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They Will Know You By Your Love
We have been using these pastoral letters over the last two months to examine many of the different “one another” passages in the New Testament. I hope it has been an encouragement to you; it has certainly encouraged me as I have watched you live out these commands from God in the life of our church. As we conclude this topic with this pastoral letter, I want to return to a quote I shared in the first pastoral letter in this series: “Holiness is not a mystical condition experienced in relation to God but in isolation from human beings. You cannot be good in a vacuum, but only in the real…
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Forgiving One Another
Our Pastoral Letters are presently looking at the various “one-another” passages in Scripture (see parts one and two here). This week, we’re going to look at perhaps the most difficult of the one another passages so far: forgiving one another. Ephesians 4:31-32 says, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Forgiveness In Real Life Louis Silvie Zamperini lived an extraordinary life. In 1936, he competed in the Berlin Olympics, setting a lap record in the 5,000 meter race. Upon his return to…
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When the Church Acts Like the Church
Some days, I can feel quite holy. I have my devotional time, time in prayer, and I feel ready for my day. I love that time early in the morning, just me and my Bible. But then, people happen. Time to stretch those spiritual muscles: bearing one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2), encouraging one another (1 Thes 5:11), stirring one another up to love and good works (Heb 10:24-25), being patient with one another (Col 3:12-13), and the most difficult of all- forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven us (Eph 4:32). Some days, the holiness that feels so profound in private fades away when it’s time to put…
