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Franklin Graham: Christ’s Light Outshines Any ‘Dark Winter’

Franklin Graham
2 Mar 2021
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righteous

(Leave a comment below on what Christ’s Light is doing for you during this dark winter.) Our nation’s 46th president, Joe Biden, has warned that we will be facing a “dark winter” as the COVID-19 virus continues to spread across America.  The Dark Winter The impact certainly has been enormous. Hundreds of thousands have died since the first case of the virus was reported last January in Washington state. Since then, hospital ICU units have been overwhelmed, frontline health care workers have been pushed to their limits, many churches have been unable to meet for worship and our daily lives […]

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Backstage

Edwin Copeland
25 Feb 2021
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With over 250 pastors quitting ministry each month across America, we know that the emotional, spiritual and relational health of pastors and church leaders affects the life of a congregation and spiritual vibrancy of a city more than any other factor. Healthy leaders lead healthy churches, and healthy churches change the fabric of their region. Even though pastors and church staff members are surrounded by people, ministry can be a lonely journey. The perceived external pressures to perform and achieve, coupled with the internal struggles of the heart, can sap a leader’s passion, strength and ultimately mute their call. It […]

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backstage

The Frail Strength of Humility

Dr. Warren Gage
10 Feb 2021
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humility

“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls” (Hebrews 12:3). Hung on the cross Let’s go back in time and imagine that we have followed the Savior along the Via Dolorosa on his way to Calvary. When we arrive at the hill, we are startled by the two thieves writhing in agony, already nailed to their crosses. The central cross, the place of greatest infamy, is where the soldiers will raise up Jesus to die. We see the two thieves and shudder. Several days before, James and John, […]

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A Biblical “BE MINE”

Dr. Tommy Boland
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February is generally thought of as “The Month of Love” because of “the day of love”—February 14, Valentine’s Day. If you are anything like me, you probably have some memories of grade school (or as a parent of your own child) and the “mandatory” valentine card that was to be given out to each student. You couldn’t miss anyone; everyone in your class had to receive a card, so no one’s feelings would be hurt. When our four children were growing up, Kim and called it “Frantic February 14th” (unless the day fell on the weekend, making it “Frantic Friday”), […]

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be mine

Lonely Gates

Stephan Tchividjian
9 Feb 2021
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Gate

The first eight years of my life I had the privilege of living in many different places, some of them exotic, some beautiful, some cold, some strange, some familiar. Perhaps you had a similar upbringing. I cherish those experiences. One of the places I lived was a small town in North Carolina, called Montreat. Montreat was a great place to grow up as a child because we were able to explore the streams, mountain paths, forests and allow our imagination to run wild in what could easily be the land that time forgot. One thing unique about this town was […]

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Violence In The Land

Dr. Gene L. Green
3 Feb 2021
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Josephus, the ancient historian who chronicled first century Jewish history in The Jewish War, says that 12,000 Jews died when the Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem in 63 BC. Another Jewish text from the period described the brutal violence of these events this way: “The lawless one laid waste our land, so that no one inhabited it; They massacred young and old and children at the same time… As the enemy was a stranger and his heart alien to our God, he acted arrogantly.” They were violent times The Jewish ruler Archelaus killed 3000 Jews in 4 BC, massacres occurred […]

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violence

Doing Life While Doing Time

Omar Aleman
2 Feb 2021
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overtime

The whole thing seemed so futile. They were down three touchdowns with less than a minute to play. The quarterback got the ball and hurled it downfield as far as possible hoping that one wearing his jersey would catch it. But if he did, so what? There was not enough time to make a comeback; why not just “take a knee” and leave it at that? Yet, time and time again this scenario is played out during fall weekends. The reason given… competitors do not stop playing until the clock strikes zero.   Clock management It is interesting to note […]

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God Said Turn Right

Rob Hoskins
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I always drive the same route to work. One day while sitting at a red light a few blocks away from the office on a double-booked kind of day, I distinctly heard the Holy Spirit tell me to, “Take a right.” Not one to argue with the Lord, I clicked on my blinker and made the right turn. My curious eyes drank in the new sights on a road I’ve never driven before. My unexpected right turn landed me in an urban community, called Avondale, made up of nine hundred residences that house over 3,000 people – mostly Hispanic and African […]

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right

The Hardest Thing

Omar Aleman
21 Jan 2021
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Baseball. No need to ponder, dig deep in the confines of my brain or compare notes; hands down… baseball, that’s what I thought. That’s the hardest thing I had ever done, by far. For most, the answer was sort of a letdown, particularly if they were privy to my sordid past. But, for all my colorful endeavors, it came down to the “national pastime.” The hardest thing  Nothing, absolutely nothing, can compare in degree of difficulty to hitting a round ball thrown by an expert hurler standing on a small hill 60 feet six inches from me with my only […]

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Welcome One Another

Dr. Gene L. Green
13 Jan 2021
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Robert Jewett succumbed to Covid-19 on December 4th. His students called him Dr. or Prof. Jewett while friends and colleagues just called him Bob, extraordinary Bob. Jewett’s most monumental work was a massive volume titled Romans: A Commentary (2006). This 1140 page tome took him 25 years to research and write. Fortunate for us slow readers, he subsequently published Romans: A Short Commentary in 2013. Prof. Jewett – Bob – teaches us today through his fresh and relevant insights into the Apostle Paul’s most important epistle. Surprisingly, Jewett pinpoints the heart of Romans in chapter 15, verse 7: “Welcome one […]

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welcome