church
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A pagan observed an early 2nd century AD church. Here is what he saw. “They abstain from all impurity in the hope of the recompense that is to come in another world. As for their servants or handmaids or children, they persuade them to become Christians by the love they have for them; and when they
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“How can you cope with the end of the world and the beginning of another one? How can you put an earthquake into a test-tube or the sea into a bottle? How can you live with the terrifying thought that the hurricane has become human, that fire has become flesh; that Life itself came to
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“Jacob was a manipulator, Peter was impulsive, John had a temper, David had an affair, Noah got drunk, Jonah ran from God, Paul was a murderer, Gideon was insecure, Miriam was a gossip, Martha was a worrier, Thomas was a doubter, Sarah was impatient, Elijah was afraid, Jeremiah was depressed, Moses stuttered, Zacchaeus was short,
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“Only God has the love we need—yet we’ve turned away from him, except to demand convenient instructions and cooperative help. So we manage every relational encounter with self-need as our ultimate value. We talk about topics we can handle. We try to build our mate’s self-esteem so we can feel good about ourselves. We pout so friends will
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“A generation of Christians reared among pushbuttons and automatic-machines is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals. We have been trying to apply machine-age methods to our relations with God. We read our chapter, have our short devotions, and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy by
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Back from ministry in Ireland—high time for another great quote. Jesus prayed for all His future followers—us—that we may be “one” as He and His Father were one. What did He mean? What should we do? C.H. Spurgeon had an idea… “Are you alive by the life of Christ? Does God dwell in you, and do you dwell in him? Then,
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As I’m teaching in Jerusalem, I offer a short provocation from Christianity’s holiest site… (5:30)
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The world is in trouble, but fret not—the church isn’t. The pressure is on, but it’s been on before. The world even tried to kill Jesus, and look what happened… “Nothing can extinguish it. To the end of time it shall be there and shall always manifest itself, and men must never lose heart because of that.
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You may not even go to church, but pastors are still a presence in your neighborhood. They’re (mostly) holy-men, people you seek out when the world goes wrong or when God comes knocking. They’re also human—and the devil hates them. Behind all the spirituality there’s a battle going on… “Pray for your pastor: 97% of pastors have
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We call them “Gifts of the Spirit”, and every follower of Jesus has at least one given to them by Him. But the gift He handed us isn’t for us. Read the tag—it has someone else’s name on it, and Jesus expects us to deliver it. The Apostle Paul said, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given
Jay McCarl 