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 Act of Marriage I write this blog aware that conversations about sex often carry personal history—joy, regret, confusion, or pain. This is not an abstract topic, and I approach it with care. What follows is not a comprehensive theology, but a reflection rooted in Scripture and pastoral experience, offered in the hope that clarity might replace confusion and reverence might replace shame. I write this blog out of my own frustration in how the church has handled this topic and in the lack of open discussion concerning sex as I grew up.  Over my 40 years of marriage and over 30 years as a minister it is a topic that I have searched the Bible and discovered that what is treated as a secret in the church and in many Christian homes is actually well addressed in scripture. The following questions I have posed in my head many times throughout my life.  Why does sex generate so much anxiety in the Church?  Why do faithful Christians feel embarrassed by something God created...
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  HAPPY NEW YEAR!! We are a few days into the new year. Some of you may say I should have posted this before the year started—or at least closer to the beginning. That may be true. Either I was disobedient to God in not posting this sooner, or God’s timing is perfect—and this may be exactly when He wanted this message shared.   Either way some of you need this encouragement  now  in order to see this season as truly a “new” year.  Others of you need to be reminded that just because you didn’t keep your New Year’s resolution for even a week does  not  mean you threw your goal for the year away.  I am not one for New Year’s resolutions. In fact, the last time I even considered one was probably in my early to mid-teens. For you younger folks, that was in the 1900s. I’m not against them. If a resolution helps you focus on becoming a better person—especially in your walk with God—then by all means, do it. They just aren’t for me. If you  did ...
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 A Sword Not Peace Matthew 10      There are those who are assuming they know what the message of God is.  At best they misrepresent the teachings of Jesus.  Often it is a complete misunderstanding and scripturally wrong.  Let's not assume that these individuals are not Christian.  I have recently had a number of people who claim to be Christians but yet they have bought a lie from their pastor or just have not looked at the full word of God.  I believe the challenge comes to how often people read the bible let alone study it.   A study from 2009 conducted by the Center for Bible Engagement titled "Understanding the Bible Engagement Challenge:  Scientific Evidence for the Power of 4" says only six out of ten read the bible on occasion.  Less than two out of five read it once a week.  The rest of the study follows. Nine out of ten (93%) Americans say that they own a Bible  (Robinson, 2002). In fact, the average Americ...
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  Jesus Sends Demons To The Pigs Part 2 Matthew 8:28 - 34; Mark 5:1 - 20; Luke 8:26 - 39 I come back with a part two to this rambling through scripture because I was asked a question by a reader.  I enjoy engaging with others concerning scripture.  They bring something extra to the table and a different insight to the passage being looked at.   What I have found is if one person has questions there are many others that are likely questioning the same thing.  I feel it is important to share their question and my answer to them.   I have taken the liberty to rephrase the question in order to keep the person's identity concealed.  The individual is amazed and awed by the authority shown by Jesus so their question does not diminish the miracle but there question is a legitimate one to ask.   The question asked was really a two part question.   Part one is why would Jesus send the demons into a heard of pigs and off a cliff?  Part t...
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 Jesus Sends Demons To The Pigs Matthew 8:28 - 34; Mark 5:1 - 20; Luke 8:26 - 39 The above passages tell the story of Jesus healing a demon possessed man and sending the demons into pigs that were near by.  If there was a time in scripture to dig deeper than the surface it is in reading these three accounts of the event.  For if we remain on the surface we could begin to question the Bible concerning not being contradictory.  There are times we need to look deeper to bring understanding and remove or at the very least reduce confusion. When reading scripture we often stay on the surface and fail to fully pray for understanding as we read scripture.  Sometimes it pays to go mining for deeper nuggets of truth and chew on the meat of the Word.  Often this will require more research and study than many of us want to do.  We will often either stay on the surface and stay with the milk of the Word or we will become frustrated and  throw the Bible away i...
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Raven Genesis 8:7 I have three different Bible studies that I lead each week.  What I have enjoyed most about these Bible studies is being challenged by the participants to dig deeper.  Being a third generation minister and having been saved since I was five there is much that I simply take for granted.  The Bible said it that settles it.  There are other things I don't always see as significant as others.  So as we are going through the studies the participants point out things that I have not really considered.    In one of the studies we were reading in Genesis chapter 8 concerning when Noah released the birds to see how far the flood waters had gone down.  The first bird he released was the raven.  I was asked why did he release the raven first?  I will admit it never occurred to me to ask that question in my life.  I did not have an immediate answer.  I did a quick search but the quick answer I found was not satisfactory t...
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If I Have Not Love...

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     I have been marinating on this thought quite a bit lately.  The thought is the concept of love.  Some would say it is February the month for love it would be natural to think about the concept of love.  There are some that will put this aside as just the musing of an individual for the month of February with Valentine's Day.  Yet you have to understand it is not the month of February that has sparked this for it has been upon my mind for some time.  It is merely a coincidence that I am choosing to put thoughts down a week prior to Valentine's Day for this is not about that romantic love, it is about love in general.  It has simply come to a point that I feel compelled to place my thoughts down.      I believe that in the world today both with Christians and with non-Christians we have lost the concept and the understanding of what it means to love.  The word in itself has become a tired over used wo...
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