Category: thoughts
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Committed to the Cross
Some seem to want to change the message of the cross. Some want to make the gospel message all about becoming better people. This removes the offense of the cross. Is that what it’s all about? Some change the message so that it is only concerned with social justice and taking care of the poor…
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Preparing for Worship – Our Vision of God
What would it be like to just say, all the time and without stopping, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come”? Does it strike you as fun? Does it fulfill your felt needs? I suspect that the answer to those questions is, “No.” So, why do…
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The Key of Character – Faith
Do we see a reliance on the Word of God in our own life? Or, do we rely on experience or feelings to see us through? My question is for the Christian who is thinking these things with me. Do we do what we feel will get us the results we want, or do we…
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Surprised By God
Acts 12 records Peter’s deliverance from Herod. It is an amazing passage of Scripture highlighting the power of God. It is also a profound example of fervent prayer. Yet, the part that I personally find so instructive is the response of the people. Acts 12:5 says, “So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer…
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Faith is Self Evident
James, the brother of our Lord, has some hard words for those who do not live out their “faith”. He calls it dead. He asks if such faith can save anyone. He declares that such faith is useless. These are hard words. It gets even harder when he says that a person is justified by…
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Valley Walking
Mountains and valleys. We seem, as spiritual beings, to desire the mountain top experience with God. In Acts chapter 10, Peter has quite a mountain top experience with God. His vision of 3 sheets of animals shows him that all people can receive the gospel. This vision profoundly clarifies Peter’s understanding of the gospel message. …
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Love First
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. – 1 John 4:10 Think about that. This is love. It isn’t that we loved God and so He loved us. He loved us first! Of all the differences between…
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Trusting Peace
At this time of year we hear a lot of talk about peace. We have sung Silent Night. We have thought of the baby in the manger and the stillness of Christmas morning. Yet, even in these scenes there is the reminder that all is not still. The animals would have made noise. The visit…
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God Behind the Scenes
I was thinking last week about the dark things that we sometimes miss seeing when we talk about the first Christmas. We overlook that Joseph was about to abandon Mary. We tend to not talk about the babies that were killed by Harod. We gloss over Simeon’s blessing in the temple that includes declaring that…
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The Struggles of Faith
But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. Luke 2:19 Sometimes we forget how much of a struggle Christmas was for the first people who experienced it. I think of the struggle of Mary and Joseph as they made their way to Bethlehem. I think of the struggles of everyone who was…
Pastor John D Jakes 