Find yourself in a better story
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What Are YOU Looking For? (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 22)
NOTE: This is part 22 of the “Refiner’s Fire” series, now available as a book here. To read it on the blog, go to the Matthew series and scroll down for the “Refiner’s Fire” section at the bottom. Having answered John’s question, Jesus turned to the crowds and challenged them too. Essentially he asked them,…
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Sitting with a World in Grief
When all of this began last month, I had about a week where I found it really hard to get my emotional equilibrium. I just didn’t know how to FEEL about what was happening. Maybe you can relate. One morning in prayer, I came to this: It’s like sitting with someone in grief. Or with…
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The Mystery Revealed (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 21)
NOTE: This is part 20 of the “Refiner’s Fire” series, now available as a book here. To read it on the blog, go to the Matthew series and scroll down for the “Refiner’s Fire” section at the bottom. Two thousand years after Jesus, we read Isaiah 53 and see no mystery at all. We immediately…
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The Mystery of the Servant Songs (Refiner’s Fire, Part 20)
NOTE: This is part 20 of the “Refiner’s Fire” series, now available as a book here. To read it on the blog, go to the Matthew series and scroll down for the “Refiner’s Fire” section at the bottom. More than thirty years after John’s conversation with Jesus—thirty years after John’s death, when the crucifixion and…
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Refiner’s Fire: Out Now!
“I hope this book will do several things. I hope it will give us freedom to ask questions and to express our fears and doubts. I don’t think we are served by stuffing these things away. More than that, I hope it will give the shaking, the rocked, and the devastated tools to process their…
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Getting the Story Wrong (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 19)
NOTE: “Refiner’s Fire” is a mini-series within my overall series on the gospel of Matthew. To start from the beginning, go here and look for the Refiner’s Fire section at the bottom. # By now it should be clear that two years into his ministry, Jesus was failing to live up to John’s expectations of…
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When Everything Goes Sideways (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 18)
NOTE: “Refiner’s Fire” is a mini-series within my overall series on the gospel of Matthew. To start from the beginning, go here and look for the Refiner’s Fire section at the bottom. # We’ve journeyed together now through John the Baptist’s understanding of the Scriptures. We’ve come to an understanding, as best as we are…
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In the Shadow of the Christ (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 17)
NOTE: “Refiner’s Fire” is a mini-series within my overall series on the gospel of Matthew. To start from the beginning, go here and look for the Refiner’s Fire section at the bottom. # The post-wilderness John was a recognized type in his own time and an almost incomprehensible one in ours. Even in his own…
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The Messenger of Malachi (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 16)
NOTE: “Refiner’s Fire” is a mini-series within my overall series on the gospel of Matthew. To start from the beginning, go here and look for the Refiner’s Fire section at the bottom. # Maybe even more than his connection with Elijah, John understood himself to be the messenger of Malachi and Isaiah. In the same…
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The Prophecies Made About You (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 15)
NOTE: “Refiner’s Fire” is a mini-series within my overall series on the gospel of Matthew. To start from the beginning, go here and look for the Refiner’s Fire section at the bottom. # Several decades in the future, the apostle Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy: Timothy, my son, I am giving you this instruction…
Got any book recommendations?