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Why Do Christians Always Talk About Sin?
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4 min read
Some Christians seem totally obsessed with it. Some never talk about it. Why? What is it about sin that makes Christians talk about it all the damned time? We have to deal with it because it is a huge part of the faith. The problem is that we often are dealing with the baggage and the…
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“Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” As much as I don’t want to preach on this gospel today, I fear for the thousands of churches and church goers who will wrestle with such a tricky and troubling passage. And how many…
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1. My body got up hours before my brain. 2. For pastors, leading worship is exhausting. 3. And sometimes, so is coffee hour. 4. Maybe I’m running late because a small child crawled into bed and I had to pretend to be sleeping so that they’d get back to sleep before I get up. 5.…
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How political should your church be?
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4 min read
It’s a simple question. Well, at least many of us treat it like it is. Not at all, we say. Separation of Church and State. A lot, we say. We are called to change the world. How we answer the question often reveals not only what we think of church and politics, but where we…
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Watching By Forgiving Debts
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10 min read
There’s a single word in the Lord’s Prayer we often miss. Remember a few weeks ago how the disciples asked Jesus how to pray? He responded with a familiar prayer about hallowing, heaven, and daily bread. Then he says And forgive us our sins,for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. Did you notice? Jesus links sin and indebtedness.…
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The Gospel of Nice
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12 min read
I made waves in a book group a few months ago when I said that the Gospel isn’t about being nice. Or kind. Or being “a good person.” Like Jesus says to the pious young man (who was doing all the right things to be “a good person”) you haven’t done everything. You still have stuff.…
Make a New Normal
