Blog Posts
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A VBS Threat
Read more: A VBS Threat“But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sins by the sacrifice of himself.” –Hebrews 9:26b One day, I was waiting in line at the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles office. This was in the era before the improvements…
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Tending To Some Business
Read more: Tending To Some Business“…make them known to your children, and your children’s children.” –Deuteronomy 4:9 When I was a boy, my siblings and I would spend a month each summer visiting our grandparents in Greensboro, NC. It was always a special time as they lived eight hours away. During those extended stays they…
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The Essential With
Read more: The Essential With“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.” –Ephesians 2:19 Four decades ago, I traveled to Great Britain. It was my first trip overseas and I enjoyed it immensely. Along with touring several…
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Angry and Faithful
Read more: Angry and Faithful“”Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” –Ephesians 4:26 Shortly after seminary graduation, Lori and I moved to a small Kentucky town to prepare for the start of my first pastorate. Along with all of the other details involved with getting…
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An Encouraging Word
Read more: An Encouraging Word“And a voice came from heaven, ’You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.’”–Luke 3:22b The Scripture verse above comes from the day of Jesus’ baptism. Luke’s account of that moment omits some key details. He doesn’t tell us, for instance, that John the Baptist was…
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The Place to Turn
Read more: The Place to Turn“Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.’”–John 6:68 The summer following my sophomore year in college, I worked for a trucking company in Charlotte. A classmate’s father oversaw the tire department and he needed some help for a few months.…
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No Time for Words
Read more: No Time for Words“While he was still speaking…from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved…listen to him!’” –Matthew 17:5 Among the joys of living close to our grandchildren is the ability to be present for the more ordinary occasions. When our children were growing up, we lived hundreds of…
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The Cost of Freedom
Read more: The Cost of Freedom“For freedom Christ has set us free.” –Galatians 5:1a “Freedom isn’t free. Freedom isn’t free. You’ve got to pay a price. You’ve got to sacrifice for your liberty.” One day in 6th Grade, my class sang those words as part of a school assembly. I don’t remember the theme of…
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In Need of Translation
Read more: In Need of Translation“And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.” –Acts 1:6 During my seminary years, I once had some free time between the end of a semester and the start of a summer job. So before leaving…
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The Hardest Job
Read more: The Hardest Job“Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.”–Proverbs 22:6 Last November, I officiated at the wedding of a niece, my youngest brother’s oldest daughter. That event marked the 14th time (including my mother-in-law and our two children), when I was privileged to hold that role…