Across Church Street

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It would be just like him

The God of the Bible looks like Jesus, the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. It would be just like him to go to the cross.

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Practicing Our Scales

Imagine if our walk with Christ, representing his kingdom in the world, were as practiced and pure as Hania Rani’s fingers on the piano keys.

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Rescue

I practice the spiritual discipline of rescuing earthworms on paved surfaces. It's a reminder to me that I can pause what I'm doing, get a little dirty, and help. Also, that I've been given the responsibility to care.

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Your Roots Are Showing

The life that I bring to the world can only be found in my attachment to Christ. His presence with me is essential.

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Connection

I live in a U.S. county with traffic problems. It's a peninsula, and what's not swamp land has been developed. Building new roads is difficult and expensive. Making things worse, roads that could connect don't.

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What's in the Bowl?

During a spring trip, my wife and I purchased a glass bowl. It's colorful and handmade. When I turn the bowl upside down, nothing falls out. Does that make it empty?

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Tire Marks

Religious zeal compromises forward momentum, instead making noise and skid marks.

I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. — John 16:12

The fruit of God's Spirit is his nature coming to the surface. God is patient, so we will be too when the Spirit is leading. It's far too easy to move in the flesh, get revved up, and lose traction. Jesus gave us the metaphors of salt, light, yeast, and fragrance to show us that we will have more influence if we move at the pace of love and relationship.

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Residence Time

I was given this metaphor several years ago. New knowledge can be like water poured on a plate, splattering all over people. Or it can be like water poured into a bowl that, after a time, gently overflows. One is a flat surface, and the other is a container. Lord, make me a container.

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A Pointing Finger

"They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” ⏤ Mark 12:44

Not an accusatory finger. But a pointing finger. I remember when my grandfather would put his left hand on my shoulder while he pointed at something with his right, helping me to see what he saw. Maybe a bird, a squirrel, or a particular tree. The Mosaic Law, parables, the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus's royal law are all ways God helps us to see what he sees. Then suddenly, "There! I see it!"

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