freedom (68)

Ian

3rd Friday after Easter

Psalm 105:1-22, Romans 1:18–32, Ezekiel 20:39–44 They were given over. God let them loose. Whether it was the Israelites or Gentiles, God let them loose. The world is a very bad place. People hate. People steal. People lie. All sorts of things and behaviors are…

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Ian

3rd Thursday after Easter

John 6:40-44, 1 John 5:13-21 Jesus’ words in John can be limiting if we let them be. For example, if we were too literal in seeing or not seeing Jesus (John 6:40), most of us would not have much hope for eternal life. There are…

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Ian

Checkmarks and Tasks

Galatians 2:15–3:6, Philippians 1:20–26, The church in Galatia was struggling. Someone was pouring bad ideas and thoughts into them, causing them to walk away from the faith that Paul had taught them. The funny thing is that many of them probably didn’t know that they…

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Ian

2nd Friday after Easter

Genesis 47:18–26, Acts 4:34–5:11 In the United States, land has long represented freedom, self-reliance, hope, and self-determination (on one hand), slavery, clearances, eviction, theft, and deceit (on the other hand. How can such divergent perspectives be? Well, for many Native Americans the initial immigration of…

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Ian

Fifth Sunday during Lent

Isaiah 30:18–26, Isaiah 61:10–11, 1 Corinthians 3:5–11, 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 We are the bridge between the past and the future, with one foot in the past and one foot in the future. The past of glory was gone, a faded memory. Perhaps to some it…

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