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GRU

The Power to Love Despicable People

If you’ve grown fond of the little yellow minions making their way around contemporary media, you’re probably familiar with the animated movie, Despicable Me. It’s the story of an evil villain, Gru, who adopts three little orphan girls to aid his plot to steal the moon, but who ends up falling in love with the […]

Diamond

The Missing Dimension of Grace

Imagine that you wanted to sell a very large and beautiful diamond, but that you had a problem—there was a large gouge out of one side of the stone. What would you do? You would focus on the brilliance characteristics of the unmarred side of the gem. In a sense, this is what much of […]

Rage

Is Mean the New Normal?

The video feed was anything but pleasant; scores of teenagers mercilessly pummeling each other. It happened recently as fights broke out among a thousand young people who had flooded a mall near Pittsburgh. Employees had to bar and lock storefronts in order to protect themselves and their customers. If you haven’t seen any of the […]

Cheesecake for Dessert

Favor without a Hook

My wife and I took a cruise to Bermuda to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. I think it was the most relaxing vacation I’ve ever taken. No responsibilities. Nothing to cook. No concern about what a meal would cost. To top it all off, we received tremendous favor from the cruise staff. It’s really nice […]

Progressive

Longing to Be a Progressive Christian

A “progressive” book publisher states that its focus is on, “progressive and mainline Christians who demand an open, inclusive, and culturally engaged exploration of faith . . .” I get what they’re trying to say, but have a very difficult time accepting the idea of what some are calling progressive Christianity. Some folks, it seems, are […]

Amazing

The Amazing Thing that God Wants to Do In You

What is the most outlandish thing that you can imagine God doing in your life? How about taking your most problematic weakness and turning it into your greatest strength? Does the thought of it seem extreme? Perhaps, but the Creator of the Universe is never intimidated by the word “impossible”. The enduring beauty of David’s […]

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Satan Wants to Sift You Like Wheat! Part II

Wheat is getting an increasingly bad name in our day. Why? Generations of hybridization have engineered wheat which is more disease resistant, more pesticide resistant, more workable for baking, and generally more productive. However, the same cumulative modifications that have significantly helped reduce starvation across the globe also seem to be having adverse affects on […]

Salt

Has the Salt of the Earth Lost Its Flavor?

I don’t think there is much question about it—the United States is a nation in decline. Whether we speak of a decreased standard of living or increased moral decay, we do not live in a visibly promising time. The sad reality of our current circumstances is no surprise to anyone with even a touch of […]

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Three Mindsets that Have Betrayed the Church

The pain of betrayal has few equals. I can still feel the sting from the time when I helped two friends patch up their broken relationship only to have them both turn against me. I’ve long since forgiven both guys but I have to admit that that one hurt for a long time. Just a […]

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