Month: October 2019

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Halloween and how to be with Jesus

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Halloween has always been a weird holiday for me. I remember trick-or-treating growing up. As a little guy I remember going door to door up and down the hills of our neighborhood in Alabama. Walking for what seemed like hours and miles. I remember some years being so hot that I was a sweaty mess by the end of the evening. I remember other years being so cold that I didn’t care about getting any more candy. I just wanted to go home and warm up! The hardest part about Halloween growing up was the “sorting” at the end of […]

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46: Go time

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2019-10-27 Jesus in the real world 46: Go time Luke 17:20-37 “The world will end today!” 20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” 22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. […]

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And I feel fine

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Back when I was in high school (yes, I know I’m dating myself now) a song came out by R.E.M that stated: “It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine!” I confess that I while I can’t sing the verses, the chorus still echoes in my mind, and sometimes comes out of my mouth. Sorry if I just got it stuck in your head now, too! A couple of weeks ago in church we tackled the topic of Hell. It was pretty intense. And then last week we looked at how we should live […]

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45: Living with “Sober Judgement”

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2019-10-20 Jesus in the real world 45: Living with “sober judgement” Luke 17:1-19 1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and […]

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And…. Action!

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I’m a sucker for a good (and even not very good) action movie. While Lisa enjoys a good British period piece, I’d rather watch something blow up. If there is no real plot, I’ll still suffer through it in order to enjoy the action. If it has a great story, that’s even better. Usually in the story there is a big bad enemy and someone who needs saving. Sometimes the people that need saving are somewhat innocent bystanders that get caught along the way. But sometimes they need saving because of something stupid they’ve done. Either way, they’re in trouble. […]

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44: Hell is real, too!

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2019-10-13 Jesus in the real world 44: Hell is real, too! Luke 16:19-31 19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, […]

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Hell no?

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The message on the church sign was meant to attract visitors: “What is Hell? Come hear our pastor!” Whether intentional or not, the reality is that the sign made the church infamous on one of those “funny church sign” websites. We often misspeak about Hell. We think of it as a cuss word. Or we talk about “going through Hell” during a hard season of our lives. Or someone “put us through Hell.” Or we even had a “Hell of a good time.” For many people, Hell seems to be no big deal anymore. But is it? Make no mistake. […]

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43: What’s worthy?

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2019-10-06 Jesus in the real world 43: What’s worthy? Luke 16:1-18 1 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and […]

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Can’t buy me love

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Something strange is happening to us. When we picked up the vehicle God provided for us last week, the radio was set on the “classic hits” station in town. I hadn’t listened to it before, but Lisa and I are now hooked. So many of the songs are ones we grew up with in middle school, high school, and college, and each song brings back many memories. Each song is also an opportunity to embarrass our teenage children while we drive and sing. Good times! But what does this have to do with church, you ask? Well, I heard the […]