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Sticking the Landing: Embracing Life’s Lasts
OK, here’s a depressing verse, at first glance anyway: James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. As this is my final week of work, I’ve been thinking about “lasts.” My first car was…
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Finding Grace: A Reflection on James 4:6
Our verse this week is James 4:6, but knowing the context helps. In the first five verses James nails the awful consequences of our selfishness: fighting, the hollow prayers, the misplaced loves. He goes so far as to call us enemies of God because our desires have become our first love. It’s a convicting setup,…
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Underletter
Verse for the Week 1 Peter 2:20–21 (NIV) 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an…
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The Lord Is For Me
What makes Psalm 118 so powerful is its context. This was a song written for and often sung at Israel’s great feast days including Passover and the high holy days. It was likely on the lips of the crowd when Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and possibly sung again in the Upper Room after…
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Anxiety Confession
Confession time. I’m feeling a little anxious. It is one month until my planned retirement, there is tons to do, and then… what? That brings me to my verse for this week. Philippians 4:6–7 (NIV) 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to…
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The Power of ‘Perhaps’: A Biblical Perspective
I only have about six weeks left as Lead Pastor, and for these final weeks, I want to share some of my all-time favorite verses for our “Verse of the Week.” A little context: this verse drops us into a war between the Israelites and the Philistines around 1000 BC. Saul is King, his son…
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Finding Hope in Hosea: A Verse for Easter Monday
Happy Easter Monday! Here’s your verse of the week — and fair warning, I’m pulling it a little out of context. Well, maybe a lot. Hosea wrote these words to Israel during a dark season of judgment, calling them back to God with a promise of restoration. We’re not ancient Israel, but that promise still…
Dan Cooley - An ir-reverend Christian viewpoint 