total depravity (which I believe is ... -
liturgy
As we come together
As we come together, we are gathered by a God who amazes and astounds. We are gathered to experience again God’s power and healing. We are gathered by God who has stepped into our reality as a human b...
![This [brokenness] is what needs to be](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1438761681033-6461ffad8d80?ixid=M3w1NzU0OTZ8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxodW1hbnxlbnwwfDB8fHwxNzEyNjAzNTcyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&auto=compress&fit=crop&w=200&h=200)
![[I]f we chose to project the human](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1571984269640-474565658a7f?ixid=M3w1NzU0OTZ8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxM3x8aHVtYW4lMjB8ZW58MHwwfHx8MTczODMzNzAwMnww&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&auto=compress&fit=crop&w=200&h=200)
![[Speaking of crucifixion] It seems](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1623141729469-899729ae77fc?ixid=M3w1NzU0OTZ8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxUaGUlMjBDcnVjaWZpeGlvbiUyME9mJTIwSmVzdXN8ZW58MXwyfHx8MTcxMDUzMTk0Mnww&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&auto=compress&fit=crop&w=200&h=200)
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