Can We Really Ever Forget?

A question flashes through my head as I write these words: can our minds actually allow us to forget? The way God has made us with that internal filing system we call “memory”—it is doubtful we can fully forget even the things we want to forget.

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When You Are the Offended, Part 2

Yesterday we read Jesus’s parable of the king who forgave his servant—who then refused to forgive a fellow-servant. (You may want to read it again from Matthew 18:23–35.) From this parable, we learned that to refuse to forgive is hypocritical.

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When You Are the Offender, Part 1

Matthew 5:23–24 describes in a nutshell the correct response and procedure to follow when we have been in the wrong and have offended someone. “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering . . .

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Servants Give Anonymously

When Paul made his way through Europe, specifically the region of ancient Macedonia, he announced to the churches in that area the financial need of the church in Jerusalem. What adds to the significance of the whole episode is that Macedonia was already an economically depressed area. Macedonia was to Paul like one of our most economically depressed regions today. It would be like encouraging the poorest people in one country to send money to those who are hurting in another poor region. That kind of appeal would sound strange to us today.

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Maneuvering for Me

I’ll never forget a trip I took with my older son to shoot the rapids at the Rogue River in Oregon. While we were receiving instructions from the guide (there were about fifteen of us in the entire group), I began to study the canoes with my eyes. Some were old and worn, but a few were new. Being selfish, I wanted Curt and me to get the new ones . . . so I whispered in his ear . . .

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Does God Hate?

Hate is a powerful word. We are taught from childhood to avoid hatred at all costs and to obey the command of Christ to love everyone, including our enemies. So it’s shocking to read the words that Paul quoted from Malachi, who declared that God loved Jacob but hated Esau (Malachi 1:2–3). How can a […]

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