One cold day by the ocean, I was seeking God’s direction, and I felt distinctly prompted to relinquish all the goals I had at the time. Ahhh!!! In their place—and I am convinced the Holy Spirit was doing this because it was so clear and against my will—I was to “do the Matthew 6:33 thing.” That reads: “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” So above everything else, I am—and we are—are to seek God’s heavenly reign as it comes to earth here and now. And we are…
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I predict that to a surprising degree, this new year will bring you a response to what you bring to it. You may or may not have made a New Year’s resolution, but they typically rely on willpower. And willpower is like a battery with a limited energy cycle—it needs to be frequently recharged. That’s what makes resolutions so vulnerable to failure. But if we use our willpower to form simple habits that we do every day, the habits pave the way to accomplish what might otherwise elude us. That’s where I encourage you to consider the annual growth commitment….
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Those who live well in the face of eternity are keenly and joyfully aware this Christmas season that the eternal One came to earth so that we could spend eternity with him. Here’s a Christmas verse from the One whose birthday we celebrate: “Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Considering that we are celebrating not our birthday but the one of he who identified with the poor and oppressed, how would a person follow what he says? AdventConspiracy.org encourages us…
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In Montgomery, Alabama, I visit the Legacy Museum, where for the first time in my life I start to learn the full truth of the African-American experience, not just in slavery but from the Civil War to 1965: mob violence, Black Codes, Convict Leasing, lynching, institutionalized suppression through Jim Crow laws, and abuse through manipulation of the criminal justice system. I was speechless. The subjugation of blacks across the entire South, aided by inaction in the rest of the country, enabled an ever-evolving white supremacist caste system to perpetrate itself for one hundred years. I’m stunned that I never had…
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Mike’s text message read: “I needed to know so I gutted the valve. Found the problem. 1/64” scratch in brass seal inside valve. To big for the new plungers to work.” My breath stopped in one of those you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me moments. His message continued: “We were hopeful that the less expensive fix would have worked.” Yes, Mike, so did I. About $950 worth. The backflow device for our church in Walnut had been leaking for a while, and it was growing worse to the point of continuous flow. I had replaced all the inside parts myself a couple of years earlier,…
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