Digging in Deeper: Galatians 2:21

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“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Verses like this one are a big part of why protestants tend to be so radically committed to salvation by faith alone.  Look at what Paul is saying here closely because this is really important.  If we could somehow get ourselves into a right relationship with God by means other than the grace of God as mediated through the death and resurrection of Jesus, then His death was without purpose.  It was entirely pointless. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Isaiah 45:4-6

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“For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me.  I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

These verses and the few on either side comprise God’s message from Isaiah to the Persian Emperor, Cyrus the Great.  It is a remarkable bit of Scripture for two reasons. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Galatians 2:11

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“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.” (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

Two things really stand out here to me. One is obvious, the other is not so obvious. First the former. It took a lot of courage for Paul to call Peter out for his obvious deviation from the Gospel. Peter was clearly wrong, most everybody there knew it, but nobody wanted to say anything until Paul spoke up.  Because it was Peter.  Would you have wanted to call Peter out for this? Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Isaiah 42:6-7

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“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Israel was always intended to serve as an invitation to the rest of the world to come and be a part of the people of God. They were to be a light for the nations. Unfortunately, they never quite managed to do that with anything resembling consistency. They got close under David and Solomon, but never other than that. Read the rest…

The “One” Syndrome

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This Sunday as we continue our series, Marriage Myths, we started unpacking the first myth: The soulmate myth.  Our culture says that when we find our soulmate, everything about our life will be on the up and up from there on out.  The truth is something entirely different than that…and a lot better.  Keep reading (or listening) to find out what this is.

The “One” Syndrome

So, my boys were watching the movie Frozen again the other night.  And I’ll admit it: I sat there and watched a lot of it with them.  After all, I set it to record…for them of course.  Okay, I’ll go ahead and admit it: Frozen is a good movie.  It’s actually pretty unique as far as Disney princess movies go.  Now, at one level it’s just like all the rest.  But at another level it’s very different.  It does something no other Disney movie I can think of does.  Again, though, for most of the movie you wouldn’t know it. Read the rest…