God

Artists in Church: An Untapped Resource

Dan Siedell
3 Mar 2015
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Let’s face it. The creative response to creation that we call art doesn’t play a prominent role in the church. As pastors and Christian leaders, we’re just not quite sure what to make of it. But taking art and the artist seriously can be more than organizing art museum visits, hanging paintings in the sanctuary, hosting an artist in residence or talking about beauty. Through my twenty-year career as an art historian, museum curator and art critic, I am convinced that the artist is an untapped resource. One of the most important needs of the artist is in the conversation […]

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Dealing with Death’s Reality

John Hawkins, Sr
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American culture does not deal well with the reality of death. Most people live in denial of it. We pretend it will never happen to us or to someone we love. When death touches our life in some way, most of us don’t know how to act, what to say or how to grieve. In other cultures death is accepted and confronted in all its reality. It used to be more so in our recent past. People would be cared for at home and often die there. The body would be viewed and the wake held at home over perhaps […]

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dealing with death

The Tale of Saint Patrick

Penni Bulten
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March 17, known around the world as St. Patrick’s Day, is a national holiday celebrated in Ireland with great joy, and Americans join in as well. It is traditional for Irish Americans and others to commemorate the occasion by the “wearing of the green,” putting on clothing in the national color of Ireland, often in the form of a three-leaf clover. Catholics in Ireland and other countries regard St. Patrick’s Day as a day of holy obligation, that is, a day to worship through rest, just as one would rest on Sabbath. In Ireland, the day is a celebration of […]

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Why We stand For 40 Days and Pray

Karen Gushta
2 Mar 2015
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“When I went to have my abortion, if there was someone standing and praying in front of the center, I don’t think I would have gone through with it,” said Tewannah Aman, who had an abortion as an 18 year-old. “If I had seen someone holding a sign, as I now do, that read ‘I regret my abortion’ I would not have done it.” When she first found out she was pregnant, Tewannah was excited. But when she shared her good news with a close family member, “She sat me down,” said Tewannah, “and told me that I was too […]

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40 days and pray

Some Obstacles Are Not To Be Overcome

Dr. Tommy Boland
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obstacles

As a coach for decades, I was in the business of teaching and training athletes to overcome every obstacle that stood in the way of peak performance. This is a wise approach to training athletes. However, this is not always God’s approach in training us, and only wisdom makes us sensitive to understanding this truth. Now if you are a regular reader of the Good News, you are probably familiar with Paul’s “thorn” or obstacle that he prayed for God to take away three times, and God did not remove it. But this month, I want to share a lesser […]

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Recognizing the Truth

Blackstone Grif
1 Mar 2015
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Over the last sixteen years the Good News has strived to present the truth and open reader’s eyes. We can so blindly go through our day taking in a false reality that is presented to us through nightly news, radio, TV, advertising and movies.   A manufactured reality Christof, portrayed by Ed Harris in The Truman Show, said it all when he remarked, “We accept the reality of the world we’re presented.” In the movie, Truman played by Jim Carey, lived in a fake world where everything was a giant set. All of his friends were actors, his job was […]

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recognizing the truth

Palm Sunday On Monday

Jeremy McKeen
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Many Christians from around the world celebrate Palm Sunday, otherwise known as Jesus’ triumphal entry. Yet, what was the significance of this day in Jesus’ life? Why were the people waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna”? Why did Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt? What did it all mean, and how does it relate to your life today? In other words, how does Palm Sunday connect to your Monday?   The Significance From Robin Hood to The Man in the Iron Mask from Lancelot to The Lord of the Rings, so many of the legends in literature are […]

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Nothing About You Is The Gospel… And That’s Good News

Tullian Tchividjian
3 Feb 2015
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How often have you heard the gospel equated with a positive change in a believer’s life? “I used to __________, but then I met Jesus and now I’m ___________.” It may be unintentional, but we make a serious mistake when we reduce the good news to its results, such as patience, sobriety and compassion, in the lives of those who have heard it. These are beautiful developments, and belief in the gospel does produce such fruit. But the results should not be confused with the gospel itself. The gospel is not a means to an end; it is an end […]

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gospel

I Stand Corrected

Jeremy McKeen
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stand corrected

Nobody likes to be corrected. Yet, correction is often like bad tasting medicine; it doesn’t make you feel good in the moment, but it can help you to become better in the days to come. Solomon put it like this, “It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:5 NIV). The song of fools is figurative for being serenaded with flattery. So, in other words, both correction and compliments are good, but when it comes to developing your inner life and character, correction has more value.   […]

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Who Is This Man?

Dr. Tommy Boland
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In what is commonly referred to as the “love month” due to the celebration of Valentine’s Day, I have a word of unimaginable comfort for you from the One who loves you more than you could ever imagine. “But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them’ ” (Luke 15:2 NIV). Who is this Man? Who is This Man who welcomes sinners and eats with them? He is none other than God incarnate who left the throne room of heaven, took on the flesh of man in the form of a […]

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This Man