In Matthew, our Lord Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for speaking against the Holy Spirit, asking them, “How can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:32)
Pondering this verse in my quiet time, I turned it around and thought of Jesus...
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Affirmation in today’s world isn’t just clicking a “like” or “love” button. Nor is it flattery, which is often insincere praise motivated by selfishness. We flatter people because we want to be liked, gain influence, or avoid consequences. In Scripture, flattery is usually mentioned in negative ...
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My wife and I recently watched the miniseries “Band of Brothers”, a World War II drama based on the Stephen Ambrose book by the same name. In one episode it’s pointed out to Captain Winters, the main character, that they’re surrounded by the enemy. He cooly responds, “We’re paratroopers, we’re su...
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A number of years ago Richard Dawkins was cancelled from speaking at an event sponsored by Berkeley’s KPFA radio. The station cited Dawkins’ offensive and hurtful language against Islam as the reason which was being contested by Dawkins and other supporters. The evolutionary biologist and best-se...
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One of the great tragedies in American society is the absent father. The greatest fall-out of broken and failed marriages is its devastating impact on children. So this Father’s Day I want to put forth a challenge to men who are fathers or who plan to be one day. When children are small dad is th...
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“To tatt or not to tatt,” that is the question, and one that is often asked particularly by young people. Is it wrong, meaning sinful, for a Christian to get a tattoo? The short answer is no, but in order to do justice to this issue we need to consider two basic questions.
First, why do some ...
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In May of last year, a fire broke out in the neonatal unit of a hospital in Senegal. Faulty wiring was said to be the culprit and had the electrical circuits been properly installed, those children would be alive and well today. An essential part of manhood, and especially Christian manhood, is t...
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As you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, God begins to influence others through you. The life of Jesus becomes increasingly manifest in your being (see 2 Corinthians 4:11). As you daily die to self, living through the Spirit, that glorious life of our Savior becomes a real...
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Suppose you could travel to one of the most remote areas of the world and find a tribesman who had never known anything but life in the jungle, without any knowledge of the modern world or its contrivances. Suppose you took him to one of America’s large cities and left him to fend for himself. Yo...
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Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! (Psalm 141:3)
Growing up playing Pop Warner Football, we were always required to wear mouth guards on the field to reduce the risk of dental injuries (although I would use the same mouth guard for an entire season, which ...
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