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Blessed are the sorrowful?
As quietness came over the crowd, with anticipation they awaited Jesus’ words. But who would have expected his first words to be a blessing on the poor in spirit? Like the opening of the Psalms, Jesus...
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Identity: the basis for mission
My secretary has a collection of some of my handwritten sermons from years ago that she types from time to time. Today, she typed a few messages I gave in 1993. It’s really hard for me to believe that...
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Identity: the basis for Mission (p. 2)
You are the salt of the earth: In this first metaphor of Christian identity (Matthew 5:13), Jesus shifted from third person address in the beatitudes (“theirs is….” “those who…” see: 5:1-12), to second...
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Too Religious for Sports?
A conservative Mennonite Church in our area prohibits members from participating in “organized contesting ball teams.” Those who do such things are guilty of “participating in the world’s methods of...
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Answering Questions from Matthew 5:17-20
You cannot adequately understand how Christians today should apply the Old Testament without carefully understanding Jesus’ words in this text: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or...
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The grand reversal of every religion
As a hush came over the crowd, Jesus began his Sermon on the Mount. They awaited his words with great expectation and intrigue. Yet who would have expected his first words to be a pronouncement of...
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Christ is the end of the Law
The entire tone of the teaching and ministry of Jesus indicated that He clearly knew he was, “the end (telos) of the law…” (Ro 10:4). Although Jesus was “born under the law” (Gal.4:4) and “fulfilled...
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Strategic deployment of well-placed believers
When responding to godless ways in a culture, so often the Church finds itself choosing between retreat, efforts to reform, outspoken protests or compromised levels of amalgamation. Those who take...
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Did Jesus preach the gospel?
Yesterday, here at the National Conference for the Gospel Coalition, a panel of leaders (Tim Keller, John Piper, D. A. Carson and Kevin DeYoung) answered a question about whether Jesus preached the...
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Responding to unjust treatment (6 truths)
I can tell you from personal experience that it is an amazing experience to be set free from the animosity that leads to revenge. Of course, it can be a painful and prolonged process when you suffer...
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In the secret place with God
"If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives.”
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Are you poor in Spirit?
Blessed — approved of God — are the poor in spirit. To be poor in spirit is to recognize...
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Two builders and a storm
As Jesus concluded his teaching – being the master teacher – He used a picture of two builders: One wise and one foolish.
View ArticleBlessed are the persecuted?
Here are people declared by our Lord to be "blessed" when they are insulted, persecuted and falsely maligned with all kinds of evil against them. How unusual for them to be commanded to, “Rejoice and...
View ArticleRain on the just and the unjust?
What did jesus mean that God "makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45). Continue reading →
View ArticleBlessed are the merciful
What did Jesus mean by "Blessed are the merciful"? Continue reading →
View ArticleHungry and thirsty people
While it may seem paradoxical to declare anyone blessed who is hungry and thirsty, we need to recall that these people don’t hunger and thirst for just anything. Continue reading →
View ArticleHow to pray…
It was prayed three times a day by early Christians. Don't miss my suggestion of how to pray the "Our Father" for loved ones. Continue reading →
View ArticleTwo builders and a catastrophic storm
Sometimes a storm of crisis or calamity reveals what manner of person we are, for ‘true piety is not fully distinguished from its counterfeit till it comes to the trial’ Continue reading →
View ArticleThe amazing sequence in the beatitudes
Does it not follow inevitably that my attitude towards everybody else must be completely and entirely changed? Continue reading →
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