pain (91)

Ian

Not All Good

Lamentations 3:16–33, Job 2:11–13 James 1:9–18 Wikipedia summarizes Nathan Robinson’s take on platitudes as: “A platitude is even worse than a cliché. It’s a sanctimonious cliché, a statement that is not only old and overused but often moralistic and imperious. ... [they] have an aphoristic…

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Ian

Fruitful Unboxing

Galatians 5:22–26, 2 Peter 1:5–11, 1 Corinthians 12:4–11, Romans 12:9–21 We are all familiar with the list of the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians. Hopefully, you even have them memorized (If not, there’s your challenge of the week). It is an impressive list. If…

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Ian

Evaluating Value

John 8:2–12, 2 Corinthians 5:10–15 Before we go any further, this story in John is an odd one. It does not show up in the earliest manuscripts that we currently have, however, the story does show up soon (time-wise) after the earliest manuscript. What is…

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Ian

The Truth of Lies

Proverbs 29:22–25, Philippians 2:5–11, Galatians 6:1–5 Tell the truth. That is a maxim for life. However, often we succumb to the temptation to lie. We can be surprised when it pops out, or we could plan for it. There are times where lying is appropriate…

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Ian

God's Broken People

2 Samuel 13:11–39, Ephesians 4:13–19 Parenting is hard. Parents struggle with their own failures personally and with their children. For the deeply afflicted parent (and child), parenting is not just brutal, but it is unending pain. For a normal parent, having children is a blessing…

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