Dig Deep

Kindred Spirits Help Others

Dr. Debra A. Schwinn
12 Aug 2021
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kindred spirits

In 1 Corinthians 16 we learn the Apostle Paul saw a great door of opportunity for his upcoming work, but he also saw significant obstacles in the way. I want to tell you about two hard-working business students whose stories explain much about overcoming obstacles, taking advantage of opportunities and extending opportunity to others.  A pair of kindred spirits These two students never met, for they were generations apart, but I see them as kindred spirits. The first was Theodore R. “Ted” Johnson, who was born into a middle-class family in 1901. He worked his way through college and joined […]

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Everyone Has a Worldview

Dr. O.S. Hawkins
10 Aug 2021
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“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (GENESIS 1:1). Everyone has a worldview. We all view life through some type of lens. Certain predisposed persuasions or seemingly benign biases do, in fact, determine how each of us views our world. Presently, the Western world is engaged in a huge confrontation between competing worldviews. I spent my boyhood years in the 1950s, when the Judeo-Christian worldview was front and center in America. Our young men and women had just returned from the European Theatre or the South Pacific at the conclusion of World War II. They married their […]

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Where Are You?

Omar Aleman
9 Aug 2021
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where

He was quite the fellow. Appointed as the first Chicago detective, founder of a famous national investigative agency, bodyguard to President Abraham Lincoln, undercover operative who infiltrated the Confederate Army, pivotal in the formation of the U.S. Secret Service, tracker of Jesse James and other train robbers and responsible for the establishment of a central criminal database system, Allan Pinkerton was quite the fellow. He wrote 15 detective books and novels, during which he popularized the word “lam”, a term used to describe fleeing fugitives who thus “were on the lam.” His detective agency became the “go to” place when […]

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Reading The Word of Life

Dr. Gene L. Green
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“I never read the New Testament before. I found it to be a very interesting book.” A few years back one of my students wrote these words at the bottom of his final exam in a course in New Testament. He had been raised in the church. Throughout his church services, Sunday school classes and youth group events, there was never a time when he was taught to read all of Scripture. Although well-educated, adept at the English language and a person of true faith, he never read the New Testament. I’m glad he found it to be a very […]

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What You Celebrate Is What You Replicate

Edwin Copeland
5 Aug 2021
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replicate

I’ve read books, blogs, articles, tweets and Facebook posts. I’ve kept up with the bestsellers book list, listened to dozens of hours of podcasts, visited countless churches and have been educated by Christian institutions. I’ve shared meals with fundamentalists, conservatives and liberals. For years I’ve listened to, gleaned from and observed evangelical Christians from various cultures, ethnicities and denominational backgrounds. What I’ve discovered is that they all have one thing in common: they are all, in some way, spiritually wounded by the church. Some have been spiritually abused, others profoundly disillusioned by church and cultural Christianity. They all love the Church yet are tired of existing in a world of exhaustion, pretending, […]

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Shocking Mercy: The Gospel Is both Reasonable and Desirable

Dr. Tommy Boland
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“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).   We have been looking at how the life of Jesus Christ makes the Gospel both reasonable and desirable. We have seen how the Good News that Jesus declared and demonstrated speaks to both the head and the heart of the listener. We saw His Searching Mercy displayed in His encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4 and His Scandalous Mercy bestowed on the unwanted, sinful woman […]

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shocking mercy

Franklin Graham: Standing Strong for Christ

Franklin Graham
3 Aug 2021
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stand

(Comment below on what it takes to be standing strong for Christ.) In this day when the immoral pressures of our decadent culture are growing stronger and more belligerent by the moment, it’s encouraging to see those who are standing strong in Christ. That’s certainly true in the field of higher education, where the new administration in Washington is doing all it can to reverse policies put in place under President Trump to protect Christian schools grounded in Biblical convictions. The extraordinary push by the brazen LGBTQ lobby with the backing of the current administration (especially Health and Human Services […]

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Abiding And Surrender

Zach Reynolds
14 Jul 2021
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“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; […]

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abiding

Seeking Spiritual Diversity

Omar Aleman
8 Jul 2021
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seek

Opposites attract when dealing with magnets. It is not that simple with humans. There are many stories of individuals who shared little in common and yet thrived when connected; much has also been written when the opposite occurred. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the entertainment business and Bill and Melinda Gates in technology fit the bill in the latter case, while Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf in sports and the “Ragin Cajun” (James Carville) and Mary Matalin in politics have overcome their differences to enjoy long lasting relationships. Putting the secular aside, what does the Bible say about opposite […]

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If A Sunrise Could Talk

Stephan Tchividjian
7 Jul 2021
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(scroll down to leave a comment) “A very original man must shape his life, make a schedule that allows him to reflect, and study and create.” – Gary Wells   Sunrises and sunsets, both create a space for reflection. I like that because the uniqueness of the moment is so original that I tend to be more pensive and willing to listen, more apt to learn, and I find myself bending towards humility and kindness. Sunrises follow sunsets, (or is it the other way around, I’m not sure) and they appear quieter than sunsets. Sunsets are usually accompanied by a […]

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sunrise