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Don't Break Ranks: Four Biblical Keys to Keeping Unity Alive

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I’m starting a new study this week from a dark period in the history of Old Testament Israel. After the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon — a season in which Israel experienced a good deal of success and influence — the nation does something tragic: it divides. What follows is a troubled and sobering chapter in Old Testament history, and it serves as a powerful warning for us today. When a workplace divides, decline is inevitable. When a sports team fractures from within, a drop in performance almost always follows. And when a church experiences unresolved conflict, it inevitably loses influence and compromises its witness to the world around it. Division is never just an internal matter — it always has real and lasting consequences. It makes sense then that Scripture says quite a bit about the value of unity. Unity matters deeply — and not just as a good idea. It is a direct command from God: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” — E...
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The Guide

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What a white water rafting trip taught me about God -  A few years ago my wife, two young daughters and I packed up and headed to Red River, New Mexico for a vacation. For a bit of adventure we decided to try something we had never done before — white water rafting. Before climbing into the raft, we were handed a stack of waivers to sign. You know the kind. The ones that acknowledge if you die it's all your fault. I reluctantly signed them, but I felt relief after we met our guide. He introduced himself before we pushed off, and before long I felt safe in spite of the risks clearly expressed in the waivers. And it wasn't because the river got safer or I had magically become stronger. It was something about him. He had four qualities that made all the difference. He was strong . One look at him and you knew — this man has been on this river a hundred times. If something goes wrong, he is getting us out. He was kind . He wasn't just running a transaction. He genuinely w...
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The Silent Treatment

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You send a text and get no response. You submit a request for customer service and hear nothing back. Frustrating. Infuriating. Maddening. Silence communicates volumes. It says, You're not worth my time. You're not important enough to respond to. I have better things to do, more important tasks to take care of. It's happened enough to me that I've come to terms with the fact that some people just don't care. Sometimes silence might be understandable. I really don't expect to hear back from important people. If I write a letter to the CEO of a company, I don't hold out much hope for a response. When I attend a professional sporting event, I don't expect my favorite athlete to come over to me and personally thank me for attending. I live under the assumption that rich and famous people don't have time for insignificant people like me. We live in a world of uncaring people who ignore us and important people who have no time for us. This truth hurt...
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Pennies, Pluto, and the Things That Matter

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I just got back to my office after a quick stop for a soda and a snack. When the cashier gave me back my change, he rounded it to the nearest nickel. It looks like we're doing away with pennies. For some odd reason, I think that's sad. But it makes sense (pun intended). From what I hear, it costs more to make a penny than what it's worth. Not too long ago, we did away with Pluto as a planet. From what I hear, it was considered too small and had to be downgraded. I don't know why, but I think that's sad too. Just because you're not big enough, you get kicked out of the planet club? Small things just don't get the respect they used to. What kind of world do we live in that eliminates things just because they're little? My sadness is likely attributable to sentimental reasons. I can remember the day when a penny could actually buy you a piece of gum. I remember times when I would scrounge under car seats looking for a few more cents to buy a candy bar...
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The Gift That Costs Us Something

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A Brief Devotional for Offering The Christmas season means shopping. We run out to the stores or, more likely these days, search websites for just the right gift. When they arrive, we hide them away, wrap them up, and place them under the tree. When the gift is opened on Christmas Day—not Christmas Eve—there's been a lot of work put into it, a lot of thought. However, there are times when we're caught off guard, needing a gift for someone we forgot, or maybe someone unexpectedly gives us a gift and we feel the need to reciprocate. This is the perfect scenario for the famous art of regifting. Have you ever done that? You receive a gift you didn't much like, so you stash it away for just a time like this. You run to the closet, pull it off the shelf, wrap it hastily or throw it into a gift bag, and voilà—you have a gift. But here's the thing: you never tell the recipient, "Hey, I just regifted something I didn't want!" Why not? Because part of gift-g...
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The One Who Came Back: A Thanksgiving Lesson in Gratitude

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This Thanksgiving, as 82 million Americans travel to celebrate with family, we can learn something profound from another holiday road trip. In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem from Galilee to celebrate Passover and finds himself along the border between Samaria and Galilee when ten lepers cry out to Him for healing. Understanding the context makes this story remarkable. Jews despised Samaritans so intensely that they would add two full days to their journey—23 extra miles—just to avoid passing through Samaritan territory. Yet, as this story unfolds and is clear in the Gospels, Jesus seems unaffected by the social outcasts that so many Jews avoided. When the ten lepers call out for help, Jesus tells them to show themselves to the priests, as required by Old Testament law. Remarkably, they're healed as they obey—before they reach the priests. All ten receive the same miracle. All ten are completely cleansed. But only one returns to thank Jesus. And here's the ...
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Hope for Scaredy-cats

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Well, Happy Halloween. While I certainly am never one to turn away candy, I must admit Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays. I'm somewhat of a scaredy-cat, and all the frights and scares are not my thing. Neither are horror movies or scary stories around the campfire. Add rollercoasters and any type of thrill ride to that list. It may be for some people, but fear is not something I go looking for. Though I may not go looking for it, fear has a way of finding me and, for that matter, all of us. Whether it be the news, personal concerns, family matters, finances, or health worries, it seems like fear has a way of creeping into my life daily. Who needs Halloween when there are "wars and rumors of war" all around us? I find it comforting, though, that the Bible acknowledges that the world we live in often does elicit fear. And it talks about it often. A quick word search reveals that the words "fear" and "afraid" are used almost 500 times in our Bi...
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