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Month: November 2009

Sabbath Keeping Strategies

Sabbath Keeping Strategies

Have you ever struggled with keeping Sabbath? What do you do after church on Sunday? Is your Sabbath only 60 minutes long? Or do you keep Sabbath for full 24 hours? And how on earth is it possible in this hectic world? What are your Sabbath keeping strategies? This is something I’ve struggled over the years. I felt guilty for not offering up the whole Sunday for God but at the same time I knew that as a professor I…

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Lukewarm Apathy Is Our Enemy

Lukewarm Apathy Is Our Enemy

You never know when an Aha moment arrives. I was reading a Christian chick-lit book “Queen Esther & the Second Graders of Doom” by Allie Pleiter (Steeple Hill, 2006) for entertainment purposes only and unexpectedly came across with a thought-provoking analysis. Pastor Mark in the story said after a church disagreement: “I am just happy to get them to care at all. Opinion is not my enemy, apathy is.” Indeed!! Opinion is not my enemy, apathy is! I’ve always struggled…

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A Book Review of THE WORDS OF JESUS: a Gospel of the Sayings of Our Lord with Reflections by Phyllis Tickle

A Book Review of THE WORDS OF JESUS: a Gospel of the Sayings of Our Lord with Reflections by Phyllis Tickle

A BOOK REVIEW ofTHE WORDS OF JESUS: A Gospel of the Sayings of Our Lord with Reflections by Phyllis Tickle(Jossey-Bass, 2009) Phyllis Tickle, founding editor of the religion department at Publishers Weekly, has done qualitative analysis of the words of Jesus in the book THE WORDS OF JESUS: A Gospel of the Sayings of Our Lord with Reflections by Phyllis Tickle. She divided all the sayings from the gospels and the first chapter of Acts into five different groups: The…

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God Pointers, Lamp Posts and Light Houses

God Pointers, Lamp Posts and Light Houses

When I was a student at the University of Helsinki a German tourist stopped me on the street. First he asked me if I spoke any German and all I could mutter was ‘JA’. Then he asked where the cruise ship possibly would be and all I could do was point and say ‘DA’ (there in German). He thanked and was on his way. First I was embarrassed how little I had been able to speak German. At least I…

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Sin Boldy = Live Boldly?

Sin Boldy = Live Boldly?

Martin Luther’s famous quote “Sin boldly” has been way too many times misinterpreted. That easily happens when we don’t take the whole context and frame work in consideration. Luther did not ever encourage to purposefully sin. According to Luther we are not to use the precious blood of Christ in vain (cheap grace if you will). Martin Luther intended to say that we are not to be fearful when it comes to living. We are to live boldly in Christ…

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God’s Economy Rules!

God’s Economy Rules!

Last week I attended a women’s conference with my mom. We got there at the last minute and the only available seats were at the back. Not the ideal place to see and hear everything but it had to do. After the presentations the buffet was surprisingly opened right behind us and suddenly the first were last and the last were first. It was such a powerful first hand experience of “The last will be first, and the first will…

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