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Fools With And For Christ
Read: 1 Corinthians 1:18-30 No one wants to be called, or even thought of as a fool. I think to make it hit harder, let me use the word idiot, forgive my language. No one wants to be called, or even perceived as stupid. To be made fun of or to be condescended upon is…
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Freedom Isn’t Free
Read: John 8:31-36 I grew up on the eastern foothills of Mount Tirad, a 1,154 meter high mountain near the city of Candon, Ilocos Sur, Philippines. The mountain is significant to Philippine history because it was the site of the 1899 Battle of Tirad Pass, where a Philippine hero, the young General Gregorio del Pilar,…
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Favour Foregoing Friendship
Read: Romans 5:6-11 Have you ever had an enemy? I hope as a child of God you don’t have any because God has transformed the hearts of His children that we have learned to forgive. However, most likely there has been someone in your life you once considered as an enemy, owing probably to a…
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A Firm Foundation Forged From Frailty
Read: 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 When we think of a foundation, we think of something sturdy and strong, certainly not something depicting weakness and defeat, such as death. But death is actually the very foundation of our faith, the death of Christ, which is one of the twin events upon which Christianity was founded, His resurrection…
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The Death That Did Away With Death
Read: 1 Peter 3:18 As a child I had, thanatophobia, an extreme fear of death, probably due to the trauma of my father’s passing when I was five. Anything connected to death absolutely terrified me – cemeteries, crosses, coffins, and even the colors white and purple, because those were the colors of crepe papers people…
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The Rewards of Righteous Suffering
Read: Revelation 22:10-13 Parents have an effective trick up their sleeves to get their children to do something, which, by the way, could be quite a challenge. This is the age-old giving of rewards. And it almost always works. Rewards are effective incentives to get people to do something, even if it means that they…
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Mining the Meaning
Read: Romans 8:28-39 There is nothing more powerful than a period of great suffering that incites reflection and contemplation. C.S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains.” In our suffering, we need to lean in, listen closely, and learn what lesson might be gained…
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Been There But Never Done That
Read: Hebrews 4:14-16 Waking up for school, doing chores, completing homework, and getting off the screen are common points of contention in many households, including mine. Pastors’ families are truly just like any other family. And pastor parents are just like any other parent. We also get upset and frustrated when our kids act up…
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If We Should Suffer
Read: 1 Peter 4:12-16 There is no word to describe the pain of being separated from someone loved so dearly. It cuts deep into the soul, gnawing at every fiber of one’s being. For me, the pain is most torturous at dusk. There’s something about nightfall that aggravates the torment. Have you ever experienced being…
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Resigned To Suffer Because He Will Never Fail
Read : Philippians 1:27-30 When I think about Christ’s incarnation, leaving behind His glorious throne and the endless adoration of heaven, putting on humanity and entering the world in such a humble manner, experiencing the pain of rejection and eventually dying a most painful death – I imagine Him in eternity past, knowing fully well…
