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Peacemakers
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9 So, we find ourselves in a new year. Unfortunately, a change in the calendar doesn’t magically erase all of the problems of the past year or years. A quick review of the news shows that nothing has really changed. There are…
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Thoughts on the Year Old and New
It’s New Year’s Eve, about 7:30 pm. It’s quiet in the house with just the wife and me. No parties planned, nowhere to go, and it’s highly unlikely we’ll be awake to see midnight. We’ve been busy today baking bread and making a big pot of mashed potatoes for tomorrow’s church potluck. The kitchen has…
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“Now you will see what I will do”
So Moses went back to the LORD and asked, ” Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? Ever since I went in to Pharaoh to speak in your name he has caused trouble for this people, and you haven’t rescued your people at all.” But the LORD replied to Moses, “Now you will…
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Connections
It’s perhaps at Christmastime we most often think of family and friends. Christmas songs such as “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and others speak of the longing to be together for the holidays. Even if ours is not a pleasant remembrance of family and time together, there is something within the human spirit that longs…
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Meaning and Purpose
Consider the following: Unless you have an identical twin, there has never been, will never be, and is not anyone exactly like you in the entire world. No one else has your exact genetic make-up. Even more astounding, if you have siblings, even though you are all products of the same genetic pool provided by…
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Thoughts on Advent and Christmas
I grew up in a conservative, fundamentalist church, one that didn’t believe in practicing anything not specifically sanctioned by scripture (something which I still consider a proper and safe practice). To my younger mind, it didn’t make any allowance for opinions not in direct violation of faith and practice as outlined in the Bible. Specifically,…
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Snapshots of God
It’s in the Bible that God chooses to reveal Himself to us. And yet, it sometimes feels as though the Bible gives us only a small picture of God, because there aren’t words to adequately give us a full picture. We wouldn’t be able to understand it anyway; our minds couldn’t comprehend it. It’s one…
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The Dash
It’s always an adventure to see where my brain is likely to go in the early morning hours when I’d like to get back to sleep for a couple more hours. This morning it chose to ponder on death. I don’t recall exactly how it started but given that I am ever closer to that…
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Of Sheep and Sinners
As I was preparing my sermon notes for Sunday (our minister and I swapped roles last week and this week; he’s leading the singing and I’m preaching) I was handed two gifts this morning to help me remember the awesome love God has for us. They fit well with my sermon themes. Last week was…
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Hold Fast
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, by which also you are also saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 Some time ago, I had to…
Memoirs of a Geezer 