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Tag: Plan of Salvation

You Don’t Know Him Like I Do

You Don’t Know Him Like I Do

Sure, I watched cartoons as a kid—lots of them.  One of the most common plot devices involved characters who hadn’t encountered one another before.  One was a born predator and the other its natural prey—sweet, innocent, and harmless.  The predator, sensing no threat, unwisely drops its guard and even starts to trust the little angel, who soon reveals that its meek and mild persona is just a disguise.  The merry mayhem begins when the presumptive victim asks the audience in a mischievous stage whisper,…

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It’s Just Too Hard!

It’s Just Too Hard!

Some say that the Christian Faith is too simple to be taken seriously by intelligent people. They would have you believe that: 1) they themselves are highly intelligent and 2) they have sincerely tried to take true Christianity seriously but found to their great disappointment, that it was not up to their uncompromising intellectual standards.  They are unbothered by the fact that legions of brilliant men and women down through the centuries—including rafts of skeptics and scoffers—have found it sufficiently challenging…

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Sealing The Deal

Sealing The Deal

“The finance director will see you now,” said a pleasant young woman.  “If you’ll step this way.  Here we are.  It’s just through there.” “Thank you.” “My pleasure.  Good luck.” At the ominous word, “luck” the customer’s smile froze.  He shot a double-take at the quickly retreating back of his guide, then rapped hesitantly on the doorjamb of the director’s tiny, cramped workspace.  A large, powerfully built fellow emerged from behind an incongruously small desk and advanced toward him, right hand extended in greeting. “Welcome,” he said…

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The Patiently Persistent Program

The Patiently Persistent Program

As everyone knows, a bewildering array of choices exist today for those seeking content that appeals to their individual tastes.  Politics, news, sports, entertainment, instructional fare, it’s all there, most of it on offer 24×7, available at the consumer’s convenience or whim, which is to say, “on demand.”  Almost equally numerous are the platforms and devices for delivery of the selected subject matter.  If you want it, you most likely can get it, from legitimate or illicit sources and those in between, in…

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Coaxed By The Cross

Coaxed By The Cross

My name is Joseph.  I come from Arimathea, in the Judean highlands.  I am a disciple of the Nazarene, Jesus, called Christ.  Ironic that this is the first time I’ve said that out loud.  Until now, I’ve followed him in secret, because…because (God forgive me), I was afraid of the authorities—both the Romans (which goes without saying) and my peers—the leaders of my own people. Yet I am one of them—a prominent member of the supreme Jewish Council in Jerusalem, the Great Sanhedrin. I am one of 71 elites,…

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Sin—A Synopsis

Sin—A Synopsis

Sin is a word with which few are or ever have been comfortable.  Sinners, being sinners, do not like to think of themselves as wrongdoers (especially after expending a lot of energy on moral relativism, rationalizing, excusing, and explaining away their guilt).  Want proof?  Bring up sin sometime and watch the speed with which conversation dies and the formerly chatty scatter. For some, the problem is not clarity but confusion.  ‘If I admit that I’m a sinner, is that like saying I’m a bad…

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Classified Ad

Classified Ad

If God could be frustrated, consider how He might feel that the take up rate for His offer of salvation and eternal life remains chronically low (when, by all rights, it should be 100%).  And suppose, just for fun, that the Almighty opted to address the problem by placing an ad in the classified section of the newspaper (or internet bulletin board or social media platform…)? He would not place it under “Help Wanted,” because, God being God, needs no help…

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When Only A Lamb Will Do

When Only A Lamb Will Do

Live long enough on this lovely chunk of rock hurtling through space and you will find yourself in a jam.  Get into enough jams and sooner or later, you’ll stumble into one you can’t get out of—at least, not on your own.  In that moment, what you rely on and who you call on for help can mean the difference between survival and a really bad day for your life insurer. If you could choose a guard dog to defend you in…

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No Fond Farewells

No Fond Farewells

I once read tragic accounts of an ill-fated commercial airliner that became doomed, due to an inflight mischance of some kind, which badly damaged the tail section.  As a result, the plane lost the use of its hydraulic assists—somewhat akin to losing power steering and power brakes on a car, as it barrels down the highway.  The loss of its “boosters” severely restricted the nature and scope of the maneuvers that the aircraft could perform.  Cascading mechanical failures also made the stricken airliner…

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Are You Underdressed?

Are You Underdressed?

Successful people from all walks of life tend to be adept communicators.  The best of these learn to stir the emotions as well as the intellect.  They become skillful at simplifying complex ideas through storytelling.  These stories tap into common experiences from everyday life that establish instantaneous connection with others and serve to highlight or illustrate main ideas.   Abraham Lincoln is an acknowledged past master, as was humorist Will Rogers.  Examples abound among prominent writers, politicians, entertainers, and teachers—especially teachers.  In this category, none is so…

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