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Tag: The Gospel

An Emergency Without Urgency?

An Emergency Without Urgency?

The words “urgency” and “emergency” would seem to have much in common.  They’re both nouns.  They sound so very similar, and no wonder—their last two syllables are identical. But that’s just the beginning. Situations repeatedly arise, in which both words are applicable in the same place, at the same time and for the same reason.  It would be a challenge to name many other words more closely related in terms of proximity, causation, duration, and proportion.  Both urgency and emergency can trigger powerful emotions and great…

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Emmanuel In Reverse

Emmanuel In Reverse

It’s Christmas Eve 2021 as I write this column.  Naturally, the Nativity is on my mind.  Let’s read together the brief account in Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 1, verses 18-25.  I’ll share a few thoughts as we go. 18 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” Mary was “found [to be] with child.”  The child was not Joseph’s.  He and Mary were…

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A Kingdom For The Asking

A Kingdom For The Asking

The religious and political upper crust of first century Jewish society thought that they were finally getting just what they’d been wanting for ages.  Money had changed hands.  A secret arrest had been made.  The man at the top of Jerusalem’s ‘most wanted’ list could not rightly be called public enemy number one, because he wasn’t an enemy of the public—just a threat to the power structure.  But he had been hauled in and now stood bound before them.  After the skullduggery it had taken…

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Time Capsule

Time Capsule

Have you ever contributed items for inclusion in a time capsule or been in attendance when one is placed or opened?  If not, have you watched or read stories about the discovery or planned exhumation of a time capsule on an anniversary date or at the expiration of a specified interval?   What most intrigued or inspired you about the experience?  What sparked your curiosity or fueled your imagination? As everyone knows, a time capsule cannot be swallowed and does not contain any time. It…

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A Most Unusual Servant

A Most Unusual Servant

One of the greatest of the ancient Hebrew prophets was a man named Isaiah.  Chapter 52 of the book of the Bible that bears his name introduces us to someone popularly known as “the suffering servant.”  He doesn’t start out that way. In verse 13, we learn that this servant is unique: “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.”  Prudent (judicious, wise, shrewd).  Exalted (elevated, of greatly superior status). Extolled (praised, glorified, lauded). Very high (extraordinarily or…

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Let Save And Live

Let Save And Live

The venerable phrase, “Live and let live” is a familiar one.  It should be, having been around for about four hundred years [originally a Dutch proverb, it’s first appearance in English dates from around 1622].  The idea seems to have been, ‘live as you see fit and allow others to do the same.’  Expressed as a negative, it would be, ‘Don’t interfere with others, lest they interfere with you’ or ‘Leave others alone, so they’ll leave YOU alone.‘  It is not the Cold War’s strategic…

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The Last Shall Be First

The Last Shall Be First

This is my 36thcolumn for this blog (Correspondent for Christ).  For some time now, I have ended most of them with a simple list called, “Some Key Truths.” It’s intended to reinforce the themes that I write about and as a reference for those looking for more information from the Bible on God’s plan for saving people.  It can also serve as a memory aid for those who want to share their newfound faith, but don’t yet know God’s word well enough to…

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Love At First Sight

Love At First Sight

A question often asked in romance novels, smarmy films, “speed dating” clubs, and everywhere bad pick up lines are sold is, “Do you believe in love at first sight?”  And while this question is asked in restaurants and bars all over town, by people of varying motivations, you can be pretty sure of one thing: the questioner is desperate, deluded, or disingenuous. Typically, the individual making this inquiry is either experiencing a psychotic break with reality, is already in love—with themself—or has…

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Going By The Book

Going By The Book

At the risk of dating myself, I will tell you that I have always loved books.  As a young boy, I once entered a summer reading contest at our local library.  My sweet and patient mother (God rest her soul) walked me down there again and again, across the railroad tracks and over a bridge spanning the river, so that we could return one armful and pick up another.  I won the contest easily, reading well over 300 titles that summer.  [Admittedly, children’s books…

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Truer Words

Truer Words

Are the four gospels recorded in the Bible actual eyewitness accounts of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as they claim?  The language itself argues that they are indeed.  I invite you to examine with an open mind, clues found in the words used in the last (24th) chapter of the Gospel of Luke, to describe the events that transpired after Jesus’ burial.  It is both illustrative of and representative of what you will find in any of the four…

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