Do What Is Right

Every day we live, we have a choice to do what is right or what is wrong. When we send our young children off to school, we tell them, “Now, sweetheart, you need to know that Mom and Dad won’t be there to make your decisions. You will find some kids at school who will […]

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Alternatives to Grace

Isaiah 44:22 NLT If I choose not to risk, if I go the “safe” route and determine not to promote either salvation by grace or a lifestyle of grace, what are the alternatives? Four come to my mind, all of which are popular these days. 1. I can emphasize works over grace. I can tell […]

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Your Marching Orders from God

You may not have thought about it before, but Christians have a lot more in common with soldiers than we might think. In what way? For starters, soldiers don’t serve to protect themselves but to guard the interests of their homeland. There is simply no room for ego or grandstanding among soldiers during the heat […]

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When God Says “No”. . .Pray

When nobody is around and when we’re able to be absolutely honest with ourselves before God, we entertain certain dreams and hopes. We want very much by the end of our days to have _________________________ (fill in the blank). However, it may well be that we will die with that desire unfulfilled. Should that occur, […]

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The Secret of Letting Go

I’ll never forget the day my brother Orville dropped by my parents’ house before he and his family headed to South America as missionaries. Now, you have to appreciate the kind of man my father was. Look up the word responsible in the dictionary, and I’m surprised his picture isn’t there! To him, risks are […]

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Seeing the World through God’s Eyes

Standing ankle-deep in snow, I copied the following inscription from the main wall near the old, iron gate that leads to the campus of Harvard University: After God had carried us safe to New England, and we had builded [sic] our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God’s worship and settled […]

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Go for It

How many people stop because so few say “Go!”? In his fine little book Fully Human, Fully Alive, author John Powell relates an experience which happened to a friend while he was vacationing in the Bahamas. The friend was sightseeing when he noticed a crowd gathered toward the end of a pier. He walked down […]

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Creativity and Tenacity

On May 24, 1965, a thirteen-and-a-half-foot boat slipped quietly out of the marina at Falmouth, Massachusetts. Its destination? England. It would be the smallest craft ever to make the voyage. Its name? Tinkerbelle. Its pilot? Robert Manry, a copy editor for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who felt that ten years at the desk was enough […]

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It Takes Courage

Deep within, we imagine ourselves as a mixture of Patrick Henry, Davy Crockett, John Wayne, and the prophet Daniel! But the truth of the matter is that most of us would do anything to keep from being different. We’d much rather blend into the woodwork. One of our greatest fears is being ostracised, rejected by […]

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