Not Every Hardship

Difficult tasks often have easy beginnings. It is easy to learn the first few pages of a new piano piece when the melodies were familiar, the chords simple, and the…

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In Everything Give Thanks

Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in every thing give thanks—for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. ( Thessalonians 5:16–18) Giving thanks in every thing is…

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What We Are up Against

It has often been said that, “To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail.” Regardless of the source of this modern-day proverb, it communicates a truth that all of…

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The Gift that Changes Lives

The Christmas season offers many opportunities to turn the conversation towards the significance of the One Whom so many claim to be celebrating. This is a lightly edited version of…

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Un-Ambiguous Praise

Love is a wonderful thing—on that point almost everyone agrees. Yet this wonderful word called “love” has been assigned a bewildering variety of meanings. The Beatles famously asserted that, “all…

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Towing the Tow Truck

As I rode behind a tow truck that was pulling another tow truck the other day, the first thing I thought to myself was, “that awkward moment when you are…

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Keep Calm and Fight On

We would live differently if we realized that we lived in a war zone. It is socially acceptable to complain about the amount of foam in our coffee when the…

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The Echo Chamber

Those educated in studying people have observed a phenomenon they describe as the “echo chamber.” You might not have heard the term but you probably know the symptoms. Your friend…

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Much to You!

Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their 250 stooges of reputation were up in arms. The text does not say exactly why, and, for the purposes of this article, it doesn’t really…

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Praise the Lord!

Hard as it may be for those who know me now to believe, as a child I used to sing specials with my family, both at our own church and…

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