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Zach’s Story
Based on Luke 19:1-10 The name’s Zach. I know I’m not much to look at. Never have been. I’m short. Vertically challenged. Lacking in stature. I’ve met 10-year-olds taller than me. I got picked on a lot as a kid. I got tough, and I fought back. Maybe that’s why I became a revenue agent…
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The God Who Rewards The Seeker
In Hebrews chapter 11, the author catalogs people from Jewish history as examples of those who had faith. He includes Enoch, but the brief mention he gets in Genesis says nothing about his faith, so the author includes an aside to justify his inclusion. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone…
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Putting Things Right
The central assumption of Christianity is that something is wrong with the world, and it needs to be put right. For Christians, the “something wrong” is human sin, a violation of the right order God created at the beginning. Putting things right we call “reconciliation,” and according to Paul it is a ministry belonging to…
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Why God Gives Us Power
The first chapter of Colossians includes Paul’s prayer for his readers. In it he prays that God will grant them wisdom and knowledge and enable them to bear good fruit and do good works. Then he adds, “being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that….” I stopped there. What was it…
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Forward Motion, or the Snail in the Well
There is an old riddle about a snail crawling up the side of a well. It starts 20 feet down and crawls 5 feet up by day but slides back down 4 feet by night. How long does it take the snail to climb out of the well? The riddle reveals the danger of abstract…