We stand at the threshold of yet another year and, if God gives us the next 12 months, the question we need to ask and answer is this: “How does God want us to live them out?” It is far too easy to head off into another new year focusing in on ourselves and what […]
-Read MoreClement Clarke Moore (1779-1863) wrote the poem “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” in 1822. It is a tradition in many American families to read the poem every Christmas Eve. Here is the familiar beginning portion of it… “‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a […]
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When we read the account of the horrific fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we may not give the proper attention to the exchange between God and Adam. “The man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of […]
-Read MoreThe dictionary’s definition of complacent is “to be contented to a fault; self-satisfied and unconcerned, especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.” Sadly this describes far too many in the church today. They have grown so comfortable with their spiritual standing that they have become complacent, to the point where they are […]
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If you are anything like me, you struggle with holy living. If you are not anything like me, please let me know how you are doing it! As a minister of the Gospel, the reason I don’t mind confessing that I am far less than perfect is because another minister of the Gospel, who was […]
-Read MoreI learned the term “pain reflex” while I was in seminary; it refers to the witness of the early Christian church. It is said that some of the most powerful Gospel preaching came through the “pain reflex” of the early church. For many in the church today, especially in the United States, this term is […]
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If God posted an ad on one of those career builder/job-seeker websites, do you know what it would look like? Do you know the kind of person He would be looking for to do the job He has for them to do? Well, God already posted His want ad, long before these sites became popular, […]
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How often we use this statement, tacking on a variety of endings to point the finger of blame at someone else for whatever it is in life that displeases us. I call this “victim mentality,” because when we point the finger of responsibility at others we play the role of the victim. Do any of […]
-Read MoreAt The Cross Community Church we are in the middle of a sermon series I am teaching on The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians. Right at the beginning of the letter we read that we are “blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing” from adoption, to the forgiveness of sins, to the gift of […]
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The message this month is about a love so scandalous that it was willing to leave the court of heaven and the throne of grace, take on human flesh, dwell among us, live a perfect life, be ridiculed, slandered, falsely accused, betrayed, abandoned, condemned to death, beaten, nailed to cross beams, and forsaken by His […]
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