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02.18.15

Maybe you have a Bible sitting somewhere around the house. But you're not sure exactly what to do with it. Well, we can help with that.

Jesus tells us how to handle a Bible. And his instructions are relatively easy to follow:

1. We should listen to it.

In today's world there are so many ways to accomplish this first one....

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02.17.15

Jesus was very busy -- doing one good deed after another.

People who had been knocked down in life were being helped back up. The broken and ill were being made whole again. The suffering were being relieved of their hurt and pain. With all this going on, one would think that it would be hard to question Jesus' heart, or his power and...

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02.16.15

Jesus hung out with a strange crowd for someone who made claims to be the son of God. One's expectation would be that, since God is holy, he would only want to be around people who have their act together spiritually.

Not so. Not even close, actually.

The Son of God...

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02.15.15

"I think I might be all alone in this," is a thought that crosses our minds when we get to certain places in the journey of our lives.

That's a theme in our reading for today.

In the continuing saga of the children of Israel and their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, they often passed through lonely and desolate places....

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02.14.15

It's Valentine's Day. And I want to share another love language with you.

Possibly you've heard of the "Five Love Languages" popularized by Dr. Gary Chapman in his...

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02.13.15

The children of Israel were headed out of Egypt. But Pharaoh is set to take one last crack at them. He fervently wants to get them to turn around so he can put them back in chains.

He takes a huge multitude of chariots and battle-hardened, veteran charioteers and foot soldiers -- strong men who were each respected leaders in their own...

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02.12.15

For those with some experience in the sports world, the word "substitution" is a double-edged sword. If you're the kind of person who spent a reasonable amount of time on the bench (like me) then you love the word, because that's the moment you waited for: the substitution.

A substitution was great! It meant you--the substitute--were...

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02.11.15

Life can sometimes raise some pretty big questions.

Events conspire to confuse and discourage us. People act in the most ridiculous ways to surprise and dishearten us. Our own inner thoughts and emotions weave a tangled web of doubt, self-pity, hurt and bitterness.

The book of Ephesians tells us that these are not even the things ...

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02.10.15

David speaks in Psalm 19 about his "hidden faults" and "willful sins."

Hidden faults are the sins that we tend to keep secret. If sin is "missing the mark," these are the times we miss the mark so badly, we don't want anyone else to know. That's typically because we are so ashamed of how far off-target we were! We don't want people ...

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02.09.15

This was no small problem Moses was facing. His job was to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. But Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world, was a tad resistant to the idea.

Pharaoh had plenty of authority to back up his desire to keep the Israelites enslaved. In fact, when the Israelites requested a short leave so they could worship...

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02.08.15

God called Moses to be his appointed servant. Moses' service would be to deliver the Israelites from their brutal captivity in Egypt.

The Israelites had been crying out for that deliverance. God heard their cries. He recalled the promises he had made to the patriarchs, the forefathers of the Israelite people. He was concerned for his...

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02.07.15

We have a God who loves to hand out awards. And because he is as gracious as he is generous, these awards are lavish -- and completely undeserved.

After all, God created us in the first place. He gave us our hands, feet, eyes, ears, minds and hearts....

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