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Reflect
We are to reflect Christ, but we can also reflect on what we read about Him.
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New Roads Ahead
In my backyard is an orange tree. God gives us what we need not only when we need it, but also when we are ready to accept it. It’s the winter season now in Phoenix and my citrus trees have plenty of oranges growing very large. The cold season is when people get sick and we need help fighting our illnesses. Vitamin C helps to do this—and oranges are packed with vitamin C. It’s amazing that God provides for us the things we need when we need them. As we move forward through life, reflection becomes imperative in avoiding the same struggles we encountered in the past. It is through…
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Jonesing for Jesus [VIDEO]
God is the only addiction that we should have. That's right. ... He is faithful. He gives back to us better than anything that we've surrendered to him. He ... he multiplies the blessings that he gives to us because he's got a good plan for our lives. His will for our lives is better. His will and his plan is better than our own. He's a good God. Just surrender to him, trust in him and life will be good. The thing that I run into in Celebrate Recovery is that's a huge leap of faith. People don't understand that they're already worshiping little "g" gods. They're already worshiping…
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How many times do we get to die?
▪ORIGINALLY WRITTEN AS A SHORT PAPER FOR PHOENIX SEMINARY▪ INTRODUCTION Curse and suffering all began with Adam in the garden of Eden when he ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—even after he was told not to by God himself. That was humanity’s first sin, and the result was curse and suffering to all who came after. It was promised that “in the day that you eat of it, [all of humanity] shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17, ESV) That is the first biblical promise of a curse resulting as a consequence of disobedience to God. Since Adam was the only human alive when God…
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What does recovery look like? And why do we celebrate it?
A gentleman by the name of Geoff Brown interviewed me for his podcast Kingdom Culture Conversations and the topic of discussion for Part One & Part Two was about Celebrate Recovery. I listened to both of the 2-part episodes after it was released and thought to myself, “How many people are wondering why I gave a testimony—a deeply personal testimony—for all to hear? I mean, really, I was supposed to be promoting a Christ-focused recovery group, but instead I shared more about myself.” If you haven’t heard it, or have no clue what I’m talking about, give it a listen below. I wrote a post called You Don’t Know Me.…
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You Don’t Know Me
How often have you heard—or even said yourself—these words: “You don’t know me! You don’t understand me! You don’t know how it is or know what it’s like to be me!” Whether a fleeting thought of inward defiance or spoken openly for all to hear, the desire to be known is strong inside each of us, especially people who are hurting (and let’s be real, we’re all hurting in one way or another). But in today’s fast-paced world where everyone wants everything quickly, with instantaneous information at our fingertips, and most people not even getting out of their car to grab a bite to eat—it is hard for anyone to…
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The Devil is a Homewrecker
This is a deep-dive on what divine jealousy—which is righteous—looks like and is not to be mistaken for human jealousy that’s often used synonymously with envy—which is not righteous—because it is sinful. The devil corrupts what is good. (This was originally written for a class at Phoenix Seminary) James 4:4–7 (ESV): ⁴ You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell…
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Lead by Serving
Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.(John’s Gospel Account 13:12b-17 MSG) In this case, I like the Message Bible translation because it correctly uses the…
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Fist-Pumping Praise!
👊🤘 A guest post reflecting on Psalm 33- Why are people raising their arms in church? Have you ever been to church Sunday morning during worship and felt like you wanted to dance in the aisle or raise your arms like you were at a rock concert or on top of a mountain, clapping your hands and shouting loudly? But then you look around at everyone else and you think, “Oh man, if I start doing that then they’re just going to say I’m totally nuts.” Well, Psalm 33 suggests that this type of behavior, when moved by God, actually isn’t crazy, it’s “befitting” (Psalm 33:1). A shout for joy…
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We come to know God
How do we come to know God? We come to know God by the questions we ask and the answers we come up with. But just as every student needs a teacher, we meditate on His Word—called Scripture—and seek to find answers to things we don’t understand. There are those that might be content with answers that are incomplete or answers that simply don’t make sense. For me, I have a strong desire to be able to make sense of the fundamentals of Salvation and discipleship—key tenets of the mandate to multiply disciples—while remaining unconcerned about what size sandal Jesus wore or if there really are pearls on the gates…
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Was Jesus a tax collector?
A friend sent me an article to read, and this is my reaction to it. Anyone wanting additional context on my reaction should reference that article here. Does Matthew 22:18-22 morally obligate us to pay taxes? What does Jesus mean when he says, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s?” Jeff Barr analyzes this and believes this passage is one of the most misunderstood passages in the New Testament. Let’s look at the passage in question: “But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them,…
