Helping you grow in God's all-sufficient grace and truth
Last week, I wrote a blog for our church that began with these words: “I’ve been taken aback by how many of you have shared with me how the Holy Spirit is using the recent two-part sermon series Uprooting Bitterness,
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Two posts ago, we began thinking about what the Bible teaches about bitterness. Namely, that Scripture presents bitterness first as an experience and then as a response—first as something that happens to us, and then something that arises within us.
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Life in this fallen, broken world can be very hard, even dangerous at times. Therefore, we all face various kinds of bitter tasting experiences. That’s what we began thinking about in the last post. Today, I draw your attention to
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About twenty years ago, I was a bitter Christian. As far as I can tell, it all began around the time we made an offer to purchase a big farmhouse in the country. We had just spent five years renovating
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A year ago, I first picked up A Painful Past because I’m always trying to grow as a minister of grace and truth to those whom the Lord calls me to serve. However, as is almost always the case, my
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“You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” (Luke 7:47)
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Here are some nuggets of wisdom to help you grow in grace and truth as you minister God’s Word to one another. “Wisdom is worth more than silver; it brings more profit than gold” (Prov. 3:14). Beholding Beauty Devotional: Isaiah
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Anger and bitterness over hurts and slights tend to grow in our hearts when they’re left unchecked. Many of us have made the mistake of simply ignoring these sinful attitudes and hoping they fade over time, but God has a
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Here are some nuggets of wisdom to help you grow in grace and truth as you minister God’s Word to one another. “Wisdom is worth more than silver; it brings more profit than gold” (Prov. 3:14). FREE AUDIO BOOK FOR
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Anger and bitterness over hurts and slights tend to grow in our hearts when they’re left unchecked. Many of us have made the mistake of simply ignoring these sinful attitudes and hoping they fade over time, but God has a
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Want to Be like Jesus? Be Gentle. – “As we picture what it means to man up and be a leader in the home and in the church, gentleness isn’t, for many of us, a defining element of that picture.”
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“I can accept God’s forgiveness, but I just can’t forgive myself.” How often do we hear this in today’s world? Yet, is this a biblically correct way to think about forgiveness? This week, I helped a counselor-in-training think through this
Continue readingHebrews 12:15-17 warns, See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like
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In the past few weeks, we visited the book of Philemon twice. There we learned of what true, gospel-motivated forgiveness looks like in both heart and actions. One of the actions we saw modeled by the apostle is restitution. Restitution
Continue readingMatthew 6 records some of the most alarming words ever spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ. In the portion of His teaching which has become known as the Lord’s Prayer, He instructed the disciples to regularly pray for forgiveness. He
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The Holy Spirit was kind to include the very personal letter of Philemon in our Bible, as a case study in forgiveness practiced the way Jesus commanded. Three Main Characters There are three main characters in this true story of
Continue readingHebrews 2:11 contains one of the most surprising statements in the New Testament. It says Jesus is not ashamed to call us His siblings. Why does the Bible make this statement, and how can it possibly be true? Before we
Continue reading“Over and over again in the New Testament, Christians are reminded that God has forgiven all their sins through Christ’s death. And time and again, too, Christians are commanded to forgive.” So writes Julia Marsden, author of the little 10
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By God’s grace, I’m a husband, dad, grandpa, and pastor at Cornerstone Community Church in Mayfield Hts, OH. I love Christ because He first loved me.
