Category: Identity

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Redemption Parable

I remember as a child singing the hymn written by James Rowe and titled “Redeemed” with the refrain bouncing off the walls of our country church and settling into my spirit, 

I’m redeemed by love divine!
Glory, glory! Christ is mine, Christ is mine! 
All to Him I now resign, resign
I have been redeemed, redeemed!

Redemption Parable
One day vicious raiders from the north country raided our village. They broke into all our houses, stealing all the precious items our families had worked hard to provide. The men were ruthless and merciless.

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Chaos of the World

There is so much that seems to be out of control. Chaos abounds in the world at levels we have not seen in many decades. We have the first sniffs of possible nuclear war since the early sixties. Eggs cost about forty percent more than a year ago. There is a determined assault on families, the foundation of ordered society. Violence against the innocent and death by drugs have increased with only nominal attention from the media and little outrage from leaders.

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Be All You Want To Be—NOT!

Picture the scene: A slick speaker on a well-lit stage with a captivated audience hanging on every word. He gracefully paces across the stage, looking over the group when he emphatically declares, “Everyone of you can be all you want to be!”

So, anyone in the audience can be an NFL quarterback or maybe an author with a book on the New York Times bestseller list? Okay, what about a rock climber, rodeo bull rider, or maybe an astronaut?

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Mindset of Jesus

Why do you think like that? We all have a pattern or direction of thought. Our minds are directed from something and directed to something. We all have a worldview, meaning our thinking is based on a set of principles or from a certain standpoint.

In Paul’s letter to the Philippian Church, he encouraged them to have the “mind of Christ”. If we think that having the mind of Christ is a far jump for us, consider that the Greek word in Philippians is a verb meaning to be minded in a certain way. It is like having our thinking oriented like Jesus or the direction of our thoughts and life is like Him.

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Where Do We Go From Here?

PRAY FOR THE FAMILIES OF UVALDE, TEXAS!

It is horrible thing when two neighbors have a quarrel, and one kills the other. It is so unthinkable when an evil person kills at random one or more who are innocent and vulnerable with whom he had no quarrel. It is unthinkable because normal, descent folks just cannot imagine why anyone would do such a thing—it is unthinkable.

There is the usual rush to put a “why” on the “what”. Most of us who have an ounce of compassion first think about those in our lives who approximate the same age as the victims, then a deep sick feeling wells up in our souls to the point we quickly change the channel in our mind to something less painful. We whisper a prayer for the hurting while our souls scream, “WHY?”

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Pressing Forward

We have dipped our toes into the New Year and have the slate our future before us. I encourage you to look up and look forward. God has something good for you. Every day is a gift from God.

Life is difficult. Everyone deals with something. Yes, some folks have had it better than others, but no one leaves this earth without a scar. So, the heart of my remarks is not to belittle your difficulties but to encourage you move forward in spite of them. Some of life’s greatest victories were born out of great tragedies.

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Right Side Up!

We often hear people say they want to make a difference in the world. Most who say that usually have a motivation toward a positive difference even though their idea of change may not result in a positive difference. Many people have a world view based on an incorrect assumption rooted in falsehood. They operate on ideas that are counter to the truth.

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Head-Nodders

“Virtue signaling” is a catchphrase in the current cultural confusion. In the last few years, it has been exhausting to keep up with the new terms and re-definitions. I often wonder if some folks even know what they are saying or if they are just parroting the latest mantra from their side of the fence. By the way, virtue signaling is not a right or left problem, it is a human problem.

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