fear

3223) Friend or Foe?

By William Willimon      After a devastating hurricane, all of the power had been out for the past three days.  It was hot, humid, and miserable during the day.  But it was frightening at night.  Rumors were that there had been much looting.  Robberies had taken place because there was no electricity, no way […]

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3104) God’s Christmas Surprise for Us (2/2)

       (continued…)  When I was a child, it never would have occurred to me to be afraid of God.  After all, every week at Sunday School in the old church basement we sang “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”  But the more I have seen of the world and

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3103) God’s Christmas Surprise for Us (1/2)

Above left:  Clarence Oddbody, George Bailey’s guardian angel ————————–           In Luke 1:26-38 an angel of the Lord appeared to Mary to tell her that she, a virgin, would be giving birth to Jesus, the Son of God, whose ‘kingdom will never end.’  In verse thirty, the angel says to Mary,

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2937) Looking for Help

Funeral for a young man killed after a driver did not stop for a red light.    Just ten days ago today, Rick woke up to a normal morning on a normal day.  He dressed for work, had breakfast, kissed Kathy good-bye, got in the car, and headed to the office.  He had a green

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2645) Facing Your Fears (b)

     (…continued) Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  Free from fear, for one thing.  The truth of God’s Word does indeed speak to all of our fears.  In fact, one of the most often repeated phrases in the whole Bible is that simple little command, ‘Fear not,’ or,

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2644) Facing Your Fears (a)

     Are you afraid of snakes?  How about mice, or bats, or spiders?  If you are, you probably do know that here in Minnesota it is quite irrational to fear any of those things.  We have no poisonous snakes or spiders in this area; and while mice and bats may carry disease, it is

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2268) Dealing With Worry

By Randy Alcorn, posted January 20, 2014, at:  http://www.epm.org —————————————      The Greek word for worry means literally “to divide the mind.”  The worried mind is a torn, and therefore worn, mind…  Ironically, much of our worry is unrealistic.  We “catastrophize” by making the worst of situations and anticipating the worst possible outcome.  Montaigne, the

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2267) Time to Panic?

“My Wife’s Response to the Coronavirus Was So Irritating (At First)” by Joshua Rogers, blogging at Finding God in the Ordinary, March 12, 2020, at:  http://www.joshuarogers.com ——————————————-      The headline was ominous: “School now closed after parent tested positive for coronavirus.”   I clicked on it, curious to see which school it was.  To my

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2173) Friend or Foe?

By William Willimon      After a devastating hurricane, all of the power had been out for the past three days.  It was hot, humid, and miserable during the day.  But it was frightening at night.  Rumors were that there had been much looting.  Robberies had taken place because there was no electricity, no way

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2105) Safe in Any Kind of Storm

By Joshua Rogers, November 11, 2018 at:  http://www.joshuarogers.com ————————- “What is wrong with you?” my wife asked. I was cranky, snippy, and easily annoyed – by her, by my daughters, by the universe.  I knew why, but I didn’t want to talk about it. “I’m fine,” I snapped back. I wasn’t fine.  I was panicking

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