Contributed by Anne Benefield on Mar 3, 2008
When I was in business school, I had a very wise and at the same time a very unsettling professor. One day he said, “You will hear the truth you are willing to hear.” What he meant was that as a manager, if you intimidated the people working with and for you, they would avoid telling you what you
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Glenn Durham on Mar 1, 2008
based on 4 ratings
| 2,003 views
Jesus is in no way ashamed of the sovereign work of God in giving a chosen people to His Son to save.
A wise, elderly woman in the congregation, hearing the preacher struggle to explain predestination, said: “Ah, I have long settled that point. For if God had not chosen me before I was born, I am
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
In a previous church I served, we had a young couple in our congregation whose names were Barry and Cindy, and both Barry and Cindy were blind. This was an impressive young couple who managed to live a normal life despite their disability. They maintained their own apartment, held down jobs,
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Jesus changed all that. And I love the way he did it. Talk about detail! John tells us that Jesus “spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.” Whenever I read these words, I think about another occasion when God did something remarkable with mud. In Genesis 2:7
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Feb 27, 2008
She has used up husbands the way each of us uses up unsatisfactory water. We keep trying all these ways to cure our souls. We try this self-help book. We try that therapist. We try this drug. We try that drink. We try this husband. We try that wife. But, ultimately, we have no husband.
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
based on 2 ratings
| 3,009 views
ADDICTION | Angeles Arrien, a cultural anthropologist, describes our situation this way. She says our condition is one of universal addiction. She has written that we are all afflicted with addictions, not necessarily to drugs or alcohol or other substances -- those are merely symptoms -- but
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Paul describes this situation as “death-dealing sin.” He calls it “the dead-end abyss of separation from God.” The way they put in medieval times was to describe humanity -- listen to this: humanity was portrayed as a wingless bird, stuck in its alluring conditions, too heavy to fly. Does any
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
To let go requires a change of mind. It’s not unlike jumping from a burning building. I have to decide that “down there” is safer than “up here” even if getting “down there”
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
If I may return to the picture of the burning building, It’s a sure thing that I won’t jump if I don’t know the thing is on fire.... We will not give up the structures of our existence -- not on
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Glenn Durham on Feb 20, 2008
One of the most profound problems is: "How can justice and mercy be reconciled?" The law demands punishment; to set it aside invites anarchy. And God is holy — as Leviticus loudly proclaims. Ignoring our failures and setting aside justice would mar God’s beauty, like placing a Sharpie in the hand
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Glenn Durham on Feb 20, 2008
based on 5 ratings
| 2,040 views
Pastor Tim Keller (Redeemer PCA, New York), made this observation: “All other gods say, ‘Fail and you will die.’ Our God says, “Fail and I will die for you.’ All other religions say, ‘Our god is too
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Feb 19, 2008
based on 1 rating
| 2,316 views
In the inspiring book, This I Believe: Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, Susan Cosio writes, “I believe in a daily walk just to listen.” A chaplain at a medical center, a writer, and a mother of three, Susan Cosio says:
I believe I have to remove myself from the voices that
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Feb 19, 2008
“Fasting can be a form of body praying… [But] fasting has nearly ceased to be practiced among us as a religious duty. It has been replaced by other forms of self-denial. One of the most common of those among us is dieting, which is largely cosmetic and therapeutic. What is there to say about it?
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Feb 19, 2008
based on 1 rating
| 1,050 views
One of my favorite books is called This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women. It is a compilation of eighty essays based on the National Public Radio series of the same name. The essays are from the famous and the unknown. One of the essays that I found most moving is
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
based on 2 ratings
| 3,806 views
Today is February 14, Saint Valentine’s Day, of course. What do you know about Saint Valentine, or, to use his Latin name, Valentinus?
It is difficult to know anything for certain. In fact, historians claim that the details of this man’s life are lost in obscurity. About the only thing they’re
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Those who love each other want to be together always. And God wants to be with you always. That in itself is proof that he loves you. And you and I cannot resist such love. Or, if we can, we shouldn’t. God’s love ought to melt away
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
I have never been a boxer, but ever since I was a child, I have heard that, in the ring, you lead with your left. That is, you position yourself opposite your opponent in such a way that your left glove is out in front. Your right glove is close to your body. You’re always jabbing with
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Feb 14, 2008
This past week I heard a man named Paul Peck speak. He talked about watching the riots in Los Angeles in April of 1992 following the acquittal of the four white officers who beat Rodney King. Paul watched in horror as African Americans burned down their own communities and businesses, but instead
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Feb 14, 2008
The idea of sacrifice seems to have been lost. We have been praying for my Uncle Bruce and Aunt Julie. They are the kind of people who know what it means to sacrifice. Daddy’s youngest sister,
Even though my Uncle Bruce was only 16 when his father died, he made a promise to get his sister
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
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