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Month: October 2020

Spiritual Muscle

. . . Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. Acts 14:22 Though I wasn’t particularly good at it, I wrestled through college. Part of why I wasn’t very good was that I just didn’t work as hard as I should have. I was lazy in the off-season, and about halfway through…
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Obsessive or Relentless?

But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. Acts 14:20 As most of you know, it snowed 8 or 10 inches here yesterday. It was a wet, sloppy, unpleasant snow – did I mention it’s October? Still,…
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Why is All the Fun Stuff Bad for Me?

We bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God . . . Acts 14:15 Years ago, a couple of friends and I were debating a moral dilemma facing one of the guys. I appealed to my friend’s faith, suggesting that he do what was right in God’s…
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God Complex

“The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. Acts 14:11-12 Apparently, physicians are, on occasion, capable of such pride and arrogance that others consider them to have a god complex. Of course I’m never guilty of such behavior.…
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Addicts Can’t Be Christians, Right?

“Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking. Acts 14:10 Today’s passage tells of a man, crippled from birth, who was miraculously healed by Paul. Upon his transformation, he arose and walked for the first time in his life. I’m sure his joy and gratitude overflowed as he finally got to…
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Not Ready for Change

And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” Acts 14:9-10 I often meet those who wish life was different. They know they have a drug or alcohol problem and they wish they didn’t. They might even say…
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I Might Be a Wimp

When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra . . . and there they continued to preach the gospel. Acts 14:5-7 At my gym we participate in classes where competition is an inherent part of…
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Everyone Needs a Friend

Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. Acts 14:1 When I first began going to Sunday morning Bible study at the local county jail, it was more than a little intimidating. Working with the incarcerated was…
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An Exercise in Futility

But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. Acts 13:51 The leaves in west-central Minnesota have transformed over the last couple of weeks and the trees are now displaying their intense fall colors. It’s beautiful – as long as those leaves remain on the trees. The leaves carpeting…
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Blaming Others

Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life . . . Acts 13:46 The addict, in his mess, will often blame everyone but himself for that mess. Because it’s too painful to admit the truth, he clings to the lie that his disaster is the result of a conspiracy against him.…
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