A series of articles tracking our dependence on God through The Story.
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You can pray like Jesus. Really.
In Luke 11:1, the disciples come to Jesus after one of His frequent prayer times, asking Him to teach them how to pray. In other words, they were saying, “Teach us how to do what you’ve been doing.”
Of course, He grants their request, and in so doing, teaches how to pray like Him.
Let me pause here for a brief detour, relevant to our discussion.
Much of what I share with …
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Jesus, living among men — what must that have been like?
How do you envision that? Something like Superman goes to kindergarten? I mean, He was the Son of God… right?
Of course He was. And is.
But if we emphasize His deity and minimize His humanity, we end up with a caricature – a distorted picture – of His earthly existence and His identity. For, while He came to earth as the Son of God, …
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For 400 years God went silent.
After the ministry of Malachi, we have no record of any communication from God until John the Baptist. But as we move into the Gospels, there is a flurry of communication, centering on Jesus’ arrival.
Zacharias receives a message from God through the angel, Gabriel, promising him a son – John the Baptist (Luke 1:8-20). Note that, because he doubted the message, the angel muted him until John was born.
Gabriel …
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“God hears & answers every prayer. Yes. No. Later. Those are his answers.”
I don’t recall how long it’s been since I first heard that, but I know it showed up pretty early in my journey. Maybe bible college. Nevertheless, I do remember how obviously true it seemed. Indeed, it seems to be accepted as God’s truth in evangelical circles today.
Perhaps, because it makes the point that God answers our prayer in His time, not …
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God gets blamed for a lot of stuff.
When Kasie and I were in Bible College, the church we attended had an extensive children’s ministry, which, of course, required a lot of workers. Two of these workers, a man and a woman, – married, but not to each other – were convinced that God was leading them to divorce their spouses and run off together to get married. In Vegas.
Also from Bible College comes the …
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It’s one thing to read about the people of Israel receiving God’s direction through the cloud and the pillar of fire (Numbers 9:15-23). It is quite another to know what that might mean for us today. Do we have a cloud or a pillar of fire to consult? How do we know what we should do?
Recently, I came across Lisa Whelchel’s story (the actress who played “Blair” on Facts of Life in the 80’s) …
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I’ve heard confidence defined as “that feeling you have before you fully understand the situation.” Actually, I first saw that on a t-shirt. Bought the shirt.
Now, while the picture on the shirt sets that definition in the context of outdoor adventure, I have found it true in many areas of life.
For example, I was confident I understood my health insurance policy deductible. Turns out, I did not yet fully understand the situation.
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It’s Monday morning, and this week is off to an obstinate start.
I needed to make a payment by phone. Expected it to take five minutes. Took an hour.
Then, I got ready to head out to Starbucks to work on this article and I couldn’t find my mug. After more than 10 years of officing at Starbucks, it recently occurred to me that one of those insulated steel mugs would keep my tea hot throughout …
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As a result of the question I posted last week, I was discussing the issue of being a “lover of money” with some friends. In the course of our conversation, it was suggested that, perhaps, we are not so much lovers of money, but lovers of security.
This idea helped us move beyond a cursory response to the question, and begin to dig into the issue a bit. But I don’t believe it got us …
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Over the last several weeks, we have looked at three of the priorities regarding our use of the money and possessions God has entrusted to us:
Provide for my needs, and those of my family
Share to provide for the needs of others within the body
Share with those who devote their full attention to the proclamation of the Gospel
Now, at first glance, that seems like a pretty comprehensive list, but there is one more issue that …
