Monthly Archives: April 2022

Connecting the Dots

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During the 1930s, the Soviet Union took aggressive steps to diminish the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church. As the dictator of a militantly atheistic regime, Josef Stalin ordered the execution of church leaders or their exile to Siberia.  Priests were considered enemies of the state.  Church buildings were closed, then reopened as museums or propaganda centers for Marxism.  Crosses disappeared.  Religious… Read more »

An Unhurried Life

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“I’m tired of running this damn church.” If you’re a pastor who desperately wants to get the attention of your elders, try using a turn of phrase they aren’t expecting.  That’s what Eugene Peterson did about 10 years into his efforts to launch a new congregation in suburban Baltimore.  They had survived their first few difficult years.  Pastor and people had worked… Read more »

High Noon

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Lunch hour at school.  High noon.  For many kids it’s the loneliest hour of the day.  Lunch hour is when you find out if you have friends.  And everybody else finds out if you have friends, too.  In the cruel subculture of most schools, there are always a number of kids who are stranded on the outside looking in. But every now… Read more »

The Stuff of Life

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One hundred years ago, people were just coming to grips with a strange idea: Everything is made of atoms. The notion had been around for a very long time.  But all of a sudden a truckload of evidence emerged that it was really true.  Even though common sense would seem to shout otherwise, reality is composed of exceedingly tiny particles. … Read more »

A Person of Significance

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On Easter Sunday 2001, I made a dramatic announcement to the congregation I was serving as pastor. Two years earlier we had joined with other churches in supporting the Billy Graham Crusade in Indianapolis.  I announced that I had received a phone call the prior evening from a member of the Graham Association, asking if it would be all right if… Read more »

Crossing Lines

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For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, we’re looking at the life of Peter.  Because he’s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus. Scott Sauls, a pastor in Nashville, recalls what happened… Read more »

Unschooled and Ordinary

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For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, we’re looking at the life of Peter.  Because he’s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus. The word “miracle” is somewhat overworked these days.  We speak… Read more »

The Big Bang

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For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, we’re looking at the life of Peter.  Because he’s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus. Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson figured they had a… Read more »

What About Him?

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For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, we’re looking at the life of Peter.  Because he’s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus. A story is told about a businessman who ended… Read more »

Do You Love Me More than These?

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For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, we’re looking at the life of Peter.  Because he’s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus. During the Middle Ages, Benedictine monks stood at a… Read more »