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The Pathway to Freedom

These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they were thinking […]

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The Faith That None Talk About

Scripture teaches us that every time God has appeared to man it has required great sacrifice, the sacrifice of their idols. If a man is to break with the world here is where that break will happen – the times when we lust for our old prison cell and our old gods, and we long […]

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I Had a Dream Last Night

I was in the other half of the double that my aunt and uncle lived in on Keystone Avenue, in Indianapolis, and there was a doctor who lived there now. I climbed the back steps that led into the kitchen. I always thought that that side of the double was more attractive than the side […]

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The Unprofitable Servant

So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. Luke 17:10 We have all probably read these words and may have acknowledged that Solomon was right when he said, “Vanity of vanity all is […]

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The Paralyzing Fear of Persecution

  Why is it that discernment ministries are afraid to address the topic of nonresistance even though I believe that some of them are nonresistant, at least in principle? During the Reformation there were three things that caused great distress to the Reformers Zwingli, Luther, and Calvin, and they were: 1) The separation of Church […]

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The Lesson of the Lamb

Christ’s example to us is richly illustrated, demonstrated, and exemplified by way of His many teachings and in His genius and spirit. He could have easily commanded armies and defeated every corrupt ruler and coercive power on earth, if it pleased Him. But He did not avail himself of such power. Christ yielded Himself, as […]

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If War was Right for Christians . . . ?

Upon the news that twenty one Christians were brutally slain by ISIS I thought about Jesus on His fateful day . . . . If war were right for Christians today, it would have been right for the apostles and even Christ himself. But, blessed be God, we are not left in darkness and doubt […]

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Die Like A Man

What God asked, Abraham has done, he offered his only son. The story of the Bible is all about life, but the picture that is presented, over and over again, is all about death. There is a doorway to life; who can deny it, and it leads through narrow straits; can you see it? There […]

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Is it Wrong for a Christian to Celebrate Memorial Day?

This is my tribute to Peace. Tomorrow I will celebrate a day set-aside to remember those who have given a great sacrifice to preserve the freedom that we Americans take for granted. Anyone who is familiar with my writings may stop and wonder if what I am doing isn’t hypocritical to a stance that I […]

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The Church: What it Is and What it Ain’t, Part 4

This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series The Church: What it Is, and What it Ain't

The thief on the cross believed Jesus and was saved. Having been released from all that bound him to his former life he was ready to believe with all his heart and strength the simple truth of what he was now confronted. But, what was it that he believed? Was it dogma, homiletics, patristics, liturgies, […]