Joe, a leader at First church, was charged with finding a company to repave the church parking lot. His college buddy had recently started a paving company and Joe secretly wanted to help his friend build up his business. Though Joe knew about previous less-than-honest dealings that his friend was involved in, he presented the company in a positive light,
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1 Corinthians 4:1-2 (NIV) This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. What happened in Texas this past Sunday was horrific, unimaginable. Another mass shooting; this time at a little
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Love must be sincere. Romans 12:9 (NIV) I was in a desperate situation. I was out of work, and I had to find a way to meet my family’s needs. One evening I ran into an old friend. I knew he was well connected in my field, so I put my best foot forward and began a conversation with him.
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The other day as I was driving I saw a billboard advertisement for a new church. The sign simply stated the name of the church and the words, “Not your mama’s church.” At first I chuckled but then as I began thinking about the implications an unsettled feeling came over me. I had to wonder, what was wrong with my
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Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts. Proverbs 21:2 (NASB) I walked into the crowded room hoping to find encouragement for what I was thinking of doing later that evening. I had felt the need to go meet up with some old friends and share my new-found relationship with Christ with them.
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In Psalm 18:6 David is praising God for hearing and answering his prayer for protection when he was on the run from Saul. You can almost hear David’s excitement that God heard his prayer and answered him as he proclaims, “In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard
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They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. 2 Corinthians 8:2-3 (NLT) My friend Gary is always
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In recent years I’ve heard a lot of talk about the idea of “best practices.” It’s a bit of a buzz word in the business world and recently it’s made landfall in the church. The term, “best practices” conveys the idea that there are a set of recognized procedures and techniques that are generally accepted as the most prudent and
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And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7 (KJV) Christmas was a big holiday when I was growing up, but there is one tradition in particular that stands out to me. Every year before our Christmas dinner,
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