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Month: August 2023

This is Your Brain on Drugs

And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. Genesis 12:15-16 When I was a kid, there was an anti-drug commercial on TV that simply showed an egg, sizzling in a frying…
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Stinking Thinking

When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister . . .”…
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The Guy Who Saved My Career

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. Genesis 12:7 While sitting in treatment for my opioid addiction, I had a lot of time to think about my situation, which wasn’t good. My…
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Let’s Get a Dog, they Said

And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. Genesis 12:4-6 Several years ago, my kids decided they wanted a dog. I wasn’t a dog-lover,…
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Dr. Ibrahim

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country” . . . So Abram went, as the LORD had told him . . . Genesis 12:1-4 In today’s passage we’re introduced to Abram – or Abraham – the common Hebrew patriarch of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Islam, Abraham is known as Ibrahim, which…
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Too Old to Play Football

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves . . .” Genesis 11:4 When I was 35 years old, I grasped at my one last chance to play football, signing up for a local amateur team.…
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Those Who Mocked Me

When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” Genesis 9:24-25 In the very public consequences of my addiction, I found that most people were quite gracious, at least to my face. Once…
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Relapsing After Ten Years of Sobriety

Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. Genesis 9:20 Whenever I meet someone who’s relapsed after years of sobriety, I want to know what happened. I prefer to think that anyone who’s maintained recovery…
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Boundaries: Protecting Myself

Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. Genesis 9:23 When I got out of treatment back in 2014, I didn’t have a job. I’d lost my…
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Getting My Hands Dirty

Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Genesis 9:23 A buddy and I have been doing a jail Bible study at the local jail for the last several years. I’m thankful for the opportunity, but I’ve noticed that I’m…
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